Scientists create surpluses that can save bees

by Andrea
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Scientists create surpluses that can save bees

Scientists create surpluses that can save bees

A team of investigators, of which Portuguese biologists Raquel Teixeira de Sousa and Rui Gonçalves were part, developed a yeast that produces the six sterols that bees need to grow healthier and survive winters in which food scars.

Bees are a vital part of food production, contribute to the pollination of 70% of the main global crops, and are a crucial element from the Earth Ecosystem.

According to some scientists, they go soon. Others, however, say that the panic of the bee crisis is manifestly.

While scientists do not decide, a team of researchers has developed a “Superaralment” for bees which can protect these animals from threats from climate change and habitat loss.

In the course of, whose results were presented in an article recently published in the magazine Naturebee colonies that consumed the supplement during the rehearsals had even 15 times more baby bees that came to adulthood.

“This technological discovery Provides all nutrients that bees need to survive, which means we can continue to feed them even when there is not enough pollen, ”says the biologist Geraldine Wright, Researcher at Oxford University and main author of the study.

“It’s really a great achievement,” says Wright.

The bees worldwide face severe declinesdue to nutritional deficiencies, viral diseases, climate change and other factors. In the US, annual colonies losses have ranged from 40-50% in the last decade and are expected to increase. Beekeepers in the United Kingdom also faced serious challenges.

Nick TembovPresident of the Association of Cardiff, Vale and Valleys beekeepers, told the BBC that lost 75% of its colonies Last winter and this was observed throughout the south of the country of Wales.

“Although the hives were all full of food, the number of bees simply decreased. Most bees survived during January, February, and then simply disappeared“, it says.

The bees They feed on pollen and nectar from flowers containing nutrients, including lipids called sterols – which are necessary for its development. Make honey in the hives, which becomes your food source During winter when the flowers stop producing pollen.

When beekeepers remove honey to sell, or increasingly when there is not sufficient pollen available, Give the insects supplementary food.

“But This food is composed of protein floursugar and water, and does not contain the nutrients that bees need. It’s like humans to eat A diet without carbohydratesamino acids or other vital nutrients, ”explains the first author of the study Elynor Mooreat the time researcher of Oxford Bee Lab, at the university.

Os sterols have always been very difficult to produce, But the team of Geraldine Wright, of which Portuguese biologists were part of Raquel Teixeira de Sousa e Rui Gonçalvesfor 15 years identifying which exact sterols the bees need – and how to produce them.

The PhD student Jennifer Chennells He explained to the BBC how, with kitchen equipment that can be found at home, the team produces the base ingredients – and the bright and white tubes of the food.

“We place ingredients not that It’s like a mass of cookieswith different proteins, fats, different amounts of carbohydrates, and the micronutrients the bees need. It’s to try to find out what they like best and what is best for them, ”he says.

In his laboratory, using genetic edition, Professor Wright’s team managed to do a yeast that produces the six sterols that the bees need.

It is a huge discovery. When my student was able to modify the yeast to create the sterols, he sent me a photograph of the chromatogram that was the result of the work, ”says Wright.” I still have it on my office wall. “

The “superfood” was given to bees in the laboratory hives for three months. The results showed that the colonies fed the food up to 15 times more baby bees that came to adulthood.

“When bees have a complete nutrition, get healthier and less susceptible to disease, ”says Wright, who points out that this superfood can be particularly useful during summers like thiswhere flower plants seem to have stopped producing early.

“It’s really important in years when summer comes early and bees don’t have enough pollen and nectar to spend winter. The more months they pass without pollen, more nutritional stress will facewhich means that the beekeepers will have greater losses of these bees during the winter, ”explains the researcher.

Are now necessary higher scale tests to evaluate the long -term impacts of bee health food – but the supplement may be available for beekeepers and farmers within two years.

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