Monika Ostap-Chec and others published a new paper in the Journal of Comparative Physiology B. The study investigated the effects of dietary ethanol on honey bee survival and physiology. The authors aimed to understand how constant and occasional exposure to ethanol, at a concentration close to what bees might encounter in nature, affects their lifespan and the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), an enzyme involved in metabolising ethanol.
Photo: Monika Ostap-Chec. Honeybee foragers at their hive entrance.
The experiment revealed three key findings:
1. Increased Mortality: Both occasional and constant ethanol exposure led to higher mortality rates compared to the control group without access to ethanol.
2. Delayed Effects: The negative impact on survival began to appear after several days of ethanol exposure, indicating that the harmful effects accumulate over time.
3. Unchanged ADH Activity: Surprisingly, the study found no significant differences in ADH activity between the groups. This suggests that the enzyme's activity might not increase with prolonged ethanol exposure, contrary to what is seen in some other organisms.
The findings highlight that even low levels of ethanol can significantly reduce bee lifespan if exposure is repeated over time. This could have implications for bee populations and their role in pollination, especially in environments where ethanol-containing nectar is common.
Further research is needed to determine the exact ethanol levels bees consume in natural settings and how frequently they encounter such exposure. Addressing these questions will require comprehensive field studies to complement the laboratory findings.
Check out the full paper here (open access).
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