Honey bees show more resistance to pesticides if they eat a natural diet of pollen than artificial diets such as soy protein, say researchers at Penn State University. High rates of bee mortality in recent years have brought concern about the role of agricultural chemicals. In the Penn State study, researchers exposed bees to a widely used insecticide, chlorpyrifos, and fed different diets to groups of them. Bees that ate a pollen-based diet showed less sensitivity to the insecticide. It was the first experiment to show such a strong link, said entomology professor Christina Grozinger, director of Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research.
“Diet and nutrition can greatly impact the ability of bees to resist pesticides, and likely other stressors. However, agriculture and urbanization have reduced the amounts and diversity of flowering plants available to bees, which likely nutritionally stresses them and makes them more sensitive to these other stressors. If we can figure out which diets and which flowering plants are nutritionally optimal for honey bees, we can help bees help themselves,” said Grozinger in a Penn State news release.