Honeybees and bumblebees become less intelligent, dull-witted and prone to bad judgment when exposed to pesticides, according to a new study published by the British Ecological Society.

Processing honey is a complex task. Worker bees leave their hives early and fly several kilometers to look for nectar and pollen, which are collected from flowers and brought to the colony and processed into honey and other products for the benefit of bees and ourselves.

Some bees go to food sources after a tip-off from others bees. The bees communicate using a dance unique to a specific colony of bees. When bees fail to dance, they are locked out of the hive to die for security purposes.

Bees that feed on fermented nectar become intoxicated and fail to find their way to the hive. Those that make it to the colony are refused entry because they fail to convince the guard bees to reenter the beehive.

Insecticides act like a sedative of some sort on honeybees and bumblebees making them dumber. The study quoted above pooled and analyzed evidence from 23 studies and concluded that pesticides adversely affect bees.

Researchers observed that bees stick out their tongue when they come near sugary nectar. According to lab experiments, exposing bees to pesticides in the circumstances similar to those in the field affected them negatively. The scientists observed the same effects whether the pollutants were neonicotinoids or other pesticides.

Neonicotinoids are a class of popular insecticides used since the 1990s, but authorities are increasingly restricting that due to evidence that the pesticides harm bee colonies.

The research presents evidence that pesticides may be an indirect factor in the rising honey prices. When bee populations dwindle, honey prices go up because of the limited supply. Although there are other factors involved, the average price of honey has gone up 70% since June 2008.

Researchers suspect that apart from honeybees and humblebees, other bees not included in the study are also affected.