A group of new, recently released studies, led by Christopher Connolly at the University of Dundee and Dr. Geraldine Wright, shed light about bees and the effects of a pesticide known as neonicotinoid.
According to The Guardian, neonicotinoid, is blocking a part of the bees' brains' which are used for learning. The results show that some bees cannot even determine the scents of flowers and nectar.
The result of the effect could be devastating as bees pollinate three-quarters of crops throughout the world and also pollinate plants in the wild.
"The findings add to existing research that neonicotinoid pesticides are contributing to the decline in bee populations," saidThe Guardian.
The new findings show that within 20 minutes of exposure to the pesticides, the neuro n's in the major learning center of bees, stopped firing. This was the first time a study has shown such detrimental effects to a bees' health.
"It was the first to show the pesticides had a direct impact on pollinator brain physiology," said Connolly who works at the University of Dundee and also led a peer-reviewed study which was published in Nature Communications.
Another peer-reviewed study concluded with similar results, with bees forgetting the association between a floral scent and food rewards.
"Disruption in this important function has profound implications for honeybee colony survival, because bees that cannot learn will not be able to find food," said Dr. Wright who led the study and works at Newcastle University.
A separate study, however, was compromised because of the wide-spread use of neonicotinoid. The control group didn't display clear results because their habitat was contaminated with the pesticides, unknowingly.
The study was at the heart of the UK's resistance to suspend use of the dangerous pesticide across member states in the EU. The UK was only one of nine member states in the EU which opposed the suspension. There are 27 total member states.
"This study had no controls and all we can really learn from it is that bumblebee nests placed on farmland, even on farms currently using no neonicotinoids, are likely to be exposed to a cocktail of these chemicals...," said Professor David Goulson, at the University of Stirling.
A previous study, conducted by the European Food Safety Authority , however, did show that three seperate neonicotinoid's were labeled as an "unnaceptable danger to bees," according to The Guardian.
Further tests are currently being implemented before any final decision is made.
The dangerous pesticide has already been banned in areas such as France, Germany, Italy and Slovenia.
