BOISE, Idaho — Spring has arrived in the Treasure Valley which means more and more flowers are blooming, but that also means dandelions are as well.
Last fall, a study was conducted by three professors at the University of Texas. They found that glyphosate, which is the primary herbicide used to kill weeds, upsets honey bees.
This means that weed killers could be affecting bee health and how effective they are at pollinating a garden.
Kevin Dueceman has been a beekeeper for the last two decades. He said that if someone wants to spray their dandelions, go right ahead.
"I've been beekeeping for 20 years,” Dueceman said "You'd probably not have a big impact from the weed killer just from killing the bee from the poison impact.”
The study found that since bee gut symbionts affect the development and nutrition of a bee, then upsetting this could lead to bees being more susceptible to things like poor nutrition and pathogens.
"Probably not great for the bee but it's not as bad as the habitat loss as spraying weeds,” Dueceman said.
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Dandelions are an early source of food for bees, and that’s why the debate is over spraying those weeds right now. There isn’t as many options for bees because not as many flowers have blossomed.
"Dandelions are a nice source for nectar and pollen,” Dueceman said. "There's a lot of other plants, trees are a big one that gets overlooked. If you see a flower it's probably food for a bee."
One recommendation when it comes to spraying the dandelions in your yard is to wait until June if possible, when bees have more options for finding food.