Glyphosate perturbs the gut microbiota of honey bees

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ^ | 09/24/2018 | Erick V. S. Motta

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

Increased mortality of honey bee colonies has been attributed to several factors but is not fully understood. The herbicide glyphosate is expected to be innocuous to animals, including bees, because it targets an enzyme only found in plants and microorganisms. However, bees rely on a specialized gut microbiota that benefits growth and provides defense against pathogens. Most bee gut bacteria contain the enzyme targeted by glyphosate, but vary in whether they possess susceptible versions and, correspondingly, in tolerance to glyphosate. Exposing bees to glyphosate alters the bee gut community and increases susceptibility to infection by opportunistic pathogens. Understanding how glyphosate impacts bee gut symbionts and bee health will help elucidate a possible role of this chemical in colony decline.

[crazycat]

Yr right....it is a huge problem.

[BuffaloJack]

“Anyway, on the Roundup question... The plants with Roundup are DEAD. Bees don’t care about dead plants.”

The intestinal flora in the bees are plants (bacteria and yeast). Roundup kills plants and intestinal flora. You can’t live without intestinal flora. Kill off the bees’ intestinal flora and the bees die.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

According to the article, some bees’ intestinal flora were more resistant to the herbicide than others.

[Rennes Templar]

Leaky gut syndrome is becoming more and more prevalent. Wheat is said to be a factor, but Roundup could be too, or wheat exposed to Roundup.

[mewzilla]

Wonder if the problem is that bee keepers are buying the same genetic stock. If there’s less genetic diversity, seems that there’d be a greater chance of something wiping out lots of bees.

[HKMk23]

“...the residue finding it’s way into the consumed seeds of the plants it was deliberately sprayed on.”

Seeds contain two small tips of meristematic cells, and glyphosate could make its way there. Ultimate concentration would depend on the maturity of the seeds at the time of application. Beyond that, when the plant withers to a dry crunchy heap a week later, are the seeds dropped or still attached to the plant? Worthy of note is that the typical plants targeted in application of herbicides are undesirable weeds, not edibles, nor typically the seed-bearing plants most attractive to foragers.

Bottom line is I agree with your take that this investigation long ago left behind the world of the 80/20 Rule and is now way off into the tall grass of some fractional percentage of possible impact that will never be significant enough to amount to anything of note.

[HKMk23]

“...glyphosphate ‘has a possible role’ in ‘colony decline,’ ...”

Agreed. Glyphosate impact on the gut flora of honeybees may be measurable in lab analysis of individual bees, but is it life-altering for the bee, or is it something more like a nagging indigestion that is surmountable both on the individual, and therefore also the collective, level?

It’s good to know there’s an identified vector for the impact of glyphosate on bees, but unless that vector is robust, and is an avenue of dire negative to the whole hive, that it has been identified isn’t, of itself, basis to quit use of glyphosate.

There would have to be research-supported evidence that glyphosate substantively disrupts the gut flora of honeybees to an extent that is so life-altering for the affected individuals as to be a negative life-cycle impact to the whole hive to which those individuals belong. I still think we’re a long way from a finding of that gravity.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

There is some dispute over whether there is a real “hive collapse” trend. But what happens in some cases is that bee farms have dead bees, get new live ones to replace them, and still make a profit.