Bees have a keen sense of smell – they need to survive.
Even thousands of feet away from its original source, a bee can detect odorant molecules emitted by the various plants that are pollinated.
But air pollution acts as retardant, shortening the life span and the travel distance of these odor molecules. As a result, bees are confused and now require more time to feed, according to a recent study.
Bees
It is common knowledge that plants emit volatile hydrocarbons in the atmosphere – these molecules create its pleasant odor.
These chemicals interact with certain air pollutants such as car fumes ozone source – a chemical reaction that breaks down odors of plants.
Furthermore, this process leads to the creation of more polluting as hydroxyl radicals nitrate and amplifying the feedback loop.
90,000 simulations were conducted, in which patterns of foraging bees were influenced by different levels of concentration of odor, air pollution and wind speed (diluent).
