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Study: Common pesticide appears to reduce live bee sperm
Associated Press ^ | Jul 26, 2016 8:10 PM EDT | Seth Borenstein

Posted on 07/26/2016 10:02:09 PM PDT by Olog-hai

A new study finds that a commonly used insecticide kills much of the sperm created by male drone honey bees, one reason why the bees are dwindling.

The class of insecticide called neonicotinoids didn’t kill the drones. But bees that ate treated pollen produced 39 percent less live sperm than those that didn’t, according to a controlled experiment by Swiss researchers published Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

It essentially acted as an accidental contraceptive on the drones, whose main job is to mate with the queen — but not one that prevented complete reproduction, just making it tougher, said Lars Straub, lead author of the study and a doctoral student and researcher at the University of Bern. …

(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...


TOPICS: Agriculture; Food
KEYWORDS: drones; honeybee; neonicotinoids; pesticides
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1 posted on 07/26/2016 10:02:09 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai
Well, considering that it's insecticide, they got off lucky.
2 posted on 07/26/2016 10:03:24 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry

And why are bees dying?


3 posted on 07/26/2016 10:04:16 PM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: FreedomStar3028

Insecticide?


4 posted on 07/26/2016 10:07:04 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: FreedomStar3028

Bees die all the time. Average lifespan of workers during the summer is one month to six weeks. It is incumbent upon the queen (who lives as long as four years) to keep producing new workers.


5 posted on 07/26/2016 10:08:58 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

Considering that the end of the line for this sprayed food is people, is anybody shocked that one of the side effects is to kill sperm? Destroying people is big business and well-paying in our culture of death, and the birds and the bees will just have to go f themselves, and a lot more frequently now that it is made less efficient.


6 posted on 07/26/2016 10:09:06 PM PDT by Dirt for sale (QS)
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To: RegulatorCountry

Too many lawn chemicals. Very few butterflies. Nothing like when I was a kid!


7 posted on 07/26/2016 10:09:17 PM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra (Don't touch that thing Don't let anybody touch that thing!I'm a Doctor and I won't touch that thing!)
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To: Olog-hai

Quick, feed that stuff to all the drones on welfare!


8 posted on 07/26/2016 10:09:28 PM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel (We need the Second Amendment now more than ever.)
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To: Olog-hai

Thanks for posting. Our beekeeping group, and I’m sure most groups around the country, have been trying to educate ourselves on all of the problems our hives can encounter. It’s not just pesticides - GMO products, pests, viruses caused by the pests.. and so on.

My problem this spring has been hive beetles. I did have a hive with some wax moths - not overrun with them - but I sure hate those things.

Okay, enough shop talk. :-)


9 posted on 07/26/2016 10:09:33 PM PDT by Tuscaloosa Goldfinch ( I would LOVE to have my old "substandard" insurance back. It didn't cost $1300 a month.)
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To: Olog-hai
Not new, this has been repeatedly hashed over to no conclusion, as is the fungus Nosema. A non story. Bees have recovered.
10 posted on 07/26/2016 10:14:24 PM PDT by Fungi (Make America America again.)
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To: Olog-hai
Hmmmm, I use Imidacloprid to combat mealy bugs on some of my bamboo plants. Works great. I specifically avoid using it on plants that attract bees. Large scale use of these types of insecticides may well be doing some damage. Similar to glyphosate usage.

That said, honey bees are not native to America, yeah maybe we should wipe them out! < / sarc >

11 posted on 07/26/2016 10:14:54 PM PDT by Paradox (Opinions can evolve, but Principles should be immutable.)
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To: Tuscaloosa Goldfinch

You bee keepers are doing good work but your PR stinks. Films in which bees are prominently featured include My Girl ... and Ulee’s Gold, a boring film with an aged Peter Fonda practicing beekeeping in slow motion.


12 posted on 07/26/2016 10:15:12 PM PDT by Dirt for sale (QS)
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To: Olog-hai
...bees that ate treated pollen produced 39 percent less live sperm than those that didn’t...

It's affecting people, too...


13 posted on 07/26/2016 10:16:16 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: Fungi

You are correct.
https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/07/30/beepocalypse-myth-handbook-dissecting-claims-of-pollinator-collapse/


14 posted on 07/26/2016 10:17:44 PM PDT by Paradox (Opinions can evolve, but Principles should be immutable.)
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To: Olog-hai

Probably wasted billions of tax dollars teaching bees to jerk off into a cup.


15 posted on 07/26/2016 10:18:34 PM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel (We need the Second Amendment now more than ever.)
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To: Dirt for sale

LOL - I know. You left out “The Secret Life of Bees”. I don’t think I ever saw “My Girl”. I have seen “Ulee’s Gold” which I like somewhat because it’s set in Apalachicola and is about beekeeping.


16 posted on 07/26/2016 10:22:53 PM PDT by Tuscaloosa Goldfinch ( I would LOVE to have my old "substandard" insurance back. It didn't cost $1300 a month.)
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To: Olog-hai

Could be their pants are too tight.


17 posted on 07/26/2016 10:39:05 PM PDT by dp0622 (The only thing an upper crust conservative hates more than a liberal is a middle class conservative)
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To: Olog-hai
The class of insecticide called neonicotinoids didn’t kill the drones. But bees that ate treated pollen produced 39 percent less live sperm than those that didn’t, according to a controlled experiment by Swiss researchers published Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

But previous studies have shown that in two hives with neonicotinoids present, one with be thriving and one will be struggling.

It's also true that drones are under stress because they have the longest gestation period among the three types of honeybees in a hive; that timeframe is ideal for Varroa Mite gestation. The mites feed on drone larva, and count on adult drones to carry them hive-to-hive. Mites bite drones to suck the blood; the bites allow disease to take hold.

Back to Neonics for a moment... Neonicotinoids are essential to agriculture on the continent of Africa. They are amazing compounds, derived from the nicotine plant, which can be inserted into the DNA of a host plant. The neonicotinoids are only present in the plant– they don't linger in the soil– and can be fine-tuned to affect only certain pests.

These do-good hand wringers ignore anything that contradicts their desire to live in a world controlled by bureaucrats.

18 posted on 07/26/2016 10:52:05 PM PDT by IncPen (Hey Media: Bias = Layoffs)
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To: Olog-hai

The neonicotinoids are extremely dangerous.

I have a few of the ant bait traps I bought back in the late 80’s or early 90’s. They have something in them called fipronil.

The cover is slathered with warnings from the EPA and the federal government saying basically “you cannot use this product anywhere near bees”...

A single bee can carry back to the hive enough poison to kill hundreds of other bees.


19 posted on 07/26/2016 10:57:25 PM PDT by djf ("She wore a raspberry beret, the kind you find in a second hand store..." - Prince)
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To: FreedomStar3028

“And why are bees dying?”

Mites.


20 posted on 07/26/2016 10:58:43 PM PDT by Timpanagos1
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