{"id":2000123324,"date":"2026-08-22T11:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T09:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000123324"},"modified":"2026-08-22T11:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T09:02:19","slug":"study-finds-honeybee-queens-offload-pesticides-into-their-eggs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/study-finds-honeybee-queens-offload-pesticides-into-their-eggs\/","title":{"rendered":"Study finds honeybee queens offload pesticides into their eggs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The process, known as maternal offloading, is the first documented evidence of this response in honeybees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers say it may help queens reduce their own chemical burden, but could expose developing offspring to harmful levels of pesticides. The findings were published in Current Biology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worker bees normally protect the colony by filtering contaminants from food before they reach the queen and developing larvae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the study found that this protection can become less effective as pesticide exposure continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers created small experimental colonies containing one queen and 60 worker bees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bees were given food contaminated with methyl parathion, a pesticide carrying a low-level radioactive marker that allowed scientists to track its movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the first day, workers filtered out 95% of the pesticide and deposited it in the honeycomb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the 10th day, their filtering rate had dropped to 86%, suggesting that the colony\u2019s protective system can eventually become overwhelmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As pesticide contamination accumulated in the queens, some of it was transferred to their eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers say this could become a serious concern if pesticide levels in eggs become high enough to interfere with normal development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sascha Nicklisch, the study\u2019s senior author, warned that there could be a tipping point where heavily contaminated eggs fail to develop properly, potentially contributing to a gradual decline in colony health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers used biological accelerator mass spectrometry to track extremely small amounts of the pesticide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They noted that the pesticide concentrations used in the experiment were not lethal and were environmentally relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honeybee queens can lay between 1,500 and 2,000 eggs per day, making their health essential to colony survival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honeybees also pollinate about one-third of the world\u2019s food crops, meaning threats to their colonies could have wider implications for agriculture and food security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers say further studies are needed to determine how long queens can transfer pesticides to their eggs, the long-term effects on colonies and whether the process occurs with other pesticides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Honeybee queens transfer pesticides to eggs as colony defences weaken <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Honeybee queens may protect themselves from prolonged pesticide exposure by transferring some of the chemicals accumulated in their bodies to their eggs, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Davis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000123326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000123324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":2000122457,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-12.00.00-PM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 12.00.00 PM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":139}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":2000122457,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-12.00.00-PM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 12.00.00 PM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":139}],"featured_image":{"id":2000123326,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/queen-honeybee-with-worker-bees.webp","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/webp","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/queen-honeybee-with-worker-bees.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/queen-honeybee-with-worker-bees.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/queen-honeybee-with-worker-bees.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/queen-honeybee-with-worker-bees.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/queen-honeybee-with-worker-bees.webp","width":1920,"height":1080}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000123324"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000123344,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123324\/revisions\/2000123344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000123326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000123324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000123324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000123324"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000123324"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000123324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}