Honeybee’s Picking Up a Large Amount of Pesticides via Non-Crop Plants

Honeybee's Picking Up a Large Amount of Pesticides via Non-Crop Plants - Health Council

“A Purdue University study shows that honeybees collect the vast majority of their pollen from plants other than crops, even in areas dominated by corn and soybeans, and that pollen is consistently contaminated with a host of agricultural and urban pesticides throughout the growing season.”

“The pollen samples represented up to 30 plant families and contained residues from pesticides spanning nine chemical classes, including neonicotinoids — common corn and soybean seed treatments that are toxic to bees. The highest concentrations of pesticides in bee pollen, however, were pyrethroids, which are typically used to control mosquitoes and other nuisance pests.”

Read the full article: Honeybees pick up ‘astonishing’ number of pesticides via non-crop plants