[Animals] The life expectancy of bees has been cut in half in less than 50 years

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Due to the loss of their colonies in the United States, the life expectancy of honey bees has dropped by 50% since the 1970s.
It happened in a lab at the University of Maryland. Working with honey bees, the researchers realized that the individuals were dying too quickly. Although they were in a controlled study environment, the insects' endurance was markedly shorter than in studies conducted in recent decades.

Observing this trend, university scientists in the United States reviewed the historical record. With these records, they identified an alarming phenomenon: the life expectancy of bees had halved in the last 50 years. This is the reason.

We suggest: Global warming is killing bees and bumblebees in the United States

What is the reason for these hasty deaths?

According to the researchers, the life expectancy of honey bees has been reduced by two specific factors. First, the environment is no longer healthy or conducive enough for colonies to develop. Therefore, a significant loss has been noted "for commercial beekeepers in the United States," the authors write in a statement.

Although conditions in a laboratory are different from those in the field, historically the life expectancies of bees in both environments have been similar. For this reason, the researchers attribute this loss to the rotation in the colonies that, although it has benefited the honey business, is directly impacting the welfare of the bees.

Previously, this mechanism favored the bees to age and die naturally. It was part of the business cycle, too. Now, insects are more stressed, they get sick more easily and are more exposed to pesticides that eradicate certain pests, poisoning them unintentionally.

A genetic issue?
In addition to all of the above, scientists in the United States tracked possible genetic factors that promote these early deaths. Since the bees in the colonies were isolated before reaching adulthood, it seems that the decisive factor is in the DNA of the species. The study was recently published in Scientific Reports, and appears to have found a solution to the problem:

 “THIS INTRODUCES THE IDEA OF A GENETIC COMPONENT. IF THIS HYPOTHESIS IS CORRECT, IT ALSO POINTS TO A POSSIBLE SOLUTION. IF WE CAN ISOLATE SOME GENETIC FACTORS, THEN MAYBE WE CAN BREED LONGER HONEY BEES," EXPLAINS ANTHONY NEARMAN, RESEARCHER IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY AND LEAD AUTHOR OF THE STUDY.

Bee breeding protocols were formalized until the year 2000 in the United States. According to Nearman, this would intuitively mean that the insects' quality of life would improve. However, the opposite trend was seen. These precipitous deaths, in addition, are impacting the species—and beekeepers' profits, too.

Now, the research team in Maryland is evaluating supplementing the bees' diet with plain water, rather than just giving them sugar water. In addition to that, they propose not exposing bees to pesticides and toxins while they are still larvae. In this way, they will not have a genetic conditioning that ends their lives before their time. With this, they hope that the life expectancy of the bees can recover, little by little.

https://www.ngenespanol.com/animales/cual-es-la-esperanza-de-vida-de-las-abejas-hoy/