Safeguarding Honeybees: Increasing parasite treatment effectiveness using nanotechnology

人们越来越担心蜜蜂暴露在用于控制农业病虫害的杀虫剂中。新出现的报告表明，这些化学物质对蜜蜂有很大伤害，因此导致了报告的急剧下降。一种广泛存在的蜜蜂病原体Nosema将被用来直接量化商业使用的杀虫剂对寄生虫和蜜蜂生存能力的有效性。此外，最先进的纳米技术将被用于开发具有更高有效性和最低剂量/接触蜜蜂的良性治疗方法。该项目的结果可能会对未来商业蜜蜂的寄生虫管理产生重大影响。

There is increasing concern about the exposure of honeybees to pesticides used to control both agricultural pests and diseases. Emerging reports indicate that these chemicals substantially harm bees and therefore contribute to the dramatic declines reported. A widespread bee pathogen, Nosema, will be used to directly quantify the effectiveness of commercially used pesticides on both parasite and honeybee viability. Furthermore, state-of-the-art nanotechnology will be used to develop benign treatments with enhanced effectiveness and minimal dosage/exposure to the bees. Outcomes of this project can have major impact on future parasite management in commercial honeybees.