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Research Sheds New Light on Bee Health

Posted by entomology.office | August 7, 2011

CAHNRS Connections Magazine 2011, by Kacie McPartland, MNEC intern

New research conducted at WSU is the first to demonstrate the sub-lethal effects of pesticide residue exposure on an insect largely responsible for a third of the human diet. Judy Wu, a former entomology graduate student at WSU and current Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota, found that low levels of pesticides build up in honeybee brood comb wax. The buildup has serious consequences for developing worker bees and adult worker bees’ lifespans. The brood comb is the breeding quarters of a hive and the place where food is stored. full article