About Writing Research On Effects Of Pesticides On Bee Life (Research Paper Sample)

Effects of Pesticides on Bee life
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Abstract
For many years, the beekeepers have been conversant with the environmental state that helps prosper their bees. A healthy and diverse floral surrounding is the recipe for the bees. However, use of pesticides has had very adverse effects on these bees. Bees live together as a colony and function harmoniously as a society. Challenges posed by parasites, diseases and infectious microorganisms or weather changes that negatively affect flower yield were the only setbacks faced by the beekeepers. Therefore, this paper is going to expound and explain the effects these pesticides have on the bees’ life and ways to manage the applications of the components to reduce the impact they have on bee life.
 
Effects of Pesticides on bee life
1. Introduction
In the recent past, agricultural specialists have researched and come up with chemical substances to suppress unwanted plant species. The development of every form of pesticide was to destroy targeted plant species including parasites and plant diseases. Bees are susceptible to the danger of high mortality brought about by these chemical substances. The continuous use of pesticides for pest control in farms plays the significant role in the current decline in the number of
Several scholars argue that herbicides and fungicides considered safe for insects could less likely influence the production of bees. On the contrary, the researchers have gone further to explain that prolonged use of herbicides leads to a reduced variety of plant species capable of producing flowers, which are necessary for the production of the bees. Further, the chemical synergy of certain fungicides and herbicides could have detrimental effects on honeybees.[Barnett , Charlton and Fletcher (2007)]
There is a need for well-structured management for ensuring that beekeeping continues to thrive amidst threats from pesticides. Bees no longer depend on flowers in their surrounding for them to produce honey and wax, but instead seem to be mainly depending on the quality and availability of food that they can collect. Doing this makes it easy to understand the fact that flowers contaminated with pesticides have the immense impact on the health of bees and their productivity. Therefore, it should be clear how bees’ exposure to these chemical substances to manage the situation appropriately.[Sánchez and Goka (2014)]
2. Details of the proposal
2.1. Exposure of bees to agrochemicals
In most scenarios, application of pesticides is mostly as sprays on the plant canopy while herbicides and fungicides are applied to the soil directly before crops are planted. Wind can carry with it the dust or particles from the pesticides, which could fall of bees flying within or around the nearby area. One drop of an insecticide could be sufficient to destroy a bee naturally because the spray solution carries with it a concentrated dose of the chemical. Herbicides and fungicides that are incorporated into the soil do not have immediate exposure to honey bees.[Craig, Woods and Dorr 2000]
Systemic is commonly applied as the coating to the seeds being planted. The seeds treated with chemicals are usually drilled to the ground using planters, which end up producing vibrations that let dust from the seeds into the air. Bees that are within the planting area could easily get exposed to the chemical dust leading to bee killings. Often, plants take up the systemic insecticides as they germinate leaving residues in most parts of the plant such as the flowers. Nearby plants like weeds get affected too as they take up the chemical residues through the soil from the lateral water.[Barnett , Charlton and Fletcher]
The exposure of bees in most cases is through ingestion of pollen and nectar of plants that are already contaminated with pesticides. After ingestion, forager bees take up the dust and nectar back to the hives and are left in the beebread and honey for an extended period. The larvae and queen feed on the residues and end up being affected similarly to forager bees.
Apart from food, honeybees drink water to regulate their temperature. Residues that are found in the soil including spray drifts are then transferred into the water. The most likely victims of contaminated water are wild bees, honeybees, and bumblebees which like to drink water from pools.
Acaricides used to control parasites including Varroa makes bees vulnerable to the pesticide. Bees are forced to be exposed to the residue on the waxy comb, which primarily affects developing larvae and the queen.
With the overwhelming variety of agrochemicals necessary for the production of crops, a large number of residues of different compounds have been found in apiaries. Doing this makes it clear that through the several ways in which bees are exposed to pesticides, a single chemical substance alone does not threaten bees but a combination of several agricultural chemical elements.
2.2. Toxicology of pesticides
Pesticides are a group of toxic chemicals designed to kill or control targeted organisms by altering their metabolic pathways including those of species sharing similar metabolism. They are in the category of insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and rodenticides. Pesticides are toxic to bees while herbicides are highly innocuous. Acaricides are less poisonous to bees than to their target but could have adverse effects on the health of bees in case of excessive residues in their comb.[Sánchez and Goka 2014]
The measurement of toxicity of a pesticide is by its ability to bring about injury or illness, which is achieved through subjecting test animals to different dosages of an active ingredient and each of its formulated products. The chemical substance in a pesticide that can control pests is the active ingredient. Toxicity of a pesticide is divided into acute and chronic depending on the number of exposures and the time.
Acute toxicity refers to the concentration of a toxicant or somewhat active ingredient required to destroy a given percentage of test species in a test area. Acute toxicity of a pesticide is easy to determine through lab analysis compared to chronic toxicity. Similarly, the measure of chronic toxicity is by exposing test animals to the active ingredient for a long duration. Harmful effects realized from small doses repeatedly used over a specified period are referred to as chronic effects. Chronic effects thought to arise because of specific pesticides include congenital disabilities, blood disorders, production of tumors and neurotoxic disorders.[Barnett , Charlton and Fletcher]
The persistence of pesticides is determined by the time that is required by half the amount of a chemical substance to disappear from water, soil or air including biological tissues. Neonicotinoids, e.g. (imidacloprid) and fipronil which are systemic insecticides are more poisonous and persistent than most of organophosphorus, e.g., Malathion, carbamates, e.g., carbofuran and pyrethroids, e.g., cypermethrin.
3. Risk of pesticides to bees.
Use of pesticides has become part of modern agriculture. With the continuous use of pesticides, there come detrimental side effects. Risks are the anticipated harm which bees are likely to experience in the event of their exposure to harmful pesticides. Such risks include:
3.1. The threat from exposure to spray
Spray drifts are the most commonly known causes of bee poisoning. It happens when during the application of pesticides to particular crops drift onto plants especially flowers of different species. “Drift” refers to the airborne movement of chemicals intended for agricultural purpose as droplets, vapor or even particles. Therefore, this is not only affecting bees but also could destroy other plants and have substantial health risks to human. Minimizing spray drifts calls for farmers to ensure that they always adhere to instructions and restrictions on chemicals. Further, use of chemical formulations that are rapidly degradable and are less likely to drift, ensure that there are no susceptible plant and animal life around the area to be sprayed with pesticides, use appropriately calibrated equipment and check weather conditions before using sprays.
3.2. Risk of oral exposure
The danger occurs when bees ingest food contaminated with pesticides. This scenario is considered the typical exposure of bees in the hive. Bees foraging on melon crops may also be exposed to pesticides via guttation fluid, a xylem sap exudate that is eliminated through leaf hydathodes. Colonies exposed to these pesticides exhibit symptoms similar to those of malnutrition despite the availability of pollen. This leads to poor brood rearing, weakening of the province and could lead to colony loss.[Sánchez and Goka]
Imidacloprid in melon guttation fluid: a potential mode of exposure for pest and beneficial organisms. J. Econ. Entomol. 105 (1), 67–71
Acoording toSánchez and Goka (2014), risk assessment for honey bees and pesticides—recent developments and Bnew issues^. Pest. Manag. Sci. 66 (11), 1157–1162
3.3. The risk from synergistic of pesticides
Majority of the registered pesticides for the production of the agricultural products has no significant measure of risk they should have on bee life. The other name of synergistic of pesticides is “chemical cocktails” where farmers combine more than one chemical pesticides, which could be safe for bees in their own right but may be harmful when combined with other chemicals. Farmers have a problem in ascertaining...