Exposure to a pesticide banned by the European Union significantly affects the learning of honeybees but has no effect on bumblebees, scientists from the University of Sussex have discovered. The research is the first time scientists have looked into how both species respond to field-realistic-levels of the neonicotinoid insecticide ‘clothianidin’ which was banned for use on flowering crops by the European Union in 2013. Scientists exposed honeybee and bumblebee workers to the pesticide for 11-12 days and then assessed the effect of the pesticide using a proboscis extension reflex conditioning assay, which tests how bees learn to associate an odour with a sugar reward. The scientists found that clothianidin impaired the honeybees’ ability to learn the association, but surprisingly had no adverse effects on the bumblebees. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/newsandevents/?id=35058 Coincidence or not, but I just saw the first bumblebee in years. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
