Over the past 15-20 years, panicky and sometimes even hysterical headlines have often appeared in the press, screaming about the extinction of species, deteriorating environmental conditions, new diseases and the beginning of the apocalypse. Everyone has heard at least once about such a phenomenon as the mass death of bees. In scientific circles, this is called the collapse of bee colonies, and beekeepers themselves tend to talk about the so-called bee rally. It is observed in the fall, usually in October. One day, a completely decent family is left with a completely empty hive with untouched reserves inside. It looks as if the bees simply left their home and decided not to return. There are no corpses of insects, and there are no visible injuries or other reasons that put the little workers to flight. Mass death is too loud and unfounded a term, since most beekeepers believe that worker bees do not die, but only scatter to neighboring hives. And yet, the family still dies, it disintegrates, all relationships between its members are destroyed, and their connecting link, the uterus, does not survive this disbandment.

Reasons for the death of colonies

Experts tend to see the explanation for this phenomenon as a combination of many factors. Among the reasons for bees leaving the nest are untimely replacement of old honeycombs, hypothermia, unpleasant odor or cracks in the hive, the presence of pests in it, such as ants, mice, attacks by birds, wasps and other natural enemies of bees, which causes severe stress in insects every day. Also, one should not belittle the harmful effects of wax moths and Varroa mites, infection with fungus, nosematosis, foulbrood and other viral diseases, in the fight against which the beekeeper himself can seriously harm the colonies by using ineffective drugs or, conversely, destroying the bee immunity by uncontrolled use of antibiotics. The food supply plays an important role in the well-being of families; if there is no food for a long time or the diet is undiversified due to the cultivation of only one crop, the bees will stop raising brood, since they “think” that they are not ready for wintering. The loss of a queen in the fall, when the bees are simply unable to raise a new one before the cold weather, can also be fatal for a colony.

Methods for preventing bees from gathering

The disappearance of even one family is a tragedy not only for the beekeeper, but also for the entire farm in the apiary area. The main merit of the honey bee is the pollination of fruit-bearing plants, therefore, along with the colonies, we lose not only honey, but also fruits, vegetables, and beautiful flowers. To avoid this, the following preventive measures are carried out at all apiaries:

• prevention and treatment of diseases;
• the use of protein feeding (in addition to carbohydrate feeding);
• timely and thorough disinfection of hives;
• replacement of repeatedly used honeycombs that are not suitable for raising brood;
• carrying out breeding work in order to avoid inbreeding;
• control of the use of pesticides within the summer of bees.

The non-profit organization Genetic Literacy Project at George Mason Public University (Virginia, USA) has published a review of research into the causes of mass death of bees in individual countries and regions and in the world as a whole.

The review contains the following interesting facts and conclusions:

• The thesis of the world media and activists of environmental and other public organizations that the number of bee colonies in the world is steadily declining is refuted by the results of scientific research. The reduction in the number of bee colonies occurs only in certain countries, while the opposite trend is taking place in the world. Beekeepers are restoring the loss of bee colonies and have so far dealt with this problem quite successfully.
• At the same time, in many countries there is an increase in the death of bees not only during the wintering period, but also during the beekeeping season. This, for example, is evidenced by official data on the death of bees in the USA (losses during wintering are highlighted in yellow, losses during the year are highlighted in red):

The main conclusion of the review authors is that restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids and other pesticides in agriculture will not stop the mass death of bees in the “beekeeping powers”, and that to successfully combat this phenomenon, a wide range of other problems must be taken into account.

The UN is concerned about the mass death of bees around the world

Having studied many factors that turned the planet into a world hostile to bees, scientists called on humanity to stop, because nature gave man a unique mechanism for pollinating almost all fruit, berry, agricultural and wild flowering plants - the bee.

Scientists have calculated that an average family of 30 thousand honey bees visits 2 million flowers in one day. But lately the army of worker bees has been melting before our eyes, notes Professor Peter Neumann from the Swiss Bee Research Center.

“The number of bee colonies in Europe has been declining over the past 20 years. The same trend can be seen in the United States, where the number of bee families has been steadily declining since the middle of the last century to this day,” the specialist noted.

This phenomenon was first described by American beekeepers in 2006, and subsequently received the name “colony collapse syndrome.” This is when worker bees - the backbone of a bee family or colony - one day leave their native hive forever and never return there again. Scientists say that, having destroyed the family, the bees die alone.

Professor Neumann is inclined to blame man and his mismanagement of ecosystems for this.

To increase productivity, farmers actively use chemicals. In Europe and the USA, a surge of interest in pesticides and insecticides occurred in the 50-60s of the last century. It was at this time that attentive beekeepers noticed some changes in the behavior of pollinating insects. But, apparently, they did not attach much importance to this, because the benefits of increasing agricultural productivity significantly outweighed the so-called production costs.

Today, developed countries have phased out some types of toxic chemicals, but other risk factors have emerged.
“On the one hand, these are food and pesticides, and on the other, pathogenic microorganisms, mites, fungi, viruses and bacteria. All this weakens the bees’ immunity and leads to the collapse of bee colonies,” Neumann noted.

In recent years, bees have really begun to get sick a lot. One of the deadly diseases that affects hive dwellers is called varroatosis. It is carried by a tiny insect that is almost impossible to get rid of.
Humanity should not count on the fact that in the 21st century, technological progress will allow it to become independent from nature, the authors of the UNEP report emphasize. How people treat natural wealth will largely determine their future together.

“Individually, no country in the world is able to cope with the problem of the disappearance of bees, there is no doubt about that. The answer to such a complex, multifaceted challenge must be a global network that mobilizes international and national approaches and proposes a joint strategy to prevent the extinction of bee colonies,” said Neumann.

Let us remember that back in 2007, scientists from the University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany (Koblenz-Landau University) came to the conclusion that the cause of the mass death of bees in the USA and Europe could be radio signals from cellular networks.

The reasons are the same - uncontrolled use of pesticides

In the United States, 90% of the wild bee population and 80% of the domestic bee population have died over the past ten years. Scientists say that the cause of death was a whole range of factors - from tick infestation to sudden climate change and intensive use of chemicals in the fields. The only solution to the problem is bumblebee farms, a new industry in the First World.

Mass death of bees is observed in almost all First World countries, but in the United States the consequences are the most painful, since the country has developed agriculture.

In the US, some apiaries have lost up to 80% of their bee colonies since 2006, says Marianne Fraser of Pennsylvania State University. Up to 30% of bees do not survive winter each year. Many people are already calling the situation a “biological disaster,” and scientists have given it the definition of Colony Collapse (BCC), also sometimes called “honeybee depopulation syndrome.”

In the winter of 2008, a large-scale study by the USDA Agricultural Research Service and apiary inspectors showed that 36% of America's 2.4 million hives were lost to CPS. The study showed an increase in losses by 11% compared to 2007 and by 40% compared to 2006. By the beginning of 2013, the situation worsened even more.

No one has yet named the exact cause of the mysterious death of bees. At some point, the bees abandon their hives and disappear, or mass bee suicide occurs.

CPS is explained by a combination of many factors. This is the influence of chemicals, pesticides and insecticides, damage to bees by mites, bacteria, fungi or viruses.

But nosemas are responsible for the death of 5-10% of the bee population. What are the other factors? One of the main ones, according to the US Department of Agriculture, is climate change (but people here understand that the democratic Obama administration attributes many cataclysms to global warming and climate change). First of all, these are sharp temperature fluctuations in winter and summer, which weaken the bees’ immune system. During the winter, up to 10-15% of the bee population dies because of this.

Another 10-20% of bees die due to the uncontrolled use of pesticides and herbicides.

As a result, the yield of crops pollinated by bees has sharply fallen in the United States - primarily fruit trees and shrubs (a total of 80 crops - from melons to cranberries). Apple trees and almonds are considered the most affected - in 2009-2012, due to low pollination levels, farmers lost 30% of the harvest of these crops. In California, which accounts for 80% of all almond plantings, farmers, with the assistance of the Ministry of Agriculture, import hives with bees from other states every spring.

The importance of bee pollination of crops that are capable of setting fruit without their help is illustrated by the example of strawberries: 53% of the development of its fruits is provided by self-pollination, 14% by wind pollination and 24% by insect pollination. It turns out that without bees, the shortage of this berry could be about 20%.

The total damage from the shortage of bees in the United States is $5 billion annually, and it can reach 10-15 billion. Of this, up to $1 billion can come from the import of bees, but most importantly, bumblebees.

Russia also has to buy bumblebees - our country also suffers from the death of bees, although not on such a scale as the United States. Alas, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture does not conduct a detailed analysis of this industry, but, according to various estimates, over the past five years our bee population has decreased by 20-30%.

The reasons for the death of these insects in Russia are the same as in the USA, but we are “saved” by the dozens of times less use of chemicals in the fields (not because of a special love for the environment, but because of the impoverishment of the industry, and large areas of abandoned farmland - up to 40 million hectares of arable land only).

But where herbicides and insecticides are used, you can also see mass deaths of bees. Here are just two recent examples:

First case. In six apiaries located in the vicinity of the village of Studenoye, in the Oryol region, 421 bee colonies died at the same time, including queen bees and flying bees.

Suspicion fell on a local agricultural enterprise, which near the village has a field sown with rapeseed. According to preliminary data, on the night of June 23-24, this field was treated with an insecticide preparation that is highly toxic to bees, Rosselkhoznadzor reported. – At the same time, interested parties were not notified about the upcoming spraying.

Second case. Pest control led to the mass death of bees in the Podgorensky district of the Voronezh region. This year, as usual, two beekeepers from the Sergeevsky rural settlement took 119 hives to the fields located next to Sergeevka. However, the treatment of land with pesticides led to the death of bees.

After irrigating the fields with chemicals, our bees died, every single one of them, all 119 families. The heart bleeds, five years’ work has been destroyed,” said the beekeepers of the Sergeevsky rural settlement.

Attempts to domesticate bumblebees have been made since the early 19th century. However, the success of industrial breeding of these insects became possible after the impact of carbon dioxide on the oogenesis of bumblebee queens was clarified, which made it possible to obtain offspring from them year-round and in a controlled manner. Today, in the European Union alone, up to 300 thousand bumblebee families are raised annually, and in total there are 550-600 thousand families in the world.

Of the 300 known species of bumblebees, the main object of study was the large ground bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). Since 1994, families of this bumblebee have been imported from Israel, Belgium and Holland. The price of 1 bumblebee family is 125-150 dollars.

Bumblebees are brought in special houses that contain the queen, larvae, pupae and workers. The house of the bumblebee family is very small, only 25 by 35 centimeters. And up to 70 insects live in it. The decoration inside is also sparse, just a bunch of cotton wool in which the family lives. All care consists only of feeding them with sugar syrup.

There are only two farms in Russia that breed bumblebees. Potentially, Russia could become one of the largest producers of these insects, especially since a huge market for their sales will soon open - China, which is still the largest beekeeper in the world, but has also experienced a massive death of bees since 2011. In 2025, China could import up to 1 million bumblebee colonies per year, costing it up to 200 million euros annually.

This is what the use of bumblebees in agriculture looks like:

“Siberian cucumbers met Belgian bumblebees in orderly rows. This happened for the first time; the farm decided to conduct an experiment. We bought specially trained insects, they do not leave the room, they live as a family in one box and do not require additional care. The bumblebees were brought in a special house, which is no longer changed on the farm. It has syrup inside for the bumblebees to eat. During the day they fly and pollinate cucumbers, and fly back only at night.

Agronomists have already taken a sample of the new fruits, the difference is obvious. Previously, only self-pollinating plants were grown in greenhouses, but they decided not to stand still and tried a new variety - “Athlet”. It ripens in just a month, but in order for ovaries to appear on the plants, bumblebees are needed. Agronomists hope that the experiment will be successful. About 5 years ago they already resorted to the help of insects in greenhouses, then bees were bought to pollinate tomatoes. Productivity jumped 3 times. But the trouble is, the bees turned out to be obstinate and flew out of the open windows. This will not happen to bumblebees; moreover, they are much more hardworking than their relatives. Lyudmila Chupina, agronomist: “Bumblebees are much more efficient in production and are cheaper to maintain. We use bumblebees from Belgium, since domestic ones are much lazier.”

The shortage of honey on the world market affects prices - over the past five years they have increased almost 3 times. World production is now about 1.5 million tons, of which 400-450 thousand tons are exported.

But statistics do not take into account the entire volume of honey production. Most beekeepers in the world are hobbyists with up to 10 bee colonies. The honey produced in this sector is distributed among relatives, friends and acquaintances of beekeepers and does not reach the market. It is impossible to determine the true scale of this production. In the USA, beekeepers with up to 5 bee colonies are not counted in statistics at all.

Russia is not in this table, but the volume of honey production in our country is known - just over 100 thousand tons per year, while we export only 400 tons (0.1% of world trade in this product). Potentially, Russia is capable of producing up to 1 million tons of honey per year - it is well known from history that our country was the main producer of this product until the 19th century.

The main exporter of honey is China, but the quality of the product it produces is questionable, as it is saturated with foreign impurities. In the past, China was the main supplier of honey to the United States, but the volume of these supplies decreased after the Commerce Department imposed an anti-dumping tariff on Chinese honey of 221%. This action was carried out in parallel with the EU ban on the import of Chinese honey contaminated with antibiotics. From 2001 to 2011, the volume of direct exports of Chinese honey to the United States decreased from 17.7 thousand tons to 1.5 thousand tons. In 2009, the anti-dumping tariff on Chinese honey was $2.63 per kilogram. In August 2012, this tariff was extended.

The quality of both Chinese and American honey is highly questionable.

At the request of Marler Clark, 60 samples of packaged honey from 11 states were examined for pollen content at the University of Texas Palynology Laboratory. The test results created a sensation. It turned out that the vast majority of samples completely lacked traces of pollen, which is an integral component of natural honey.

There was no pollen in honey samples from 29 of the most popular brands in the United States, incl. owned by the largest honey companies in the country. Complete sets of pollen were only present in honey purchased from farmers' markets, co-ops and natural food stores.

Pollen was absent in 76% of samples from grocery departments of supermarkets, 77% from hypermarkets, 100% from pharmacies and 100% from individual portions of honey purchased from fast food companies McDonald's, KFC and Smucker.

Among the 7 organic honey samples, pollen was present in 5 (all from Brazil). It was also present in samples from Hungary, Italy and New Zealand, but was absent in honey from Greece.

A natural question arose among the study participants: for what purpose and using what technologies do American companies and their brokers remove pollen from honey? Their owners refused to give this information.

The reaction of beekeepers was exactly the opposite. President of the American Honey Producers Association M. Jensen emphasized that he does not know a single beekeeper in the United States “who would engage in ultrafiltration that is expensive and degrades the quality of honey.” In his opinion, the ultra-filtered honey sold through American retail chains is nothing more than “a Chinese product brought to the United States bypassing inspection and in violation of federal laws.” A major beekeeper, owner of 80 thousand bee colonies, R. Adi, expressed himself equally categorically: “The only reason for eliminating pollen from honey is the desire to disguise the country of its origin; and almost always that country is China.”

Soldiers were discovered for the first time in a bee colony

Warrior bees can prevent attacks by killing bandit scouts

British and Brazilian scientists were the first to notice that certain individuals in bee colonies do nothing but stay for a long time at the entrance to the nest, performing the function of guards. Bouncers differ from ordinary workers not only in behavior, but also in size.

According to BBC News, warrior bees were discovered in a colony of bees of the species Tetragonisca angustula, most common in Brazil. These insects build nests in trees and in wall voids, and each such settlement has one queen and up to 10 thousand workers.

Workers of different ages perform various tasks, starting with nest cleaning, and the position of colony protector is something of a pinnacle of a worker's career. But not everyone: no more than 1-2% of workers have a chance to rise to the rank of soldier - scientists from the University of Sussex claim that bees do not become soldiers, but are born.

Fighting individuals are 30% heavier than their relatives, they have disproportionately large legs. Security is maintained by two groups of soldiers: as a rule, several hover near the entrance (to give early warning of an attack), while others sit. Moreover, while other insects have defenders on duty during the day, Tetragonisca angustula guards are on duty for weeks.

As researchers write in an article published in PNAS, the task of warriors is to resist bees of the species Lestrimelitta limao, whom scientists do not call anything other than robbers and brigands. These insects invade nests and take away food supplies. One full-scale attack can destroy the colony completely.

Warrior bees can prevent attacks by killing robber scouts. If this fails, the soldiers sacrifice themselves in battle, protecting the colony from invaders. The guard grabs onto the enemy's wing, preventing him from taking off, and dies.

K. Bolotov,

Honeycombs become hexagonal without the help of insects

The hexagonal cells of honeycombs have long fascinated people, and bees have always been considered one of the greatest engineers in the natural world due to their ability to fit one cell to another so precisely and proportionately. However, researchers from Cardiff University (UK) believe that the engineering glory of bees is greatly exaggerated: the correct geometric shape of the hexagonal cells of the honeycomb arises due to the physical forces acting on them, and insects are only assistants here, writes K. Stasevich (compulenta.computerra.ru) with reference to Nature News.

A regular cellular pattern can be made if the cells are triangular, square or hexagonal. The hexagonal shape allows you to save on the walls more than others, that is, less wax will be needed for honeycombs with such cells. Such “frugality” of bees was first noticed in the 4th century AD, and at the same time it was suggested that bees, when building honeycombs, were “guided by a mathematical plan.” However, in the 17th century, the Danish scientist Rasmus Bartholin doubted the mathematical abilities of bees: in his opinion, insects simply tried to make each cell as large as possible, and the physical forces that acted on the walls gave the cells a hexagonal shape.

In 1917, Scottish zoologist D'arcy Thomson spoke in favor of the Danish scientist's hypothesis: in his opinion, surface tension forces in the wax walls should have turned the bubbles of wax cells into hexagonal structures, and these forces should have especially manifested themselves where the walls of three cells meet (It is necessary to recall that Charles Darwin suggested that initially bees make the cells of honeycombs round, but the great naturalist had no evidence for this). In 2004, it was shown experimentally that hot wax cells, when cooled, take on a hexagonal shape.

All this remained to be tested with the participation of real bees, which was done. Bhushan Karihalu and his colleagues fumigated bees building honeycombs with smoke, after which they carefully examined the unfinished structure. It turned out that the most recent cells were round in diameter, while others, sculpted some time ago, had the usual hexagonal shape. The bees themselves heated the wax, with their bodies, to 45 degrees Celsius, and from this soft, fluid mass they sculpted round cells. As they cooled, the wax balls took on a hexagonal shape under the influence of surface tension forces.

On the other hand, even if bees do not sculpt their own hexagons, they still have many tasks that require “engineering skills”: for example, it is necessary to determine the angle of inclination of honeycombs when insects use their own heads as a plumb line, or to accurately determine cell wall thickness. After all, in this case, the researchers did not directly observe the bees making round cells, then abandoning them and moving on to the next ones. In addition, the temperature in the hive may approach the temperature at which the wax begins to soften, so that the bees may have to constantly work to keep the cells in a hexagonal shape.


U Scientists have found that in the absence of a queen bee, worker bees “revolt” against their reproductive dominance.

Insects develop ovaries and become able to lay eggs on their own. The work was published in the journal Current Biology.

Scientists studied the development of larvae in several bee colonies (bee colonies) after their natural and experimental separation. At the same time, scientists paid attention to the development of ovaries and special glands in the larvae, intended for the production of food (royal jelly) for other larvae and the uterus.

Normally, in a bee colony, only the queen lays eggs, and her sterile children - worker bees - perform all other functions, including producing food.

It turned out that when during separation (both natural and experimental) there is no queen in the hive, then the ovaries of the larvae of worker bees growing in such conditions develop well, and the glands intended for producing food, on the contrary, turn out to be underdeveloped. The situation returns to its original state only when the new queen matures and begins to lay her own eggs.

The authors explain this by the fact that when a family is divided, there is an inevitable genetic separation of worker bees and the queen. Before the colony splits, worker bees raise their siblings. After the queen leaves the hive, the next queen (sister of the worker bees) produces offspring that are twice as genetically distant from the worker population. Unwilling to raise their nephews, some worker bees "revolt" and begin laying their own eggs.

Scientists note that despite the reproductive altruism known among social insects - bees, ants, wasps - its source is concern for one’s own genes. When a community becomes genetically heterogeneous, it becomes more profitable to reproduce independently.

They will spend 4 million euros to find the reasons for the disappearance of bees.

The European Commission has allocated €4 million to support research aimed at understanding the reasons for the decline in the number of honey bee colonies. The funds will be used until June 2013 to organize observations in 17 EU member countries. This work is carried out in connection with the findings of a project implemented in 2009 by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The findings of this document indicate a lack of information on the extent and reasons for the decline in the number of honey bee colonies in the European Union. Among a number of other possible causes of this phenomenon, pesticides are called. Recently, EFSA proposed improved methods for assessing the effects of pesticides on bees.

Source: Agrow


Scientists have studied the behavior of bees and found that mobile communications influence their behavior and reduce the population size

Scientists placed mobile phones near the hive and observed the behavior of bees. It turned out that 20-40 minutes after turning on the phones, the bees began to make a specific sound calling for swarming. They calmed down only two minutes after turning off their cell phones.
However, during observation, the bees did not begin to swarm - even 20 hours after the phone was turned on. However, such cell phone exposure could have a major impact on losses in bee colonies, scientists say. Bees often behave in the same way when someone knocks on the hive or opens it. Among the causes that have a deadly effect, scientists also name pesticides that affect the nervous system of bees, a decrease in the number of wild flowers, and modern farming methods. Over the past 25 years, bee populations have halved in the US and UK alone, and this process continues.

Daily Mail, Observer

In recent years, there has been a high mortality rate of honey bees

Purdue University scientists may have identified one of the factors causing bee deaths in agricultural fields.

A two-year study of dead bees in and around hives at several Indiana apiaries revealed the presence of neonicotinoid insecticides, which are widely used to treat corn and soybean seeds before planting. The study found that these insecticides were present in high concentrations in waste talc emitted from agricultural machinery during planting.

The insecticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam were also found in low concentrations in soil, up to two years after sowing treated seeds, on dandelion flowers and in corn pollen collected by bees, the study, published in the journal PLoS One, said.

“We know that these insecticides are highly toxic to bees. We found them in every sample of dead and dying bees,” said Christian Krupke, professor of entomology and co-author of the study.

The United States loses about a third of its honey bee colonies every year. According to Greg Hunt, a professor of behavioral genetics at Purdue University, a honey bee specialist and co-author of the study. Hunt says no single factor can be blamed, although scientists believe other factors, such as mites and insecticides, all work against bees, which are important for pollinating food crops and wild plants.

Krupke and Hunt received reports of bee deaths in 2010 and 2011. occurred during sowing in hives near agricultural fields. Toxicology screening by study co-author Brian Eitzer of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station for a panel of pesticides found that neonicotinoids, used to treat corn and soybean seed, were present in every sample of affected bees. Krupke said other bees in these hives exhibited shaking, uncoordinated movement and seizures - signs of insecticide poisoning.

The seeds of most annual crops are coated with neonicotinoid insecticides to protect against soil pests and in the first days after germination after sowing. Thus, all corn seeds and about half of soybean seeds are processed. The coating is sticky, and in order for the seeds to move freely in the vacuum systems of the seeders, they are mixed with talcum powder. Excess talc used in the process is discarded during planting and regular equipment cleaning procedures.

“With corn planting rates and talc use in mind, we are releasing large amounts of contaminated talc into the environment. The dust is quite light and, apparently, equally mobile,” says Krupke.

He said corn pollen brought into hives by bees later in the year contained neonicotinoids below 100 ppb.

"That's enough to kill bees when consuming large amounts of an insecticide that is not highly toxic in smaller doses," he said.

On the other hand, produced talc found extremely high levels of insecticides - 700 thousand times higher than the lethal dose for bees.

“Whatever was on the seed ends up in the environment,” Krupke says. “This material is so concentrated that even small amounts of it falling on flowering plants can kill a foraging bee or be carried into the hive in contaminated nectar. This may be why we found these insecticides in the pollen that the bees collected and brought back to the hives.”

Krupke suggests efforts should be directed toward reducing or eliminating talc release during planting.

“This is the first target for corrective action,” he says. “This is a huge source of potential environmental pollution, not only for honey bees, but for any insects living in or around the fields.” The fact that these substances can persist for months and years means that plants growing in these soils can absorb them into leaves or pollen.”

Although corn and soybean production do not require insect pollination, this is not the case for most food-producing plants. Krupke notes that agriculture will benefit from protecting bees, since most fruit trees, hickory trees and vegetable crops depend on honey bees for pollination. The USDA estimates the benefits of honeybees to commercial agriculture at $15-20 billion annually.

Hunt says he will continue to study the sublethal effects of neonicotinoids. In his opinion, for bees that are not killed by insecticides, effects such as loss of the ability to find their way home, or less resistance to diseases or mites, are possible.

He adds: "I think it's important to stop and try to understand the risks associated with these insecticides."

The study was funded by the North American Pollinator Campaign and the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.

Based on materials from: N. Biktimirova, Seeddaily.com

Canada is about to reconsider its attitude towards neonicotinoids

The Canadian Pest Management Agency (PMRA) is set to reassess the environmental risks associated with the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides. Particular attention will be paid to their impact on the state of populations of bees and other pollinators. These insecticides are clothianidin and thiamethoxam, which will be evaluated together, and imidacloprid, which is already being evaluated.

Re-evaluation will be carried out for all agricultural uses of these insecticides, including seed treatment, soil treatment, crop spraying and indoor use. PMRA notes that this work was initiated based on the “need for new information on risks to pollinators.” She added that significant scientific research is currently being conducted on the effects of neonicotinoids on pollinators. In this area, PMRA interacts with international partners who are also involved in drug registration. Together they are trying to develop new methods to improve risk assessment procedures and develop a system of measures to reduce them.

A PMRA spokesman said he has a report on bee mortality studies in Canada and around the world. If the information received gives reason to believe that there are significant risks to the environment and human health from the use of pesticides, the PMRA will develop appropriate regulations.

The US Environmental Protection Agency said in 2009 that it intended to carry out a review in 2011/12. evaluation of six neonicotinoid insecticides. The EU's food safety authority recently questioned the findings of two groups of European scientists that imidacloprid and thiamethoxam pose a high risk to bee populations. The results of these studies have led some EU member states to call for a review of the safety of neonicotionides.

Published: January 21, 2016. Views: 2,211.



The non-profit organization Genetic Literacy Project at George Mason Public University (Virginia, USA) has published a review of research into the causes of mass death of bees in individual countries and regions and in the world as a whole.

The review contains the following interesting facts and conclusions:

1. The number of bees in the world is increasing

The thesis of the world media and activists of environmental and other public organizations that the number of bee colonies in the world is steadily declining is refuted by the results of scientific research. The reduction in the number of bee colonies occurs only in certain countries, while the opposite trend is taking place in the world. Beekeepers are restoring the loss of bee colonies and have so far dealt with this problem quite successfully.

2. Bee deaths in the United States also occur in the summer.

At the same time, in many countries there is an increase in the death of bees not only during the wintering period, but also during the beekeeping season. This, for example, is evidenced by official data on the death of bees in the USA (losses during wintering are highlighted in yellow, losses during the year are highlighted in red):



3. There are about 60 causes of bee death

4. Economic, social and political factors also influence the death of bees.

Other causes of bee collapse

According to researchers, one of the reasons for the mass death of bees is the evolution of the professional (commercial) beekeeping sector in the “beekeeping powers”, accompanied by an expansion in the scale of transportation of bees and, at the same time, their parasites and diseases. A clear example of this is the rapid spread of “Asian” nosema around the world.