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Bumblebees Used For Targeted Pesticide Deliveries (gizmag.com)

Posted by timothy on from the nothing-can-go-wrong-can-go-wrong-can-go dept.

Zothecula writes: Chemical pesticides are generally a bad thing for the environment and pollinators like bees that our agriculture relies on. Now a company out of Vancouver, Canada, called Bee Vectoring Technology (BVT) has brought the two together in a system that uses bees to deliver tiny amounts of natural pesticides and beneficial fungi while pollinating crops.

6 of 23 comments (clear)

  1. Prediction... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I predict unintended consequences...

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    1. Re:Prediction... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 2

      Does everyone fail to see the hilarious irony here? TFS stated that they deliver "natural pesticides". Not only that, but the pesticides are delivered by "natural drones." You just can't get any more environmentally friendly than that.

      Although who knows what the US military is planning for natural drones . . . bumblebees are definitely way cheaper than Predator drones . . .

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      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  2. This can't end well by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 2

    The bumblebees are likely to revolt and demand a minimum wage for making all those deliveries.

    Fight for your bitcoins!

    1. Re:This can't end well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      The bumblebees will get super/uber pissed off and demand that they are actually employees and not independent contractors.

  3. Not actually a bad idea by Rei · · Score: 2

    Limited uses due to the limited payload and the fact that they'll largely just touch the flowers, but where that's "good enough" it's an interesting possibility. Rather than dousing whole fields in pesticides and fungal innocculants you only touch the flowers - but you get almost every last flower. That's pretty darned targeted.

    Obviously they're going to be using pesticides and fungal species compatible with the bees. Otherwise the plan wouldn't work at all. They probably use a reverse of the technique used to treat honeybees for parasites - a material that they have to brush against when they enter/leave the hive.

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  4. Re:Nature's C student? by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 2

    Yes we can. But we can absolutely trust humans to screw it up. Like we did with those africanised bees.

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