Microparticles might help bees cope with pesticides, but there is a better solution

In a recently published study, bumblebees were fed hydrogel microparticles, which would then bind to bee-killing insecticides called neonicotinoids, allowing bees to rid themselves of the combined microparticle/neonic compound. Sometimes their poop was blue. 

Bees are hurting, and the study showed a 30% increase in survival of the bees.

Okay… On the one hand, finding a “vaccine” for bees, one that can guard against the worst ravages of bee-killing neonicotinoids (“neonics”), is a good thing. It might even have limited value in the real world, especially for commercial honey bees. Note: This first round of the study was on bumblebees. 

On the other hand, the infinitely better solution is to stop using neonics. To that end, 11 states have restricted the sale of the stuff to ordinary consumers, i.e. those of us without a pesticide permit or license, and 2 states have restricted neonic coatings on seeds. Let’s keep the momentum going. 

In case the thinking behind my skepticism isn’t intuitive, let me spell it out: 

1. Finding wild bees across the U.S. and feeding them microparticles seems both impractical and ridiculous. 
2. This study found an increase in survival of only 30%. 
3. Surely we know little about future problems that could arise from sprinkling ingestible hydrogel microparticles (IHMs) on bee habitats out in nature. 

You can read more about the study in this Guardian story.