Bees 'may become addicted' to nicotine-like pesticides

Honeybees 'get a buzz' from the toxic chemicals, raising fears that bee populations could plummet further

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Bees prefer to eat food contaminated with pesticides and could become addicted to them in the same way smokers are addicted to nicotine, scientists have discovered.

A study by researchers at Newcastle University revealed that a chemical in neonicotinoid pesticides has a similar molecular structure to nicotine and may affect the reward centres in a bee's brain.

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