Bees’ noses are blinded by air pollution

Bees have an acute sense of smell, which they use to scout out the best dinner spots in town and find their way home after a long journey.

But when air pollution gets involved, bees get lost, according to a new report on how air pollution affects bees.

Air pollution not only crowds bees’ smell-centers, confusing them, it also blocks scents from being able to travel as far as they should. When pollution is high, some scents are only able to travel a third as far as they would through clear skies.

This severely handicaps bees’ ability to orient themselves, find sources of food and make their way back home.

The study focused on ozone and nitrogen oxides. Major sources of these air pollutants include power plants, gas-powered cars and lawn and garden equipment. The latter may be particularly risky for bees if the equipment is used in areas that otherwise could be suitable pollinator habitat. In 2020, gas-powered lawn equipment emitted more than 68,000 tons of nitrogen oxides and 350,000 tons of volatile organic compounds – the two chemical components of ground-level ozone, which triggers asthma attacks and contributes to premature death. Nitrogen oxide emissions from lawn equipment are equal to annual emissions from 30 million typical cars.

So, what can we do to help the bees?

1. To reduce air pollution, cities and states should transition to electric lawn equipment- and so can you!
2. Governors should make public lands pollinator-friendly.
3. And, we’re still working to stop the use of bee-killing pesticides.