Study: Insecticide could impair bees' brain function

A close-up of a bee on an astrantia flower

(Image credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

published 6 February 2015

New research from the University of St. Andrews and the University of Dundee in Scotland have found that common insecticides harm bees' brain functions.

The researchers fed bumblebees neonicotinoid, which is found in insecticides, to measure its impact on their brain cell function. The bees experienced difficulty "realizing that flower scents imply food and being able to find their way back home after foraging," Discovery News reports. The researchers found that the neonicotinoids caused a 55 percent decrease in live bees.

"Our research demonstrates beyond doubt that the level of neonicotinoids generally accepted as the average level present in the wild causes brain dysfunction and colonies to perform poorly when consumed by bumblebees," Dr. Chris Connolly from the University of Dundee said in a statement. "We suggest that the neonicotinoids are no longer used on any bee-friendly garden plants, or on land that is, or will be, used by crops visited by bees or other insect pollinators."