蜂蜜携带农药毒素 世界蜂蜜多受影响

Bees are Carrying Pesticides¹ into the World’s Honey

Bees are responsible for about 30 percent of the world's food supply. Our fruits and vegetables would not grow without bees.

Many farmers use chemical products known as pesticides to protect food plants from insects. Studies have shown that these chemicals are also hurting the bees.

Now it turns out that the pesticides are also showing up in the world’s honey supply. And researchers are wondering how that could affect us.

Richard Glassborow is with the London Beekeepers' Association.

"Well, bees are insects, and pesticides are designed to take out pest insects, but they're pretty indiscriminate."

The problem is an unusual kind of pesticides called neonicotinoids.

A recent study found evidence of these pesticides in most of the world's bees. The findings were published in the journal Science.

David Goulson is a professor of biology at Britain’s University of Sussex. He says the chemicals harm the ability of bees to find their way.

“We know for example these chemicals, they attack the brain of the insects and they interfere² with their ability to learn and to navigate³, which is really important for a bee. A honey bee and other kinds of bee, they have to be able to find their way to and from patches of flowers and back to their hive, and, if they get lost, then they're as good as dead."

Goulson says the problem seems to come from new genetically⁴ engineered seeds. He says some of the seeds are covered with pesticides.

"So the idea is the farmer buys the seed, pre-coated with insecticide, he sows it in the ground, and the chemical is water soluble⁵, it dissolves into the soil and the water in the soil, and then it's supposed to be sucked up by the plant, and it goes to all parts of the plant including, unfortunately, the nectar and the pollen⁶."

And that pollen ends up on the bees. Swedish researchers found the chemicals in 75% of all the world's honey. They even found it on the French island of Tahiti, a place not known for industrial farming.

"These chemicals at really low concentrations mess up the immune system of the honey bee, so then they get infected with diseases. So the long and the short of it is that we should be worried about this, that it seems that a large proportion of the world's honey bees, and probably other bees too, are being continually exposed to toxins⁸ at a level that will be doing them harm."

Goulson says it is not just bees that are dying off. He says researchers are also seeing “big declines of farmland birds, butterflies and so on.”

The European Food Standards Agency and the European Union are considering limiting the use of neonicotinoids.

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

indiscriminate – adj. affecting or harming many people or things in a careless or unfair way

navigate – v. to find the way to get to a place when you are traveling

sow – v. to plant seeds in an area of ground

soluble – adj. capable of being dissolved in a liquid

nectar – n. a sweet liquid produced by plants and used by bees in making honey

pollen – n. the very fine usually yellow dust that is produced by a plant and that is carried to other plants of the same kind usually by wind or insects so that the plants can produce seeds

mess up – v. to damage

immune system – n. the system that protects your body from diseases and infections

expose – v. to leave (something) without covering or protection

toxin⁷ – n. a poisonous substance and especially one that is produced by a living thing

1 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

3 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

4 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

5 soluble   

adj.可溶的；可以解决的

参考例句：

• These tablets are soluble in water.这些药片可在水中溶解。
• Camphor is soluble in alcohol.樟脑在酒精中可以溶化。

6 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

7 toxin   

n.毒素，毒质

参考例句：

• Experts have linked this condition to a build-up of toxins in the body.专家已把这一病症与体内毒素的积累联系起来。
• Tests showed increased levels of toxin in shellfish.检验表明水生有壳动物的毒素水平提高了。

8 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》