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From: chip@ku.edu<BR>To: Ladadams@aol.com<BR>Sent: 3/27/2013 10:19:56 A.M.
Pacific Daylight Time<BR>Subj: Fwd: CATCH THE BUZZ - Worse than the sum of the
parts...<BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000
size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV>Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:11:30 -0500<BR>To: <chip@ku.edu><BR>From:
Kim Flottum <Kim@BeeCulture.com><BR>Subject: CATCH THE BUZZ - Worse than
the sum of the parts...<BR>X-Ezezine: (1636.25679.4009)<BR></DIV>
<DIV>This ezine is also available online at <A
title=http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2013.03.27.13.11.archive.html
href="http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2013.03.27.13.11.archive.html">http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2013.03.27.13.11.archive.html</A><BR></DIV>
<DIV>CATCH THE BUZZ<BR></DIV>
<DIV>If One Is Bad, Two Are Definitely Worse<BR></DIV>
<DIV>By Alan Harman<BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV>Exposure to a combination of pesticides commonly used in agriculture has
a negative impact on bees' ability to learn, two new UK studies have
found.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> Researchers at the University of Dundee in Scotland found
that the pesticides, used in the research at levels shown to occur in the
wild, could interfere with the learning circuits in the bee's brain. They also
found bees exposed to combined pesticides were slower to learn or completely
forgot important associations between floral scent and food rewards.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> Dr. Christopher Connolly and his team report today in the
journal Nature Communications they investigated the impact on bees' brains of
two common pesticides - the neonicotinoids used on crops and coumaphos, used
in honeybee hives to kill the Varroa mite.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> The intact bees' brains were exposed to pesticides in the
lab at levels predicted to occur following exposure in the wild and brain
activity was recorded. They found that both types of pesticide target the same
area of the bee brain involved in learning, causing a loss of function. If
both pesticides were used in combination, the effect was greater.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> "This study shows for the first time the effect of
field-relevant concentrations (3 ppb) of neonicotinoid pesticides and an
organophosphate miticide on honeybee brain function," Connolly says. "Both
prevent information flow in the major learning centre of the honeybee
brain.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> "There is clearly a major brain dysfunction in response to
these compounds and this is supported by behavioral research from Newcastle
University."<BR></DIV>
<DIV> Connolly says local honeybee losses in Scotland have been
two-fold higher in bees reported to forage on oilseed rape, the major exposure
risk of the neonicotinoids to bees.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> "Unfortunately, the negative impact is increased when the
chemicals are present together," he says. "This highlights the urgent need for
the recording of local pesticide use, so that potentially dangerous
combinations of pesticides may be identified by association with localized bee
losses. Sadly, although this pesticide use is recorded by farmers, the UK
government does not collect this data."<BR></DIV>
<DIV> The researchers say they believe that targeting the insect brain
is a high risk strategy to control crop pests as toxicity at non-target
insects seems inevitable.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> "We need to develop alternative strategies to using
neonicotinoids and other insecticides to address this problem, for example by
encouraging agro-ecological farming systems and creating a network of garden
nature reserves free of pesticides and filled with pollinator friendly plants
and nesting sites."<BR></DIV>
<DIV> Connolly says the study is the first to show that these
pesticides have a direct impact on pollinator brain physiology.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> It was prompted by the work of collaborators Dr. Geraldine
Wright and Dr. Sally Williamson at Newcastle University who found that
combinations of these same pesticides affected learning and memory in
bees.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> Their research established that when bees had been exposed
to combinations of these pesticides for four days, as many as 30% of honeybees
failed to learn or performed poorly in memory tests. Again, the experiments
mimicked levels that could be seen in the wild, this time by feeding a sugar
solution mixed with appropriate levels of pesticides.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> "Pollinators perform sophisticated behaviors while foraging
that require them to learn and remember floral traits associated with food,"
Wright says. "Disruption in this important function has profound implications
for honeybee colony survival, because bees that cannot learn will not be able
to find food."</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV> The researchers expressed concerns about the use of
pesticides that target the same area of the brain of insects and the potential
risk of toxicity to non-target insects. Moreover, they say exposure to
different combinations of pesticides that act at this site may increase this
risk.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> "Much discussion of the risks posed by the neonicotinoid
insecticides has raised important questions of their suitability for use in
our environment," Connolly says. "However, little consideration has been given
to the miticidal pesticides introduced directly into honeybee hives to protect
the bees from the Varroa mite. We find that both have negative impact on
honeybee brain function.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> "Together, these studies highlight potential dangers to
pollinators of continued exposure to pesticides that target the insect nervous
system and the importance of identifying combinations of pesticides that could
profoundly impact pollinator survival."<BR></DIV>
<DIV> The research is part of the Insect Pollinators Initiative,
jointly funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council,
the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Natural
Environment Research Council, the Scottish government and the Wellcome Trust
under the auspices of the Living with Environmental Change
partnership.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> The organic group Soil Association says the numbers of honey
bees, bumble bees and other pollinating insects are declining rapidly and
there is strong evidence that intensive farming practices and in particular
certain pesticides are key culprits.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> They bees play a crucial role in pollinating crops and the
cost of losing pollinating insects has been calculated to be £1.8 billion
(US$2.7 billion) to UK farmers.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> Association head of policy Emma Hockridge says the new
research follows a number of other studies which also highlight the dangers of
neonicotinoid pesticides on pollinators.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> "It further highlights the need to get off the chemical
treadmill and focus on alternative ways of controlling insect pests, for
example by using agro-ecological approaches such as organic farming,"
Hockridge says.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> The report was released a day after UK Farm Minister David
Heath said that UK field trials by Defra had not conclusively found evidence
of a link between neonicotinoid use and bee deaths.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> Hockridge says the association looks forward to seeing the
detail of the results of these field trials.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> "David Heath only referred to the impact of colony growth in
bumble bees in the research mentioned and didn't rule out the impacts of
neonicotinoids," she says. "Defra is relying on limited trials, rather than a
whole range of studies which are showing harm to bees. As we continue to see
consistent evidence signaling neonicotinoids should be banned, we call on the
UK government to vote to ban a number of neonicotinoid pesticides as is
currently being discussed in the EU."<BR></DIV>
<HR>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
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<DIV>This message brought to you by <A title=http://www.beeculture.com/
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<DIV><BR></DIV><X-SIGSEP><PRE>--
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<DIV>Chip Taylor<BR>chip@ku.edu<BR>Monarch
Watch<BR>http://www.MonarchWatch.org/<BR>Dplex-L: send message "info
Dplex-L" to Listproc@ku.edu<BR>1-888-TAGGING -or- 1-785-864-4441<BR>University
of Kansas<BR>1200 Sunnyside Avenue<BR>Lawrence, KS 66045-7534<BR>Create,
Conserve, and Protect Monarch
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