A widely used pesticide is proving harmful to wild bees, but compounding the problem is the insect seems to be drawn to it.
According to the Associated Press, a team of researchers detailed the issue in two studies published in the journal Nature. The first study examines the harmful effects of a common pesticide and the second one shows the bees are choosing food coated in it rather than the normal kind.
"We saw a clear negative impact on growth and ability to reproduce in bumblebee colonies near treated rapeseed fields," Maj Rundlöf a Lund University researcher that lead one of the studies, said in a press release. "If we only investigate how a new pesticide affects honeybees, that is not sufficient to predict the consequences for wild bees in a real landscape."
Several scientists have known for some time that the most common pesticides are the most harmful to wild bees, but these studies may finally influence actual change.
"This paper has the potential of really shifting the conversation," Dennis vanEnglesdorp, a University of Maryland entomologist who wasn't part of either study, told the AP. "Neonics may have a very dramatic effect on these non-managed pollinators in the environment. This is the most definitive work I've seen in the area."
The studies' authors believe their work will have an impact on how government agencies look at chemicals when approving them for use.
"The results show that it is inappropriate to use clothianidin on rapeseed," study co-author Thorsten Rahbek Pedersen, project manager at the Swedish Board of Agriculture, said in the release. "We need alternative preparations and new cultivation methods if we are to continue growing spring rapeseed in Sweden."
