The role these little 1-2 centimetre long bees play in the nature and our ecosystem is so important that a decline in their numbers has been cited as a biodiversity crisis by scientists around the globe. So what is it that makes bees so essential to the ecosystem and are they really worth saving?
While it is true that the honey they make are relished by everyone, not many people know that bees are the most important food crop pollinators among all other agents. Three quarters of our food crops including items like fruits, vegetables and even everyone’s favourite coffee are pollinated by bees. The alfalfa crop used to feed cattle are also a result of the bees’ work. Even crops like cotton and flax seeds are pollinated by bees.
These are only the direct advantages that bees offer. Apart from this, secondary items from bees like beeswax are also used extensively in the cosmetic and cleaning industries. Bees have a positive impact on the overall biodiversity of a place where they work actively. Bees’ pollinating activities also have complex benefits such as better quality of yield, better produce and enhanced resistance to pests in plants. Their contribution towards maintaining ecological diversity is unparalleled. They protect multiple plant and animal species by protecting their genetic diversity.
However, the number of bees have been constantly declining since the past decade. This is an alarming issue, as a few years down the line it will simply come down to the fact that no bees would mean no food. The main reasons of their decline have been cited as parasites, habitat destruction, global warming, pesticides and poor nutrition. And when we look at the reasons closely, it is not difficult to notice that humans are largely responsible for the dwindling population of bees. Global warming, habitat destruction and overuse of pesticides are the direct action of us humans. Due to lack of suitable habitats, bees are not able to properly nourish themselves.
It is known that bees are considered as an indication of a healthy ecosystem. The fact that our bees are unhealthy and rapidly dying, is a very scary situation to be in. Because of their pollination activities, they keep the cycle of life turning. What now looks like a bee apocalypse will not take much time to become the apocalypse of humankind if we do not pay attention to the situation at hand.
Public and political concerns are being raised nowadays to check the harm we are doing to our best pollinators. Multiple accounts of harmful pesticides killing bees have been noted. Pesticides in small quantities might benefit the plant, but is extremely harmful for the environment in the longer run. It adversely affects multiple non-target species. It harms the soil as well as the bees that pollinate the plants.
Some evidences are mentioned below:
PESTICIDES HARM BABY BUMBLEBEES AS WELL AS ADULTS, RESEARCH SUGGESTS By Mike Pomranz Updated March 09, 2020
Micro-CT scans reveal the damage pesticide exposure can have on developing bee brains.
Not that adults don’t deserve our empathy, but when something affects babies, our heartstrings are especially tugged. So while you are probably aware that our bee populations are struggling, and pesticides are a cause, but maybe this will get you to reevaluate just how dire the situation is: A new study suggests that pesticides are harming baby bees, too.
The study, conducted by researchers at Imperial College London and published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, explains that most studies have looked at the effect of pesticides on adult bees, but this kind of research can overlook the larger picture. “Bee colonies act as superorganisms, so when any toxins enter the colony, these have the potential to cause problems with the development of the baby bees within it,” Richard Gill, the lead researcher from the Department of Life Sciences, explained in announcing the findings.
“Worryingly in this case, when young bees are fed on pesticide-contaminated food, this caused parts of the brain to grow less, leading to older adult bees possessing smaller and functionally impaired brains; an effect that appeared to be permanent and irreversible,” Gill continued. “These findings reveal how colonies can be impacted by pesticides weeks after exposure, as their young grow into adults that may not be able to forage for food properly. Our work highlights the need for guidelines on pesticide usage to consider this route of exposure.”
So how do you study tiny bumblebee brains? With micro-CT scanning technology, obviously. For this research, a bee colony was given “a nectar substitute spiked with a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, some of which are restricted within the EU but used widely across the globe,” according to the Imperial College London news site. Through this method, the larvae were exposed to the pesticide, and then, after emerging from their pupa stage, these adults had their learning ability tested—by seeing if they could associate a smell with the reward of food—after three days and 12 days. (Yes, a 3-day-old bee is an “adult;” this species tends to have its lifespan measured in weeks.)
These results were then compared to both bees that were not exposed to pesticides at all and ones only exposed to pesticides as adults. Nearly 100 bees from all three groups also received micro-CT scans—which probably aren’t as cute as they sound. The result: Not only did the bees which were exposed to pesticides as babies perform worse on the tests, they also had less volume in an important section of their bee brains.
“There has been growing evidence that pesticides can build up inside bee colonies. Our study reveals the risks to individuals being reared in such an environment, and that a colony’s future workforce can be affected weeks after they are first exposed,” Dylan Smith, the lead author and part of the Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Partnership, added. “Bees’ direct exposure to pesticides through residues on flowers should not be the only consideration when determining potential harm to the colony. The amount of pesticide residue present inside colonies following exposure appears to be an important measure for assessing the impact on a colony’s health in the future.”
NEW PESTICIDE MAY HARM BEES AS MUCH AS THOSE TO BE REPLACED by Marlowe Hood
A new class of pesticides positioned to replace neonicotinoids may be just as harmful to crop-pollinating bees, researchers cautioned Wednesday.
In experiments, the ability of bumblebees to reproduce, and the rate at which their colonies grow, were both compromised by the new sulfoximine-based insecticides, they reported in the journal Nature. Colonies exposed to low doses of the pesticide in the lab yielded significantly less workers and half as many reproductive males after the bees were transferred to a field setting.
“Our results show that sulfoxaflor”—one of the new class of insecticide—”can have a negative impact on the reproductive output of bumblebee colonies,” said lead author Harry Siviter, a researcher at Royal Holloway University of London.
As with neonicotinoids, sulfoxaflor does not directly kill bees, but appears to affect the immune system or the ability to reproduce.
Foraging behaviour, and the amount of pollen collected by individual bees remained unchanged in the experiment. The study has been published amid legal challenges and shifting national policies on neonicotinoids, among the most commonly used insecticides in the world.
In April, European Union countries voted to ban three neonicotinoid-based products in open fields, restricting use to covered greenhouses. Earlier this month Canada followed suit, announcing the phase-out of two of the pesticides widely applied to canola, corn and soybean crops.
Neonicotinoids are based on the chemical structure of nicotine and attack insect nervous systems. Sulfoximine insecticides, while in a different class, act in a similar way.
Unlike contact pesticides—which remain on the surface of foliage—neonicotinoids are absorbed by the plant from the seed phase and transported to leaves, flowers, roots and stems. They have been widely used over the last 20 years, and were designed to control sap-feeding insects such as aphids and root-feeding grubs.
Past studies have found neonicotinoids can cause bees to become disorientated such that they cannot find their way back to the hive, and lower their resistance to disease.
Colony collapse:
Other research has shown that crop pests have also built up resistance. “Sulfoximine-based insecticides are a likely successor and are being registered for use globally,” Siviter noted.
In 2013, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved two sulfoxaflor-based pesticides for sale under the brand names Transform and Closer. Sulfoxaflor is also registered in Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, India, Mexico and a couple of dozen other countries.
Experts not involved in the research praised its methodology and said the findings should sound an alarm.
“This study shows an unacceptable scale of impact on bumblebee reproductive success, after realistic levels of exposure to sulfoxaflor,” commented Lynn Dicks, an Natural Environmental Research Council Fellow at the University of East Anglia.
Conducting such research should be a “mandatory requirement” before pesticide companies bring such products to market, he said.
For Nigel Raine, a professor at the University of Guelph in Canada who holds a chair in pollinator conservation, “the findings suggest that concerns over the risks of exposing bees to insecticides should not be limited to neonicotinoids.” Fears have been growing globally in recent years over the health of bees.
Pesticides have been blamed as a cause of colony collapse disorder along with mites, pesticides, virus and fungus, or some combination of these factors.
The United Nations warned last year that 40 percent of invertebrate pollinators—particularly bees and butterflies—risk global extinction.
It is now more important than ever that we act as responsible humans and take the necessary decision to stop the already gruesome situation from becoming worse. And the first step should be to stop the use of these pesticides that cause more harm than good.
We, at C – Tech Corporation have the perfect eco-friendly, non-toxic, non-hazardous, non-carcinogenic and non-mutagenic pest aversives, which can be used as alternatives for these toxic pesticides and insecticides.
Our products Rodrepel™, Termirepel™ and Combirepel™ provide the perfect sustainable solution for pest problems in the fields, thereby reducing the use of pesticides and protecting our environment and different species from its ill effects.
The unique product Combirepel™ manufactured by C-Tech Corporation is an insect, animal, and bird aversive repellent which repels the pests. Combirepel™ works on the mechanism of repellency. It is an extremely low concern, low toxic, low hazard, non-carcinogenic and non-mutagenic pest aversive. It does not kill or cause harm to the pests as well as to the environment which indirectly helps to maintain the ecological balance.
Combirepel™ is available in the form of the masterbatch, which can be incorporated into the polymeric applications like pipes, agriculture mulch films, floating row covers, greenhouse films, etc. used for crop cultivation purpose, etc. The product available in the form of liquid concentrate can be mixed in paints in a predetermined ratio and be applied to the fences in the garden and farms to keep the pests away from these places.
Our product in the lacquer form can be applied topically on the applications. The lacquer is compatible with most of the surfaces like wood, concrete, metal, polymer, ceramic, etc. The lacquer can be applied on the already installed pipes in the fields or garden, fences around farms and garden, walls of the warehouses where the agricultural produce are stored, thus protecting it from damage.
Our newly developed product in the form of a spray which can be sprayed anywhere to repel the pests. The product is compatible with all types of surfaces and can be used by anyone. The Combirepel™ pest repellent spray is safe for use in farms and warehouses.
Combirepel™ is thermally stable and does not degrade on exposure to heat and sunlight. It does not kill or harm the pest but repels them. It does not volatilize and does not degrade the soil.
Contact us at technical.marketing@ctechcorporation.com if you’re facing problems with pests and get the best remedies to combat the pest menace.
Also, visit our websites:
http://www.ctechcorporation.com/
Follow our Facebook pages at:
1] https://www.facebook.com/Combirepel-411710912249274/
2] https://www.facebook.com/Termirepel-104225413091251/
3] https://www.facebook.com/Rodrepel-120734974768048/
Follow us on our Twitter pages at:
1] https://twitter.com/rodrepel
2] https://twitter.com/termirepel
3] https://twitter.com/combirepel