A plant-based dietary supplement could shield bees from neurological damage caused by agricultural pesticides, say researchers in Colombia.
The nutritional formula, developed by scientists at Rosario University in Bogota in partnership with the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Arizona and Colombian Universidad Javeriana, comprises plant-based ‘secondary metabolites’ called flavonoids.
Flavonoids are known to possess numerous medical benefits, including anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and neuroprotective properties.
The researchers hope that these properties will help the bees avoid having their motor system and memory harmed by neurotoxins commonly used in agriculture.
Up to now, the bees have been kept in controlled laboratory conditions but the project will soon step up a gear as testing moves to a university apiary.
According to a UN Food and Agriculture Organization report, three quarters of crops grown worldwide depend on bees and other pollinators.
