Invention:
The technology, compositions and methods for protecting insect pollinators against the harmful cognitive effects of pesticides, is suitable for ingestion by an insect pollinator using standard feeding. The technology protects against pesticide-induced impairment of a cognitive function of the insect pollinator. Methods of using such compositions for preventing or reducing pesticide-induced impairment of cognitive functions including learning, memory, decision-making, and navigation protect insect pollinators including honeybees and bumblebees against neurotoxic pesticides including neonicotinoids such as Imidacloprid.
Background:
Research has shown that pesticides are large contributors to the decrease in pollinators. As a result of this research, many pesticides that have the effect on pollinators have been banned in Europe. The issue with simply banning a subset of pesticides, is that eventually, pests will become resistant to the pesticides still in use. Long term, crops will still suffer from pests that have become resistant to the remaining pesticides in use. This technology looks to overcome this challenge by increasing the resistance of bees to pesticides. This will allow the use of pesticides that help protect the crops without harming the bee population.
Applications:
- Crop farming
- Bee protection
Advantages:
- Increased tolerance to widely used pesticides
- Increased survival of bee colonies
- Easy to implement
- Ability to continue to use pesticides
