Selenium impacts honey bee behavior and survival

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 - 15:30 in Biology & Nature

Entomologists have a "proof of concept" that selenium, a nonmetal chemical element, can disrupt the foraging behavior and survival of honey bees. In controlled greenhouse experiments they found that the bees did not respond to the presence of selenium in plants. The bees fed on food sources, such as flowers that contained selenium at even very high concentrations. Selenium is toxic at high concentrations. In soils, it occurs most often as selenate.

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