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Are we harming the Bees’

Source:  American Association for the Advancement of Science

Researchers have found that using chemicals in the lab at levels shown to occur in the wild, could interfere with the learning circuits in the bee’s brain.  They also found that bees exposed to combined pesticides were slower to learn or completely forgot important associations between floral scent and food rewards.  Intact bee’s where exposed to pesticides in the lab at levels predicted to occur following exposure in the wild and brain activity was recorded.  Researchers found that both types of pesticide target the same area of the bee brain involved in learning, causing a loss of function.

The study is the first to show that these pesticides have a direct impact on pollinator brain physiology.  They found that bees exposed to the pesticides for four days, as many as 30 percent of honeybees failed to learn or performed poorly in memory tests.  Pollinators perform sophisticated behaviors while foraging that require them to learn and remember floral traits associated with food.  Disruption in this important function has profound implications for honeybee colony survival, because bees that cannot learn will not be able to find food.  Researchers are concerned with use of chemicals in the environment that is could have a profound impact on pollinator survival.

The use of goats is an excellent alternative to use of chemicals around your property or farm.  It is hard to compare the budget costs of chemicals versus goats.  Goats do not have a negative impact on the environment especially one that last for years to come.  Goats may eat sensitive species of plants but when considering hiring goats, the goat rancher knows how to leave the goats in one area so that sensitive plants aren’t killed, they may be pruned back but won’t die.

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Proverbs 31:16: “She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.

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