Multiple Interacting Stressors Harming Honey Bee Health

Researchers at York University in Toronto, Canada, say that their work shows that honey bees are affected by multiple interacting stressors encountered as they pollinate crops. Increasing mortality in bee colonies, which scientists have been unable to attribute to a single pesticide, parasite, or virus, is probably due to a network of stressors, this research shows. Specific stressors that show up in combination with other key stressors seem to compound negative effects on bee colonies. The research took place across Canada, on a number of important crops pollinated by bees, including apples, canola, blueberries, soybeans, cranberries, and corn.