Bees Love Nicotine, Even Though It’s Killing Them
If a ubiquitous class of pesticides called neonicotinoids harms bees and other pollinators —as many scientists think they do—why don’t those buzzing insects just avoid pollen and nectar that contains them?
That’s the question posed by a new study published in Nature by a team of UK researchers. Champions of these chemicals, the authors note, often argue that bees can simply choose not to forage on neonic-laced plants—an entomological twist, I guess, on the personal-responsibility creed often employed by the food industry to defer blame for the harmful effects of junk food.
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