In a first for honeybees, researchers found queens facing chronic pesticide exposure will protect themselves by shunting the toxic chemicals into their eggs, a newly documented defense mechanism known as maternal offloading that may contribute to delayed colony collapse.
Read Full Article
#Bees #Pesticides #ColonyHealth
Read Full Article
#Bees #Pesticides #ColonyHealth
Current Biology
Queen bees offload pesticide burden to eggs when social buffering is overwhelmed
Encerrado-Manriquez et al. show that honey bee hive sociality influences pesticide
deposition across hive matrices, with worker bees buffering the colony and the queen
affecting colony-wide distribution patterns. Under chronic exposure, these social
defenses…
deposition across hive matrices, with worker bees buffering the colony and the queen
affecting colony-wide distribution patterns. Under chronic exposure, these social
defenses…