Honey Bees Pesticides Essay

In this investigation I am going to look into how various different types of pesticides affect the Honey Bees, and if they are the cause of the decline in honey bees.

A single honeybee visits hundreds, sometimes thousands, of flowers a day in search of nectar and pollen. Then it must find its way back to the hive, navigating distances up to five miles (eight kilometres). \previous studies have shown certain types of pesticides affect a bee's learning and memory

A pesticide is any substance used to kill or control certain forms of plant or animal life that are considered to be “pests”. Pesticides include herbicides for destroying weeds and other unwanted plants, insecticides for controlling a wide variety of insects, like Bees, fungicides used to prevent the growth of molds and mildew, disinfectants for preventing the

With pesticide consumption increasing several folds during the last four decades, the side effects are also increasing and one of which is the toxicity to honey bees. According to a study in the UK, pesticides damage the ability of bees to gather food and are also killing them in the process. Since bees are the most important pollinators of crops, the use of pesticides can considerably reduce the yield of cross pollinated crops. In addition, contamination of bee products and loss in production of honey are the other effects caused by pesticides on bees.

Unfortunately, many pesticides are harmful to bee population. There are some pesticides that kill the bees directly. This happens when bees are on the flowers at the time of application of the insecticide, and the bees die instantly. Some other types of pesticides, allow the bees to return home and then they die. Such types are easy to identify than the first ones. There are certain pesticides that do not have any effect on the adult honey bees, but cause damage to young, immature bees.