Bees began to build nests completely from plastic waste

The amount of plastic waste on Earth has reachedcatastrophic scale, and this is evidenced even by the behavior of bees. In 2013, scientists discovered that some bees collect polyurethane and polyethylene in order to use them to build their nests along with natural materials. Now the situation has become even more serious - for the first time in history, bee nests created entirely from plastic garbage were found in Argentina.

Researchers found plastic sockets inspecial bee "hotels", which are structures in the form of hollow tubes in which insects can build shelters for their young. In nature, cavities become places for the construction of such nests, which must first be cleaned of dirt, leaves and wood resin.

Plastic bee nests found in Australia

Having studied one of the nests with three separate cells,The researchers found that it was completely made up of thin light blue plastic. It is clearly insecure for insects, because a dead larva was found inside one of the cells, and the other contained a dead adult. The third cell was unfinished.

The first case where researchers foundcompletely plastic nest, sounds and looks like a fragment from a dystopian novel. Probably due to global pollution of the planet, bees began to adapt to new conditions and look for alternative materials for housing construction.

Plastic protects bees from harmful substances

It may well be that the bees started usingplastic is not due to the lack of natural materials, but because of its protective properties. In the nearby nests of the field where nesting fields were used, herbicides that were harmful to insects were used, and plastic could protect bees from harmful substances better than leaves and tiny branches.

Anyway, the new discovery has becomeanother reminder that the planet is in a very dangerous situation. It also once again proved the bees ingenuity, although it is time to stop doubting it - these insects even understand what “zero” is.

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