I've been doing some reading about Roundup and honeybees. I've read several articles on the internet that indicate that although it may not be toxic to honeybees, it may affect their sensitivity to nectar and ability to eat/digest it, and impair their learning ability among other things. These studies seem to be done with large fields of crops, including some Monsanto GMO corn crops, etc. I'm curious about this because we have used Roundup for years at our house on the weeds in our natural areas and around the yard. I don't want to do anything to hurt my bees, so I'm trying to figure out if this is a "Don't use it at all" thing or if it won't affect them if used in small quantities on plants they don't pollinate or attend to.
Anyone else use Roundup or have knowledge about research on use of Roundup in smaller quantities/areas?
I think the bottom line is that we have too few studies now to say much about impacts on honeybees with any degree of certainty. That said, we do know that roundup causes immunosuppresion, hermaphroditism, sex reversal, and outright mortality in some vertebrate animals (google R. Relyea and his papers on amphibians and other animals) and we're starting to see some reputable papers on negative impacts on insects. These impacts extend far beyond just the plant and how it reacts to Roundup. We have a paper in review that demonstrated immunosuppresion and higher mortality in honeybees from high-intensity row crop agricultural areas versus areas with less ag (e.g., pastures). Don't know why so subsequent studies will be required but the findings mirror those published for other animals (e.g., spade foot toads in the southern Great Plains). Sadly, our contemporary landscape is changing so fast that implementing enough scientific investigations to evaluate all the potential impacts just isn't feasible. For all the bad things that CCD did, it bring to public consciousness the plight of bees and has pumped some much-needed funds into bee research. We're much farther along in our thinking than we were a decade ago.
Yep, Roundup is just one of many things we have little control over but we don't have to like it nor do we have to use on our personal properties. I suspect that you have a very good idea which plant species attract bees and which ones do not. I use it but very carefully and not broadcast over large areas. Somehow, turning a leopard frog into a hermaphrodite doesn't appeal to me!!
Good question by the way!
