Due to human farming techniques and use of pesticides in order to keep bugs away from plants and vegetables, bumblebees are stumbling upon the insecticide imidacloprid. However, this is not completely lethal to the bees. Once a bee is exposed to this chemical, it doesn't have an affect on that particular bee's lifespan. So then how is this a bad thing?
The exposure of the bees to this chemical causes the bees to become extremely lazy. The bees don't care for larvae as much, don't help in the maintaining of their nest, and avoid social interactions amongst other bees in their colony. If a group of bees within a specific nest was to stumble upon this chemical, the long-term growth and health of that colony will noticeably suffer. Bumblebees have a huge role to play in maintaining the temperature of their nest. If the imidacloprid affected bees are too lazy to do so, once the temperatures outside become too cool, the nest will essentially freeze and die.
The long term effects of these bees being exposed to this chemical could be drastic. If just a few bees are exposed and ingest the insecticide, it quickly has detrimental effects on the bee's nest in question. If these "lazy" bees are continuously mating and not contributing to their respected nests, we could easily see a quick decline in the population of bumblebees. This comes into call for the restriction of these types of chemicals. As we have discussed in class, and even heard during the Beyond Plastics seminar, what we as humans do has a huge effect on the environment as a whole. I believe that if farmers and big companies restrict the usage of pesticides such as imidacloprid and educate themselves on the effects of exposing the environment to certain chemicals, there would be a little more hope for the health of our planet. If companies continue to disregard the impact of themselves on the environment, it could be, and already is, extremely problematic. If the bee population was to go extinct, there would be a huge disruption in the natural systems and food webs we have learned about in class. Bee-eating animals, plants, and us as humans would be affected if the bee population was to decline, or worst-case scenario; disappear.
SOURCES:
[article]
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/pesticide-exposure-alters-bumblebee-behavior-in-their-nests-65054
[image]
https://images.app.goo.gl/f32botQYhuRHaGxH9
Gabby Binghi is author of this, correct?
ReplyDeleteYes! my apologies!
DeleteFirst, I found it fascinating that a chemical could alter the behavior of an species in the same way that drugs affect humans. Normally when someone thinks of pesticides harming specific species, we think of killing, not altering behavior. I found it very informative that bees became less active, and in turn, made the entire colony less active. This also highlights an issue we have with farming and what we use in farming. We tend to value mass production of food and use chemicals to achieve this. The trade-off is that these chemicals usually have some harmful impact on the environment. We need to start rethinking what we value when it comes to food production.
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought to light the fact that even though these pesticides may seem safe at first, they can have a serious effect on bee behavior and could lead to the depletion of bee populations later on. This is critical because, as you mentioned, bees play a critical role in the environment. Not only do they enable many other animal and plant species, they pollinate plants that humans rely on for food. Without a strong bee pollution human agriculture and natural ecosystems could collapse. We should certainly be raising more awareness about this issue so that the use of these chemicals is discontinued.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you point out the harmful impacts of a pesticide that does not necessarily kill bees and yet still has a harmful impact on them. Clearly pesticides are bad but what alternatives would you suggest to farmers instead of using pesticides? While simply banning imidacloprid may seem like the right course of action, there will always be other new pesticides to get around those laws.
ReplyDeleteI found this topic really interesting because when you think of pesticides being used you usually think of it killing certain species. This pesticide doesn't kill bees but it has disastrous affects of the longtime survival of bees nests. Additionally, I had never heard of this pesticide before so there definitely needs to be more awareness surrounding it's use.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good topic! Many people I feel like are uninformed about the great impact bees have on our environment. They may seem like pests but contribute to the nature that surrounds us. In regards to keeping them abundant but helping farmers out, what should we do instead of pesticides?
ReplyDeleteThis topic particular interested me because it talks about the lives of the bee's rather than the bee's dying like most media outlets cover. This article provides a cause and effect of a commonly used pesticide in farming. The increase in depopulation ultimately disrupts the ecosystem.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this topic because you explained how the pesticides affect the nesting habits of bees. While many people know the bees are endangered, I feel like people aren't properly educated other ways to preserve the population.
ReplyDeletepesticides are always talked about for their negative impact on animals but i didnt know they could have an effect such as this. Our bees are already at danger and the danger from pesticides could be very bad too. I think we should create drone bees instead and call them Autonomous Drone Insect or ADI... what could go wrong?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this article. I agree with you that companies need to start being held accountable for their actions. I also liked how you tied it back to Judith Enck;s seminar!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this article and I think you did a good job on writing about it. Before, I have never heard about the pesticide and it was very interesting to learn about it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic. I have heard that pesticides can affect bees, but I never knew that it was this drastic of an effect. The phrase "worker bees" certainly is not a coincidence and bees do have large roles do play in their lives. It's unfortunate that these artificial chemicals are causing bees to deviate from their normal lifestyles.
ReplyDeleteLove this different perspective and insight into a pesticide that doesn't kill bees but one that changes the bee's behavior, like drugs do on humans. Scary to see the existence of these pesticides used on bees and the severity of its impact on the nest. Nice touch connecting the topic to the Beyond Plastics seminar.
ReplyDelete