Scientists are sounding alarms that a chemical in weed killer, previously thought safe for animals, is killing honey bees. The global use of infamous Monsanto chemical glyphosate is said to be damaging the “good gut bacteria” of bees.
This latest study was done with the intent to answer a lingering question: why are bee populations are dying, a trend which could devastate worldwide crop production? Between 2016 and 2017, beekeepers in the United States lost 33 percent of their honey bee populations, according to the University of Maryland and Bee Informed. And in the past decade, beekeepers and scientists have been fighting hard to understand a condition known as Colony Collapse Disorder.
Feared at best and considered a useless, disposable nuisance at worst, bees are among the most underappreciated creatures on the planet.
That’s a shame because our very existence relies on the tiny buzzing creatures.
We’ve known for years that bee populations all across North America and Europe are collapsing at an alarming rate. –Ready Nutrition
But now, evidence has surfaced that Monsanto’s weed killer glyphosate appears to destroy the so-called good bacteria in honeybees’ guts, leaving the insects more prone to infection and even death, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. Newsweek reported that in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers suggested that because glyphosate can kill microorganisms, it would also be very likely to damage a bee’s microbiome. The microbiome is a term used to describe the bacteria which populate the inside and outside of living organisms, including humans. the microbiome is believed to play a vital role in maintaining health.
Dr. Nancy Moran, Professor of Integrative Biology at The University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences who co-lead the study, said: “Studies in humans, bees and other animals have shown that the gut microbiome is a stable community that resists infection by opportunistic invaders. So if you disrupt the normal, stable community, you are more susceptible to this invasion of pathogens.”
“Right now the guidelines assume bees are not harmed by the herbicide,” said Erick Motta, a graduate student who led the study. “Our study shows that’s not true.” The authors of the study are urging those who use products containing the chemical (from farmers to amateur gardeners) to stop using it with plants which bees might collect nectar from.
To investigate the role the weed killer plays in the depletion of bee populations, researchers collected honey bees with established gut microbiota. They dosed the insects with glyphosate at levels equal to those found in crops, and labeled them so they could be tracked and found again. They repeated their experiments on bees from a different hive.
The scientists drew DNA samples from the bees’ guts. After three days, the researchers found glyphosate had killed off good bacteria in the bees’ digestive systems. That included Snodgrassella alvi, which the authors described as the “core bee gut species.” –Newsweek
The authors also suggest that government agents get involved and regulate the weed killer to prevent more bee deaths. Instead, there are things we can do as individuals that will be of a greater impact, and more immediate than awaiting government action and bureaucratic paperwork. According to Ready Nutrition, it isn’t all that difficult to help the ailing bee populations in your area and of your own free will!
Provide flowering plants from April through October (early spring through fall). Plant native wildflowers that bloom throughout the year in containers on your windowsill, porch or deck, or in your garden. Since these flowers attract bumblebees and other pollinators, they will enhance pollination of your fruit and vegetable crops too.
Because most queens overwinter in small holes on or just below the ground’s surface, avoid raking, tilling or mowing your yard until April or May. If you do need to mow, do so with the mower blade set at the highest safe level.
Many native bumblebees build their nests in undisturbed soil, abandoned rodent burrows, or clumps of grass. Preserve un-mown, brushy areas and do not destroy bumblebee nests when you find them. Reduce soil tilling and mowing where bumblebees might nest.
Avoid all pesticide use. –Ready Nutrition
Be the change you’d like to see. It is a lot easier to take action on your own to help the bees than wait around for the government to write something down on paper and get bureaucrats gathered to follow through with any kind of plan.
Bee the change.
If you have a hive of bees on your property, bee keepers will remove it for free. Do NOT call an insect exterminator or spray the hive yourself.
Bees like lavender. Fleas and ticks do not.
_
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Yeah but the Glyphosate manufacturers are still fighting back to continue the use of this gut poison by paying for various entities to produce arguments against banning this chemical onslaught on nature. The US government supports the Glyphosate makers and the use of it on crops with no regard for the health of humans or pollinating insects. The bigger picture is what does that tell you about those pushing this poison. It tells me they think they are infallible and are enemies of healthy life.
My bees like the white flowers on chive plants this time of year. Easy plant to grow and quite prolific.
I use Glyphosate to kill weeds around fences, buildings, and wherever I can’t use a mower, weed-whacker, or brush
remover. I keep precise records of usage and where applied.
I have plenty of bees, wasps, and insects.
This is purely anecdotal. As a rule I don’t believe anything
from UT Austin as they are stark-raving liberals.
In fact I don’t believe anything a Democrat says about the environment or much of anything.
Prep for disasters, prep to survive Democrats.
Agree! I set up a Norse South residence in the spring and spot sprayed a couple pesky weeds and poison ivy with Roundup . I also set out three Mason Bee homes and got good occupancy. I didn’t see any relationship. I did leave over 500 feet of boundary as natural, and nature gave me lots of wildflowers.
You’re very foolish. Do you know what Agent Orange is?
That is what was made into “weed killers”/etc for here after it did such a grand job in Vietnam and they did not want to waste what they had, and profit from what they could make more of with very LITTLE change.
DO THE RESEARCH, then go see what is still ongoing in Vietnam with the “critters”, foliage, infants, etc. In direct correlation when graphed is the rise of prostate cancer in men with the use of glyphosate. It stays in the land that long, so if you ever sell your place, it would be responsible and honorable for you to inform the new owners of what poisons they and their children, and unborn children will suffer.
White Vinegar does the same job without the same poisonous to all residue. Go on, research it yourself. Really.
But also know that many places of truth on the net are being blocked, and it IS time we the people stopped that from happening. [The internet was created here in America by governmental sources (varied). It was created by those who now claim ownership when it was created by the PEOPLE’S representatives who SERVE WITHIN our governmental agencies and schools for the PEOPLE as all things are done in government in the name of the people]
Then read the Bill of Rights, understand that we do NOT have the LAWFULNESS here in America to cause harm to another or to their property. Be American, be informed as a juror, be informed as to what things you use can get into the *water supply, food chain, etc.
*Our planet is recycles water when used, but there are poisons it cannot clean up. WE do NOT lose water, it just changes shape, and sometimes changes from above ground to underground. It is necessary for ours, and all else, life on this planet. The ONLY way we can make it unusable is to poison it (4th grade class science from long ago that all used to know here in the USA).
Here is something you might need to know…
Bertrand Russell,1953: “… Diet, injections, and injunctions will combine, from a very early age, to produce the sort of character and the sort of beliefs that the authorities consider desirable, and any serious criticism of the powers that be will become psychologically impossible…” (“The Impact of Science on Society”, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1953)
A patented antibiotic known as Glyphosate disrupting gut flora?
Strange (Cough!) that the demonising of Glyphosphate only really got started after the patent ran out. Monsanta must know that before introducing any new god you must destroy the old. For years Monsanta said it was almost as good as mothers milk and now….
It’s a mystery what is going on with bee colony collapse. It’s most likely a combination of many factors like pollution, freak weather, wifi, pesticides, fungus,and mites.
Whatever the causes, if we lose the bees then we lose a major pollinator. It’s not just honey bees but also mason bees and bumble bees too.
MonSATANo needs to be shut down.
Their own employees won’t have their GMO products in their own cafeteria!
Don’t even get me started about the farmers getting sued for using NON-gmo seeds because the GMO seeds used nearby ended up on their farm.
“Evil is that which destroys”, wrote Dr. Peck.
Yup.
Let the Attorney General sue MonSATANo. In the meantime, legally ban Glyphosate. It destroys life and liveliness.
– the Lone Ranger
This stuff has been around for decades!
Farmers all over the world have been using it and no hospital system has reported a spike in farmer or his family getting bad stuff.
OC
To be fair I think they are talking about where an entire field is sprayed. Not a couple of tiny spots.
Fuhgettaboutit. Quit going on about the honey bees. They’re toast. 99-percent all everything that every lived on Earth is dead. We didn’t kill them all. Monsanto and runaway Capitalism did.
Here’s a cute item. Autism may be tied to “Round-up” and Monsanto. And you thought the honey bees had it bad.
What kills the “good” bacteria in the honeybees kills the “good” bacteria in our systems as well. The “good” bacteria are needed for our health. If you can afford organic, eat that. Wash all your fruits and vegetables thoroughly.
Once we destroy the pollinators, the whole bio-system will collapse….like plankton in the ocean. It’s over for mankind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWM_PgnoAtA
I did not know that VINEGAR was a good
weed killer… ut will try it!!!
VINEGAR IS ALSO HEALTHY FOR HUMANS!!
I know people who take a tablespoon of vinegar
with sugar as a dietary supplement.
Yes, glyphosate destroys your “gut flora”.
But did you know pain pills will do the same?
Wonder if vinegar neutralizes glyphosate??