Having more flowers and maintaining diverse bee communities could help reduce the spread of bee parasites, according to a new study.
Having more flowers and maintaining diverse bee communities could help reduce the spread of bee parasites, according to a new study.
The research, conducted on more than 5,000 flowers and bees, reveals how bee parasites spread and what measures could help control them.
Bees can be infected with a cocktail of parasites that can cause a range of symptoms from reduced foraging ability to dysentery and death. Though parasites contribute to bee declines, scientists are unsure how they spread between bee species.
Flowers are essential for bee health, but may also act as transmission hubs for bee diseases. Over a growing season the diversity and abundance of bees and flowers change but little is known about how this may be linked to the risk of parasite transmission.
Read more at Imperial College London
Image: Having more flowers and maintaining diverse bee communities could help reduce the spread of bee parasites, according to a new study. (Credit: Peter Graystock)
