The wax and pollen in around 98 per cent of commercial bee hives in the U.S. have been contaminated by various pesticides, according to the release, and pesticides cause beekeepers to lose around a third of their hives annually.
"We have a solution whereby beekeepers can feed their bees our microparticle products in pollen patties or in a sugar syrup, and it allows them to detoxify the hive of any pesticides that they might find," James Webb said in the release. Webb is a co-author of the paper and CEO of Beemmunity, a new company hoping to use this technology to assist commercial beekeepers.
Since the bees consume the microparticles, researchers had to ensure that the microparticles could survive the pH of the bees’ gut. Each PIM has a protective casing so that it can pass through the acidic portion of the bees. While the bees in the control group died within a matter of days, 100 per cent of those who received the PIMs survived, the release said.