Queen bees less likely to lay eggs, start colony after insecticide exposure 'If queens don’t produce eggs or start new colonies, it is possible that bumblebees could die out': researcher

From CBC

Some queen bumblebees exposed to a common insecticide may never lay eggs or start colonies, which would lead to their extinction, researchers say.

The latest findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, found exposure to thiamethoxam can substantially affect how many eggs are laid by queen bees.

A year ago, the same Canadian and British researchers showed queen bees were less likely to feed, and their eggs developed more slowly after just a two-week exposure to thiamethoxam, an insecticide in the neonicotinoid family.

The tests examined exposure amounts that would be similar to those sprayed on a farmers' field. Bumblebees are important crop pollinators.

'Could go extinct'

Queen bees exposed to thiamethoxam for two weeks were 26 per cent less likely to lay eggs, the research shows. No eggs means no worker bees, which means no new colonies.

"A reduction this big in the ability of queens to start new colonies significantly increases the chances that wild populations could go extinct," said Nigel Raine, the Rebanks Family Chair in pollinator conservation and a professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Raine conducted the study with Dr. Gemma Baron and other researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London.

"Creating new bee colonies is vital for the survival of bumblebees — if queens don't produce eggs or start new colonies, it is possible that bumblebees could die out completely," Baron said.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/queen-bumblebees-eggs-colonies-neonicotinoid-pesticide-1.4246158

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