Habitat loss is not the only problem bee populations around the globe is facing. Some diseases and deadly parasites are also behind the dwindling numbers of bees. Now, a new study has revealed that even low pesticide exposure can upset the insect’s foraging behavior.

Exposure to pesticides can push bees to change their flower choices, learning and remembering abilities and skills to collect pollen and nectar, as per the study. During the study, bumblebees exposed to neonicotinoid insecticide took longer time than unaffected bees to collect pollen.

It has been found that exposure to a realistic level of neonicotinoid insecticide can make bumblebees interact less with wildflowers, said Dara Stanley, an expert at the Royal Holloway University of London and lead researcher of the study.

“Higher proportion of bees that were released from pesticide-treated colonies became foragers in comparison to control colonies. Of these foragers, bees exposed to pesticide visited more L. corniculatus flowers, showed a trend towards a preference for this species on their first flower visit and collected more pollen”, as per the researchers.

However, bumblebees exposed to pesticide found to have manipulated behavior while choosing a flower, control bees altered flower choice after fewer flower visits than pesticide-exposed bees, the researchers said.

Stanley said the bees that were not exposed to pesticide were also quickly learning how to manipulate flowers than the exposed bees. The new findings have suggested that world has to think seriously about the declining population of bees due to use of pesticide, Stanley added. These insects are important part of global food security, the researcher added.

A research in the past showed that honeybees exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides may have changes in their brain regions linked to learning and memory.