Yesterday, the Ontario government said it was looking at restricting “Neonicotinoids,” and requiring farmers and other commercial growers – to apply for permits for the pesticides which have been linked to deaths of bees.

Today, a published study sheds light on what’s happening with the bees.

The study fitted bumblebees with tiny radio frequency tags – and some of the findings show that long-term exposure to the pesticides severely restricted a bee’s ability to forage for pollen – and also impacted which flowers worker-bees chose to visit.

“Neonicotinoid” pesticides act on the nervous system and are applied to corn and soy.

University of Guelph scientist Nigel Raine and Richard Gill of The Imperial College of London are co-authors of the study – and Raine says it’s important to note that pesticide use may have different impacts on different bees.

The study is published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal – Functional Ecology.