There are half as many beehives worldwide as there were just 30 years ago. Now, scientists are warning of a common weed killer, used on crops and at home, appears to be wiping out bee colonies.
For years, scientists have been uncovering how important the 40 trillion bacteria are in our guts. When they are out of balance, that’s linked to many health changes: obesity, diabetes, cancer, and even your brain health, including behavior, mood, depression, anxiety and autism. And a large part of our immune health comes from gut bacteria.
So now a new study out of The University of Texas at Austin, suggests changes to the honey bees’ good gut bacteria, may be responsible for their dwindling numbers worldwide. Glyphosate in popular weed killers, seems to destroy the good gut bacteria, leaving their immune systems unable to fight off some infections.
“Fifteen hundred years, monasteries have been keeping bees,” said Jeff Horchoff, the volunteer beekeeper at The Abbey.
At the St. Joseph Benedictine Abbey on the north shore, Horchoff has been keeping the bee hives as a volunteer for six years, collecting and selling the honey as a fundraiser. But he knows it’s not just honey that’s important. About one-third of everything we eat is a direct result of bee pollination.
“They pollinate food. They pollinate flowers and so it’s, it’s that action of bees moving from flower to flower,” he said.
At The Abbey, he says they make sure never to use chemicals on the plants or bees.
“These things the bees will ingest. For me, I believe that we should remain just like God created them. We do not interfere with what the bees are doing.”
The herbicide in question is in a number of home and agricultural products. Monsanto, the makers of Roundup, say glyphosate has a 40-year history of safe and effective use.
See below for a statement on glyphosate:
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup® branded agricultural herbicides. Glyphosate has a 40-year history of safe and effective use. In evaluations spanning those four decades, the overwhelming conclusion of experts worldwide, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has been that glyphosate can be used safely.
Meg Farris can be reached at mfarris@wwltv.com
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