Queen bees dump pesticides into their own eggs: Scientists study this unusual behaviour in bees
Honeybee queens are passing pesticide contamination to their eggs, a phenomenon termed 'maternal offloading' by UC Davis researchers. While worker bees initially filter most pesticides, the queen's body absorbs the remainder, concentrating it in her ovaries and then into developing eggs. This slow accumulation, spread across more eggs when a queen lays prolifically, could pose a long-term threat to colony survival and global food production.
Honeybee queens are passing pesticide contamination to their eggs, a phenomenon termed 'maternal offloading' by UC Davis researchers. While worker bees initially filter most pesticides, the queen's body absorbs the remainder, concentrating it in her ovaries and then into developing eggs. This slow accumulation, spread across more eggs when a queen lays prolifically, could pose a long-term threat to colony survival and global food production.
