Bees Use Medicine to Fight Infection

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that when honeybees get sick, members of the colony go out and find anti-fungal plant extracts.  They then return with these healing extracts and coat the hives with them.

In the past, U.S. beekeepers have tried to minimize this resin in the hives because it is sticky and hard to work with.

It turns out the bees know what they are doing.

Answer to What's Killing All the Bees?

For the past several years, honeybee colonies have been dying off in horrifying numbers. Since 2006, nearly one third of our honeybees have disappeared. In case you are wondering why this is such a big deal, consider that it is the honeybee that pollinates a significant number of our crops, including apples, cucumbers, broccoli, onions, pumpkins, carrots, avocados, and almonds. We rely on these guys.

Researches now believe that corn insecticides are the culprit. Neonicotinoid insecticides kill insects by paralyzing their nerves and are widely used because they are not too harmful to other animals. With corn, the seeds are coated in this insecticide as they are being planted in the ground. Apparently bee die-offs have been found to increase around the time of corn planting in areas where this type of insecticide is used.

Hopefully now we can find a way to grow our food without killing off the animals we need to grow our food.