農藥居然是蜜蜂危險的誘惑
Pesticides offer bees a risky allure
農藥居然是蜜蜂危險的誘惑
Bees flit from flower to flower dining on nectar. Sometimes that nectar may contain traces of widely used pesticides. Yet the bees are unlikely to know which nectar is tainted. Indeed, they can't taste these pesticides, a new study finds. However, the pesticides are similar to nicotine. This can encourage the bees to come back for more. And especially troubling: A second new study suggests the pesticides can harm some wild bees.
蜜蜂輕盈的從一朵花飛到另一朵花上採集花蜜，有時這些花蜜上可能會殘留常用的農藥，但是蜜蜂似乎察覺不到哪個花蜜已被其污染。一項新研究發現他們的確嘗不出農藥的味道。它的作用類似於尼古丁，致使蜜蜂對其上癮，引誘着它們返回來食用更多。此外尤爲讓人頭疼的是一項新研究表明農藥會傷害到很多野蜜蜂。
The pesticides are known as neonicotinoids (Nee-oh-NICK-uh-tin-oydz). Farmers use them to protect their crops from certain insects. The two new bee studies add to the controversy surrounding the use of these chemicals on corn and other crops.
農藥也稱爲新菸鹼類農藥，農民利用它來保護莊稼免受一些昆蟲的破壞。兩項關於蜜蜂的新研究使得農藥在玉米及其他莊稼上的使用更加備受爭議。
In the lab, scientists tested how nerves in the mouthparts of honeybees and bumblebees respond to three widely used neonicotinoids. And they found no reaction to any of them. What this means: "I don't think they can taste it at all," says Geraldine Wright. She works at Newcastle University in England. There, she studies nerve signaling in bees.
實驗室裏，針對蜜蜂和大黃蜂口腔內的神經對三種經常使用的新菸鹼農藥的反映，科學家進行了一場測試。最終結果是他們發現兩種蜜蜂對其沒有任何反應。就職於英格蘭紐卡斯爾大學專門從事蜜蜂神經信號研究的Geraldine Wrightbiaoshi 指出這意味着蜜蜂嘗不出農藥的任何味道。
Her team's new findings suggest that bees in nature can't taste or avoid nectar laced with the chemicals. They published their new data online April 22 in Nature.
她的團隊的新發現表明大自然中的蜜蜂嘗不出或者說不能避免沾有化學物質的花蜜。4月22號他們在自然雜誌上在線發表了這一新實驗數據。
Especially troubling: The chemistry of the pesticides may keep bees coming back for more, Wright says. Offered a choice in the lab, both honeybees and bumblebees preferred sugar water dosed with a neonicotinoid pesticide. The insects sipped more of it than plain sugar water. The bees might not have tasted a difference between the two feeders. Wright表示尤其令人煩惱的是，農藥這種化學物質可能會阻止蜜蜂飛回來採集更多花蜜。實驗室，他們發現蜜蜂和大黃蜂更加喜歡摻有菸鹼類農藥的糖水並且與普通糖水比起來，他們會喝更多。可能蜜蜂並不能嚐出二者之間有什麼區別。
