Pesticides are considered one of the most serious threats to honey bees and other insects living in agricultural landscapes. But can honey bees actually avoid contaminated flowers? According to a new scientific study published in Scientific Reports, the answer may be yes.

Researchers at the University of Buenos Aires have investigated, under laboratory conditions, whether bees are able to recognize pollen contaminated with small doses of pesticides, specifically glyphosate and imidacloprid.
New emerged bees were reared in cages where they were provided with standard sugar syrup and two pollen samples from various plant species – both wild and cultivated, including rapeseed – one contaminated and the other uncontaminated.
The bees showed a lower preference for the contaminated pollen. Consumption declined by between 10% and 23% in the case of glyphosate, and between 12% and 20% for imidacloprid.
The findings suggest that bees can detect and, at least partially, avoid contaminated pollen. This raises hopes that such behavior could represent a natural defense strategy against environmental contamination.
However, the pesticide problem remains serious. Even under controlled laboratory conditions, bees did not completely avoid contaminated pollen. And in real-world environments, avoidance would also depend on the availability of uncontaminated flowers, which is not always guaranteed.

Read the scientific paper’s full text here.