A two-year monitoring of pesticide hazard in-hive: High honey bee mortality rates during insecticide poisoning episodes in apiaries located near agricultural settings

Systems theory: A novel approach for understanding how stressors affect honey bee health 'all at once'

A new study showcases the usefulness of systems theory and network analyses for understanding how dozens of stressors can act concomitantly to affect managed honey bee health. Interestingly, the most influential stressors are not those currently being addressed by beekeepers.

Contaminant dynamics in honey bees and hive products of apiaries from environmentally contrasting Argentinean regions

Argentina is a leading honey producer and honey bees are also critical for pollination services and wild plants. At the same time, it is a major crop producer with significant use of insecticides, posing risks to bees. Therefore, the presence of the highly toxic insecticide chlorpyrifos, and forbidden contaminants (organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)) was investigated in honey bee, beebread, wax and honey samples in apiaries from three contrasting regions of Argentina. Chlorpyrifos was detected in all samples with higher levels during period 1 (spring) in contrast to period 2 (fall), agreeing with its season-wise use in different crops, reaching 3.05 ng/g in honey bees. A subsequent first-tier pesticide hazard analysis revealed that it was relevant to honey bee health, mainly due to the high concentrations found in wax samples from two sites, reaching 132.4 ng/g. In addition, wax was found to be the most contaminated matrix with a prevalence of OCPs (∑OCPs 58.23-172.99 ng/g). Beebread samples showed the highest concentrations and diversity of pesticide residues during period 1 (higher temperatures). A predominance of the endosulfan group was registered in most samples, consistent with its intensive past use, especially in Central Patagonia before its prohibition. Among the industrial compounds, lighter PCB congeners dominated, suggesting the importance of atmospheric transport. The spatio-temporal distribution of pesticides shows a congruence with the environmental characteristics of the areas where the fields are located (i.e., land use, type of productive activities and climatic conditions). Sustained monitoring of different pollutants in beekeeping matrices is recommended to characterize chemical risks, assess the health status of honey bee hives and the pollution levels of different agroecosystems. This knowledge will set a precedent for South America and be helpful for actions focused on the conservation of pollination services, apiculture and ecosystems in Argentina.

Honey bee stressor networks are complex and dependent on crop and region

Honey bees play a major role in crop pollination but have experienced declining health throughout most of the globe. Despite decades of research on key honey bee stressors (e.g., parasitic Varroa destructor mites and viruses), researchers cannot fully explain or predict colony mortality, potentially because it is caused by exposure to multiple interacting stressors in the field. Understanding which honey bee stressors co-occur and have the potential to interact is therefore of profound importance. Here, we used the emerging field of systems theory to characterize the stressor networks found in honey bee colonies after they were placed in fields containing economically valuable crops across Canada. Honey bee stressor networks were often highly complex, with hundreds of potential interactions between stressors. Their placement in crops for the pollination season generally exposed colonies to more complex stressor networks, with an average of 23 stressors and 307 interactions. We discovered that the most influential stressors in a network-those that substantively impacted network architecture-are not currently addressed by beekeepers. Finally, the stressor networks showed substantial divergence among crop systems from different regions, which is consistent with the knowledge that some crops (e.g., highbush blueberry) are traditionally riskier to honey bees than others. Our approach sheds light on the stressor networks that honey bees encounter in the field and underscores the importance of considering interactions among stressors. Clearly, addressing and managing these issues will require solutions that are tailored to specific crops and regions and their associated stressor networks.

Enhancing knowledge of chemical exposures and fate in honey bee hives: Insights from colony structure and interactions

Honey bees are unintentionally exposed to a wide range of chemicals through various routes in their natural environment, yet research on the cumulative effects of multi-chemical and sublethal exposures on important caste members, including the queen bee and brood, is still in its infancy. The hive's social structure and food-sharing (trophallaxis) practices are important aspects to consider when identifying primary and secondary exposure pathways for residential hive members and possible chemical reservoirs within the colony. Secondary exposures may also occur through chemical transfer (maternal offloading) to the brood and by contact through possible chemical diffusion from wax cells to all hive members. The lack of research on peer-to-peer exposures to contaminants and their metabolites may be in part due to the limitations in sensitive analytical techniques for monitoring chemical fate and dispersion. Combined application of automated honey bee monitoring and modern chemical trace analysis techniques could offer rapid progress in quantifying chemical transfer and accumulation within the hive environment and developing effective mitigation strategies for toxic chemical co-exposures. To enhance the understanding of chemical fate and toxicity within the entire colony, it is crucial to consider both the intricate interactions among hive members and the potential synergistic effects arising from combinations of chemical and their metabolites.

Pharmaceutical and pesticide mixtures in a Mediterranean coastal wetland: comparison of sampling methods, ecological risks, and removal by a constructed wetland

Pharmaceuticals and pesticides can be considered hazardous compounds for Mediterranean coastal wetland ecosystems. Although many of these compounds co-occur in environmental samples, only a few studies have been dedicated to assessing the ecotoxicological risks of complex contaminant mixtures. We evaluated the occurrence of 133 pharmaceuticals and pesticides in 12 sites in a protected Mediterranean wetland, the Albufera Natural Park (ANP), based on conventional grab sampling and polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS). We assessed acute and chronic ecological risks posed by these contaminant mixtures using the multi-substance Potentially Affected Fraction (msPAF) approach and investigated the capacity of a constructed wetland to reduce chemical exposure and risks. This study shows that pharmaceuticals and pesticides are widespread contaminants in the ANP, with samples containing up to 75 different compounds. POCIS samplers were found to be useful for the determination of less predictable exposure profiles of pesticides occurring at the end of the rice cultivation cycle, while POCIS and grab samples provide an accurate method to determine (semi-)continuous pharmaceutical exposure. Acute risks were identified in one sample, while chronic risks were determined in most of the collected samples, with 5-25% of aquatic species being potentially affected. The compounds that contributed to the chronic risks were azoxystrobin, ibuprofen, furosemide, caffeine, and some insecticides (diazinon, imidacloprid, and acetamiprid). The evaluated constructed wetland reduced contaminant loads by 45-73% and reduced the faction of species affected from 25 to 6%. Our study highlights the need of addressing contaminant mixture effects in Mediterranean wetlands and supports the use of constructed wetlands to reduce contaminant loads and risks in areas with high anthropogenic pressure.

Occurrence of chlorpyrifos and organochlorine pesticides in a native bumblebee (Bombus pauloensis) living under different land uses in the southeastern Pampas, Argentina

Pollinators such as Apidae bees are vital for ecosystems and food security. Unfortunately, their populations have declined due to several factors including pesticide use. Among them, the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos, poses a global threat, while legacy compounds like organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) easily bioaccumulate, increasing the concern. Bombus pauloensis, a widely distributed native bee in Argentina, is used for commercial pollination; however, information regarding their health status is scarce. This study assessed chlorpyrifos and OCP levels in B. pauloensis (workers and males) and related environmental matrices living from three different land uses schemes, by means of GC-ECD and GC-MS. The ornamental horticulture field (OP) showed the highest total pesticide concentrations in workers (13.1 ng/g), flowers and soils, whereas the organic agriculture field (OA) exhibited the lowest. Chlorpyrifos was the most abundant compound, accounting for at least 20 % of pesticide load across all matrices. The food production horticulture field (FH) had the highest chlorpyrifos concentration in workers, males and soils (5.0, 4.4 and 3.3 ng/g, respectively), suggesting a local greater usage, whereas OA showed the lowest. Regarding OCPs groups, Drins and DDTs were predominant in most matrices, with FH males registering the highest levels (4.0 and 2.5 ng/g, respectively), closely followed by OP. However, metabolites' contribution indicated historical use and atmospheric inputs in all sites. Multivariate analyses confirmed the significance of site and bumblebee sex to explain pesticide composition. Males from all sites exhibited higher chlorpyrifos levels than workers and this trend was similar for some OCP groups. Overall, OA differed from FH and OP, indicating a correlation between production modes and pesticide profiles. This study demonstrates the value of B. pauloensis as a pesticide biomonitor but also offers insights into its populations' health in the area. In this sense, this information could be useful towards the preservation of this crucial pollinator.

Re-using food resources from failed honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies and their impact on colony queen rearing capacity

For over a decade, beekeepers have experienced high losses of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies due to a variety of stressors including pesticide exposure. Some of these chemical stressors may residually remain in the colony comb and food resources (pollen and nectar) of failed colonies and be later re-used by beekeepers when splitting and building back new colonies. The practice of re-using comb from previously perished colonies (termed "deadout") is common in beekeeping practice, but its role in affecting colony health is not well understood. Here, we evaluate the impact of reused, pesticide-contaminated "deadout" combs on colony function during the process of replacing a queen bee. Queenless microcolonies were established to monitor queen rearing capacity in two treatment groups: (1) colonies given frames containing food resources from deadout colonies in control "clean" apiaries and, (2) colonies given frames containing "contaminated" resources from deadout colonies originating from apiaries experiencing chronic pesticide exposure from widespread systemic pesticide pollution (including neonicotinoid insecticides: clothianidin and thiamethoxam). Results indicate that colonies given pesticide-contaminated resources produced fewer queen cells per colony and had a lower proportion of colonies successfully raising a functional, diploid egg-laying queen. This research highlights the deleterious effects of re-using deadout combs from colonies previously lost due to pesticide contamination.

Exposure to pesticide residues in honey and its potential cancer risk assessment

Honey is the most recognized natural food by-product derived from flower nectar and the upper aero-digestive tract of the honeybees. Significance of honey for its medicinal importance are well-documented in the world's oldest medical literatures. However, the current urbanization, environmental contaminations and changes in agricultural, as well as apiculture practices has led to various types of contaminations in honey. Among all, pesticide contamination has become one of the major issues worldwide. This review focuses on the recent updates concerning pesticides occurrence in honey, as well as how the repeated use and long-term exposure to honey contaminated with pesticide residues could affect the human physiological functions, possibly leading to the development of various cancers. Our findings suggests that uncontrolled use of pesticides in farming and apiculture practices leads to the occurrence of pesticides residues in honey. Therefore, regular consumption of such honey will pose a serious threat to human health, since most of the pesticides has been reported as potential carcinogens. This review will draw the attention of honey consumers, scientific communities, apiculture farmers, as well as governing bodies to strictly monitor the pesticide usage in floriculture, agriculture as well as other related practices.

Pesticide residues in bee bread, propolis, beeswax and royal jelly - A review of the literature and dietary risk assessment

Due to pollinator decline observed worldwide, many studies have been conducted on the pesticide residue content of apicultural products including bee bread, propolis, beeswax and royal jelly. These products are consumed for their nutraceutical properties, although, little information is available on the human health risk posed by pesticides present in them. In our research, studies dealing with the pesticide contamination of the above-mentioned hive products are reviewed. Dietary exposures were calculated based on the recommended daily intake values and concentration data reported by scientific studies. Potential acute and chronic health risk of consumers were evaluated by comparing the exposure values with health-based guidance values. Available data indicate that a wide range of pesticide residues, especially acaricides may accumulate in bee bread, propolis and beeswax, up to concentration levels of more thousand μg/kg. Based on our observations, tau-fluvalinate, coumaphos, chlorfenvinphos, chlorpyrifos and amitraz are commonly detected pesticide active substances in beehive products. Our estimates suggest that coumaphos and chlorfenvinphos can accumulate in beeswax to an extent that pose a potential health risk to the consumers of comb honey. However, it appears that pesticide residues do not transfer to royal jelly, presumably due to the filtering activity of nurse bees during secretion.

Occurrence and risk assessment of three chloroamide herbicides in water and soil environment in northeastern, eastern and southern China

Chloroamide herbicides can cause adverse effects on nontarget organisms, but there is limited information about their occurrence in the environment of major cropland growing regions. In this study, a total of 1012 soil samples, 617 surface water samples and 737 groundwater samples were collected from 2020 to 2021 in three regions of China to evaluate the occurrence and risk of three important chloroamide herbicides alachlor, acetochlor and butachlor using the improved QuEChERS extraction method and high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that residues of the three chloroamide compounds in surface water and groundwater ranged from 0.1 to 176.0 μg L^-1, of which acetochlor was frequently detected from surface water (17.5%). As for the soil, mass fraction was varied between 1.0 and 1540.3 μg kg^-1, similarly acetochlor had the highest detection frequency (49.6%). Timewise, the median mass fraction of selected chloroamide herbicides in soil in 2021 (7.8 μg kg^-1) was significantly lower than that in 2020 (10.9 μg kg^-1). Spatially, there were regional differences in the content of environmental residues, and the overall level of residues in the northeast was relatively high. The environmental risk assessment based on the improved Risk Quotient (RQ) method indicated that the selected herbicides were currently within an acceptable range for human health risks in the soil and water environment in various regions, but acetochlor and butachlor had contributed to the RQ values of fish and earthworms (0.01＜RQ＜0.1) in recent years, respectively, which might pose a certain risk of oral exposure to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. This study provides valuable data and ideas for the rational application, pollution control and environmental safety evaluation of chloroamide herbicides in China.

Field recommended concentrations of pyraclostrobin exposure disturb the development and immune response of worker bees (Apis mellifera L.) larvae and pupae

The strobilurin fungicide pyraclostrobin is widely used to prevent and control the fungal diseases of various nectar and pollen plants. Honeybees also directly or indirectly contact this fungicide with a long-term exposure period. However, the effects of pyraclostrobin on the development and physiology of Apis mellifera larvae and pupae during continuous exposure have been rarely known. To investigate the effects of field-realistic concentrations of pyraclostrobin on honeybee survival and development, the 2-day-old larvae were continuously fed with different pyraclostrobin solutions (100 mg/L and 83.3 mg/L), and the expression of development-, nutrient-, and immune-related genes in larvae and pupae were examined. The results showed that two field-realistic concentrations of pyraclostrobin (100 and 83.3 mg/L) significantly decreased the survival and capped rate of larvae, the weight of pupae and newly emerged adults, and such decrease was a positive correlation to the treatment concentrations. qPCR results showed that pyraclostrobin could induce the expression of Usp, ILP2, Vg, Defensin1, and Hymenoptaecin, decrease the expression of Hex100, Apidaecin, and Abaecin in larvae, could increase the expression of Ecr, Usp, Hex70b, Vg, Apidaecin, and Hymenoptaecin, and decreased the expression of ILP1, Hex100 and Defensin1in pupae. These results reflect pyraclostrobin could decrease nutrient metabolism, immune competence and seriously affect the development of honeybees. It should be used cautiously in agricultural practices, especially in the process of bee pollination.

Effects of fungicides on the ultrastructure of the hypopharyngeal glands and the strength of the hives of Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Several crops of agronomic interest depend on bees' pollination, and Apis mellifera L (Hymanoptera: Apidae) is the most studied direct pollinator. Nevertheless, the use of pesticides in agricultural environments is common, including fungicides. Studies that seek to evaluate the effects of fungicides on the hypopharyngeal glands of bees, the site of royal jelly synthesis, are lacking. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the effect of field doses of fungicides (Captan SC® and Zignal®), alone or in mixture, on the hypopharyngeal glands and their subsequent effect on the strength of hives. The evaluations were carried out under field conditions in three hives per treatment. For a period of one month, bee hives received feed containing sugar syrup, pollen and 1.2 mL of Zignal® and 3 mL of Captan SC® in the isolated treatments and 4.2 mL in the mixture. The action of fungicides on the hypopharyngeal glands was determined by transmission electron microscopy analysis in bees 7 and 15 days old, collected in the hives one month after exposure to fungicides. The strength of the hives was evaluated for six months based on the number of frames with adult bees, open and closed brood, and stored food. The results indicate that fungicides promote early degeneration of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and morphological and structural changes in mitochondria. In addition, a reduction in adult population, open and closed breeding and food stock was observed. More pronounced damage occurred when bees were exposed to the mixture of fungicides. Overall, it can be concluded that the presence of fungicides in bee diets promotes harm accentuated over time and compromises the survival of hives. It will be worth estimating the fungicide effects of the queen development and on the colony heath.

Review on effects of some insecticides on honey bee health

Insecticides, one of the main agrochemicals, are useful for controlling pests; however, the indiscriminate use of insecticides has led to negative effects on nontarget insects, especially honey bees, which are essential for pollination services. Different classes of insecticides, such as neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, chlorantraniliprole, spinosad, flupyradifurone and sulfoxaflor, not only negatively affect honey bee growth and development but also decrease their foraging activity and pollination services by influencing their olfactory sensation, memory, navigation back to the nest, flight ability, and dance circuits. Honey bees resist the harmful effects of insecticides by coordinating the expression of genes related to immunity, metabolism, and detoxification pathways. To our knowledge, more research has been conducted on the effects of neonicotinoids on honey bee health than those of other insecticides. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding the effects of some insecticides, especially neonicotinoids, on honey bee health. Possible strategies to increase the positive impacts of insecticides on agriculture and reduce their negative effects on honey bees are also discussed.

Fungicides and bees: a review of exposure and risk

Fungicides account for more than 35% of the global pesticide market and their use is predicted to increase in the future. While fungicides are commonly applied during bloom when bees are likely foraging on crops, whether real-world exposure to these chemicals - alone or in combination with other stressors - constitutes a threat to the health of bees is still the subject of great uncertainty. The first step in estimating the risks of exposure to fungicides for bees is to understand how and to what extent bees are exposed to these active ingredients. Here we review the current knowledge that exists about exposure to fungicides that bees experience in the field, and link quantitative data on exposure to acute and chronic risk of lethal endpoints for honey bees (Apis mellifera). From the 702 publications we screened, 76 studies contained quantitative data on residue detections in honey bee matrices, and a further 47 provided qualitative information about exposure for a range of bee taxa through various routes. We compiled data for 90 fungicides and metabolites that have been detected in honey, beebread, pollen, beeswax, and the bodies of honey bees. The risks posed to honey bees by fungicide residues was estimated through the EPA Risk Quotient (RQ) approach. Based on residue concentrations detected in honey and pollen/beebread, none of the reported fungicides exceeded the levels of concern (LOC) set by regulatory agencies for acute risk, while 3 and 12 fungicides exceeded the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) chronic LOC for honey bees and wild bees, respectively. When considering exposure to all bees, fungicides of most concern include many broad-spectrum systemic fungicides, as well as the widely used broad-spectrum contact fungicide chlorothalonil. In addition to providing a detailed overview of the frequency and extent of fungicide residue detections in the bee environment, we identified important research gaps and suggest future directions to move towards a more comprehensive understanding and mitigation of the risks of exposure to fungicides for bees, including synergistic risks of co-exposure to fungicides and other pesticides or pathogens.

The Value of Hazard Quotients in Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Ecotoxicology: A Review

Estimates of pesticide application hazards have grown to be one of the most common methodologies for evaluating the impact of pest management practices on honey bees. Typically, hazards are estimated by calculating a Hazard Quotient (HQ), which is based on acute toxicity data for different pesticides and the quantity of those pesticides applied to a field or detected on bees and matrices associated with their hive (honey, wax, pollen, and/or bee bread). Although use of HQ is widespread, there have been few reviews of this methodology, particularly with focus on how effective this method is at predicting effects of pesticides on hives. We evaluated 36 relevant papers, containing calculations of HQ to estimate hazards to honey bees. We observed that HQ was primarily calculated using two different approaches: (1) from the concentration of pesticides in the food, hive, or tissues of honey bees or (2) using the field application rate of the active ingredient as the estimation of pesticide hazard. Within and between HQ calculation methods, thresholds vary widely with some HQ thresholds set below 1 and others set at 10,000. Based on our review we identify key weakness with current HQ methodology and how studies relate HQ to honey bee health endpoints. First, HQ thresholds from studies of pesticides in hives are not based on the same pesticide consumption models from the EPA, potentially overestimating the risk of impacts to colonies. Conversely, HQ estimates calculated from field application rates are not based on eco-toxicological estimates of field exposure, resulting in an overestimation of pesticide reaching colonies. We suggest it is for these reasons that there is poor correspondence between HQ and field-level honey bee health endpoints. Considering these challenges, HQ calculations should be used cautiously in future studies and more research should be dedicated to field level exposure models.

Pesticide risk to managed bees during blueberry pollination is primarily driven by off-farm exposures

When managed bee colonies are brought to farms for crop pollination, they can be exposed to pesticide residues. Quantifying the risk posed by these exposures can indicate which pesticides are of the greatest concern and helps focus efforts to reduce the most harmful exposures. To estimate the risk from pesticides to bees while they are pollinating blueberry fields, we sampled blueberry flowers, foraging bees, pollen collected by returning honey bee and bumble bee foragers at colonies, and wax from honey bee hives in blooming blueberry farms in southwest Michigan. We screened the samples for 261 active ingredients using a modified QuEChERS method. The most abundant pesticides were those applied by blueberry growers during blueberry bloom (e.g., fenbuconazole and methoxyfenozide). However, we also detected highly toxic pesticides not used in this crop during bloom (or other times of the season) including the insecticides chlorpyrifos, clothianidin, avermectin, thiamethoxam, and imidacloprid. Using LD₅₀ values for contact and oral exposure to honey bees and bumble bees, we calculated the Risk Quotient (RQ) for each individual pesticide and the average sample RQ for each farm. RQ values were considered in relation to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency acute contact level of concern (LOC, 0.4), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) acute contact LOC (0.2) and the EFSA chronic oral LOC (0.03). Pollen samples were most likely to exceed LOC values, with the percent of samples above EFSA’s chronic oral LOC being 0% for flowers, 3.4% for whole honey bees, 0% for whole bumble bees, 72.4% for honey bee pollen in 2018, 45.4% of honey bee pollen in 2019, 46.7% of bumble bee pollen in 2019, and 3.5% of honey bee wax samples. Average pollen sample RQ values were above the EFSA chronic LOC in 92.9% of farms in 2018 and 42.9% of farms in 2019 for honey bee collected pollen, and 46.7% of farms for bumble bee collected pollen in 2019. Landscape analyses indicated that sample RQ was positively correlated with the abundance of apple and cherry orchards located within the flight range of the bees, though this varied between bee species and landscape scale. There was no correlation with abundance of blueberry production. Our results highlight the need to mitigate pesticide risk to bees across agricultural landscapes, in addition to focusing on the impact of applications on the farms where they are applied.

Neonicotinoids exposure assessment in Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) by using an environmentally-friendly sample preparation technique followed by UPLC-MS/MS

A miniaturized QuEChERS extraction method followed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) was developed to analyze thiamethoxam and imidacloprid in 0.3 g of lyophilized Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). The work aimed to estimate honey bees' exposure to pesticides at the nanogram/gram (ng g^-1) levels, using small sample and reagent quantities. Low amounts of solvents and salts were employed - 15× less than used in traditional methods. Average recoveries ranged from 64.5% to 99.7%, with repeatability below 20% for samples spiked at 3 and 167 ng g^-1. LOD and LOQ were 0.7, and 3 ng g^-1 for both pesticides. Applying the proposed approach, honey bee samples from different apiaries from the State of São Paulo (Brazil) were analyzed. The pesticides were detected in concentrations between 7.0 and 27.0 ng g^-1. Thus, the proposed method can be used as a greener alternative to analyze the two neonicotinoids at trace levels in small quantities of bees, consequently saving chemicals and waste.

Variations in Nutritional Requirements Across Bee Species

With 2,000 species currently recorded in Europe, bees are a highly diversified and efficient group of pollinating insects. They obtain their nutrients from nectar and pollen of flowers. However, the chemical composition of these resources, especially of pollen (e.g., protein, lipid, amino acids, fatty acids, or sterol content), is highly variable among plant species. While it is well-known that bees show interspecific variation in their floral choices, there is a lack of information on the nutritional requirements of different bee species. We therefore developed original experiments in laboratory conditions to evaluate the interspecific variations in bee nutritional requirements. We analyzed the chemical content of eight pollen blends, different in terms of protein, lipid, amino acids, and sterols total concentration and profiles. Each pollen blend was provided to four different bee model species: honey bees (Apis mellifera), bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), mason bees (Osmia bicornis and Osmia cornuta). For each species, specific protocols were used to monitor their development (e.g., weight, timing, survival) and resource collection. Overall, we found that the nutritional requirements across those species are different, and that a low-quality diet for one species is not necessarily low-quality for another one. While honey bees are negatively impacted by diets with a high protein content (~40%), bumblebees and mason bees develop normally on these diets but struggle on diets with a low total amino acid and sterol content, specifically with low concentrations of 24-methylenecholesterol and β-sitosterol. Overall, our study supports the need of conserving and/or introducing plant diversity into managed ecosystems to meet the natural nutritional preferences of bees at species and community level.

Analysis of honey bee exposure to multiple pesticide residues in the hive environment

Since the loss of honeybees in hives could have a greater impact on colony health than those of their foraging bees, it is imperative to know beehives' pesticide exposure via oral ingestion of contaminated in-hive matrices. Here, a 4-year monitoring survey of 64 pesticide residues in pollen, nectar and related beehive matrices (beebread and honey) from China's main honey producing areas was carried out using a modified version of the QuEChERS multi-residue method. The results showed that 93.6% of pollen, 81.5% of nectar, 96.6% of beebread, and 49.3% of honey containing at least one target pesticide were detected either at or above the method detection limits (MDLs), respectively, with up to 19 pesticides found per sample. Carbendazim was the most frequently detected pesticide (present in >85% of the samples), and pyrethroids were also abundant (median concentration = 134.3-279.0 μg/kg). The transfer of pesticides from the environment into the beehive was shown, but the pesticide transference ratio may be affected by complex factors. Although the overall risk to colony health from pesticides appears to be at an acceptable level, the hazard quotient/hazard index (HQ/HI) value revealed that pyrethroids were clearly the most influential contributor, accounting for up to 45% of HI. Collectively, these empirical findings provide further insights into the extent of contamination caused by agricultural pesticide use on honeybee colonies.

Dynamics of λ-cyhalothrin disappearance and expression of selected P450 genes in bees depending on the ambient temperature

Temperature has a significant influence on the action of pyrethroids, and their effect increases with decreasing ambient temperature. Using gas chromatography, we assessed the degradation rate of λ-cyhalothrin, active ingredients (AI) of Karate Zeon 050 CS from pyrethroid group, in bees incubated for 48 h under different temperature conditions. With RT-qPCR method, we studied expression levels of selected cytochrome P450 genes after exposure to the plant protection product (PPP). The half-life of λ-cyhalothrin decreased from 43.32 to 17.33 h in the temperature range of 21–31°C. In animals incubated at 16°C, the AI half-life was even shorter and amounted to 10.19 h. The increase in temperature increased the expression of Cyp9Q1, Cyp9Q2, and Cyp9Q3 in the group of control bees. We showed a two-fold statistically significant increase in gene expression after treatment with PPP bees. The obtained results indicate that honey bees are characterized by susceptibility to pyrethroids that vary depending on the ambient temperature. This may be due to the different expressions of genes responsible for the detoxification of these PPPs at different temperatures.

The use of the Hazard Quotient approach to assess the potential risk to honeybees (Apis mellifera) posed by pesticide residues detected in bee-relevant matrices is not appropriate

BACKGROUND

Pesticide residue data for pollen and nectar are valuable for characterizing realistic exposure of pollinators, e.g. from agricultural crops, flowering margins. Interpretation of residues relies on comparing exposure with toxicity and the Hazard Quotient (HQ) is widely utilized. However, the HQ (threshold of concern 50) was only validated for foliar sprays, based on application rate as a proxy for exposure, not measured residues in bee-relevant matrices.

RESULTS

A review of the literature showed a range of HQ approaches and thresholds of concern used to assess non-foliar applications and residues detected in bee-relevant matrices, mostly pollen. The use of the HQ thresholds to assess risks associated with residue data or non-foliar spray application methods is not validated, does not reflect realistic exposure and the conclusions reached differ substantially from current risk assessment approaches. Re-evaluation of residue data from the first published use of the concentration-based HQ (2013) and a recent paper (2021) reduced the proportion of pesticides where a conclusion of potential risk was reached from 30 to 7% and 28% to 3-6%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

An understanding of the applicability of the selected risk assessment approach to the available residue data is needed to enable robust conclusions to be drawn on the potential risk to bees. Use of the HQ approach to assess the risk posed by application methods other than foliar sprays or residues in nectar and pollen is likely to result in unreliable conclusions. An alternative approach should be used to assess the significance of measured residues.

Pollen nutrition fosters honeybee tolerance to pesticides

A reduction in floral resource abundance and diversity is generally observed in agro-ecosystems, along with widespread exposure to pesticides. Therefore, a better understanding on how the availability and quality of pollen diets can modulate honeybee sensitivity to pesticides is required. For that purpose, we evaluated the toxicity of acute exposure and chronic exposures to field realistic and higher concentrations of azoxystrobin (fungicide) and sulfoxaflor (insecticide) in honeybees provided with pollen diets of differing qualities (named S and BQ pollens). We found that pollen intake reduced the toxicity of the acute doses of pesticides. Contrary to azoxystrobin, chronic exposures to sulfoxaflor increased by 1.5- to 12-fold bee mortality, which was reduced by pollen intake. Most importantly, the risk of death upon exposure to a high concentration of sulfoxaflor was significantly lower for the S pollen diet when compared with the BQ pollen diet. This reduced pesticide toxicity was associated with a higher gene expression of vitellogenin, a glycoprotein that promotes bee longevity, a faster sulfoxaflor metabolization and a lower concentration of the phytochemical p-coumaric acid, known to upregulate detoxification enzymes. Thus, our study revealed that pollen quality can influence the ability of bees to metabolize pesticides and withstand their detrimental effects, providing another strong argument for the restoration of suitable foraging habitat.

First application of an Integrated Biological Response index to assess the ecotoxicological status of honeybees from rural and urban areas

Understanding the effects of environmental contaminants on honeybees is essential to minimize their impacts on these important pollinating insects. The aim of this study was to assess the ecotoxicological status of honeybees in environments undergoing different anthropic pressure: a wood (reference site), an orchard, an agricultural area, and an urban site, using a multi-biomarker approach. To synthetically represent the ecotoxicological status of the honeybees, the responses of the single biomarkers were integrated by the Integrated Biological Response (IBRv2) index. Overall, the strongest alteration of the ecotoxicological status (IBRv2 = 7.52) was detected in the bees from the orchard due to the alteration of metabolic and genotoxicity biomarkers indicating the presence of pesticides, metals, and lipophilic compounds. Honeybees from the cultivated area (IBRv2 = 7.18) revealed an alteration especially in neurotoxicity, metabolic, and genotoxicity biomarkers probably related to the presence of pesticides, especially fungicides. Finally, in the urban area (IBRv2 = 6.60), the biomarker results (GST, lysozyme, and hemocytes) indicated immunosuppression in the honeybees and the effects of the presence of lipophilic compounds and metals in the environment.

[Recent developments of pesticide adsorbents based on cyclodextrins]

The invention and application of pesticides have greatly increased the yield of crops, greatly contributing to ensuring people's basic livelihoods and gradually improving their livelihoods to a well-off level. However, foods, water sources, and soil, containing high levels of pesticide residues, result in increasingly serious pollution. Pesticide residues usually have the characteristics of micro toxicity, difficult biodegradation, and bioaccumulation, and thus pose serious threat to living organisms and ecosystems. In recent years, pesticide pollution has earned worldwide focus. Thus, methods for the efficient detection of trace pesticides and reduction of the harm caused by pesticide pollution are urgently required. Researchers have used catalysis, electrochemistry, membrane separation, adsorption, and other methods to enrich pesticides from complex matrices. Among these, adsorbents have attracted much attention owing to their advantages of simple operation steps, rapid treatment process, and low amounts of organic solvents required. Research on adsorption materials has always been a very active field, and is also the key to the success of separation and enrichment of pesticides from complex matrices. Development of adsorbents with the advantages of simple synthesis, environment-friendliness, high stability, and strong reusability is of great significance. There has been some progress in the field of pesticide adsorption using supramolecular compounds. Cyclodextrin is a macrocyclic compound with a cavity after crown ether, which can form inclusion complexes via host guest interactions as the main body. Cyclodextrin can also be modified by etherification, esterification, oxidation, and other chemical reactions to improve its adsorption performance. Pesticides can be classified into organic and inorganic substances. One of the most widely used inorganic fungicides is the Bordeaux solution, whose main component is Cu²⁺. Organic fungicides, insecticides, herbicides, and plant growth regulators are basically organic molecules, whose hydroxyl and carboxyl groups can form complexes with Cu²⁺. As a matrix, cyclodextrin not only increases the surface area of the materials, but also provides the binding sites of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups, which guarantees efficient enrichment of Cu²⁺. Organic pesticides with high polarity, high electron density, and strong hydrophobicity could be better adsorbed. In this paper, the application of cyclodextrin-based adsorbents in pesticide adsorption was reviewed, and on this basis, reference to future development directions and application prospects were provided. The adsorption capacity of individual pesticide adsorbents based on cyclodextrin, as reviewed in this paper, is not high enough. Therefore, improving the adsorption capacity is currently a major research target. Some of the above-mentioned adsorbents have unclear degradation mechanisms and can easily cause secondary pollution. Therefore, the development of environment-friendly pesticide adsorbents that are easy to regenerate is a promising research direction for the future. After adsorption, some detection methods are used to determine whether the pesticide residues are up to the standard; however, the detection instruments are expensive. Therefore, the development of a combined detection mechanism that can reduce workload and cost is a promising research direction. Finally, the development of smart cyclodextrin-based adsorbents is also an efficient and rapid method to reduce the cost of detecting residual pesticide concentrations and the risk of pesticide pollution. For example, intelligent materials, whose color changes can be observed by the naked eye, not only adsorb pesticides, but also respond according to the concentration of residual pesticides.

Metabolomics unveils the influence of dietary phytochemicals on residual pesticide concentrations in honey bees

The losses of honey bee colonies and declines of other insect pollinators have been associated with negative effects of pesticides. Honey bees as well as other pollinators are nectar and pollen foragers and thus are exposed to an extensive range of phytochemicals. Understanding the synergistic, additive, and antagonistic effects of plant secondary metabolites and pesticides in honey bees may help to protect honey bee colonies against agrochemicals. In this study, we used untargeted metabolomics to investigate the impact of dietary phytochemical composition on the residual concentration of three pesticides: imidacloprid, tau-fluvalinate and tebuconazole in exposed honey bees. Honey bees were given different diets based on pollen or nectar from four plants: Reseda odorata, Borago officinalis, Phacelia tanacetifolia, and Trifolium repens for two days. Thereafter, they were orally exposed to 10 ng/bee imidacloprid or contact-exposed to 0.9 μg/bee tau-fluvalinate or 5 μg/bee tebuconazole. After 1 h of oral exposure or 24 h of contact exposure, the honey bees were anaesthetised with CO₂, sacrificed by freezing, extracted with a validated QuEChERS method, and residual pesticide concentrations were determined by LC-QTRAP-MS/MS. The phytochemical composition in the given diets were profiled with an UHPLC-Q Exactive-MS/MS. The results revealed that the dietary phytochemical composition has a noteworthy influence on the concentration of residual pesticides in honey bees. The correlation coefficient analysis demonstrated that flavonoids have a reducing effect on the residual concentration of imidacloprid and tau-fluvalinate in honey bees. The results also highlighted that exposure to imidacloprid impaired the metabolism of sugars in honey bees. Exploiting flavonoid-rich plants may protect honey bees against pesticides and hold promise as forage plants in future beekeeping.

Honey Bee Health in Maine Wild Blueberry Production

Simple Summary

Wild blueberry is an important native North American crop that requires insect pollination. Migratory western honey bee colonies constitute the majority of commercial bees brought into Maine for pollination of wild blueberry. Currently, many stressors impact the western honey bee in the US. We designed a two-year monitoring study (2014 and 2015) to assess the potential health of honey bee colonies hired for pollination services in wild blueberry fields. We monitored the colony health of nine hive locations (three hives/location) in 2014 and nine locations (five hives/location) in 2015 during bloom (May–June). Queen health status, colony strength, rate of population increase, and pesticide residues on pollen, wax, and honey bee workers were measured. In addition, each hive was sampled to assess levels of mite parasites, viruses, and Microsporidian and Trypanosome pathogens. Different patterns in colony health were observed over the two years. Factors predicting colony growth rate over both years were Varroa mite infestation and risk due to pollen pesticide residues during bloom. In addition, recently discovered parasites and pathogens were already observed in most of the colonies suggesting that parasites and diseases spread rapidly and become established quickly in commercial honey bee colonies.

Abstract

A two-year study was conducted in Maine wild blueberry fields (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton) on the health of migratory honey bee colonies in 2014 and 2015. In each year, three or five colonies were monitored at each of nine wild blueberry field locations during bloom (mid-May until mid-June). Colony health was measured by assessing colony strength during wild blueberry bloom. Potential factors that might affect colony health were queen failure or supersedure; pesticide residues on trapped pollen, wax comb, and bee bread; and parasites and pathogens. We found that Varroa mite and pesticide residues on trapped pollen were significant predictors of colony health measured as the rate of change in the amount of sealed brood during bloom. These two factors explained 71% of the variance in colony health over the two years. Pesticide exposure was different in each year as were pathogen prevalence and incidence. We detected high prevalence and abundance of two recently discovered pathogens and one recently discovered parasite, the trypanosome Lotmaria passim Schwartz, the Sinai virus, and the phorid fly, Apocephalus borealis Brues.

Depletion kinetics and concentration- and time-dependent toxicity of a tertiary mixture of amitraz and its major hydrolysis products in honeybees

Although amitraz is one of the acaricides most commonly applied within beehives, to date, its time-dependent oral toxicity in honeybees has not been investigated, due to amitraz's instability in aqueous media. In aqueous media such as honey, amitraz rapidly forms a continuously changing tertiary mixture with two of its major hydrolysis products, DMF and DMPF. The contribution of each hydrolysis product to the overall oral toxicity of this acaricide is not known. Therefore, we aimed to characterize the depletion and formation kinetics of amitraz and its hydrolysis products in 50% sucrose solution provided to caged honeybees, including the calculation of the 50% lethal oral concentration (LC₅₀) of amitraz. We sought to determine the contribution of each component of the mixture to the overall observed toxicity. We also investigated the time- and concentration-dependent toxicity of the amitraz mixture and its hydrolysis products. A novel approach based on the analysis of the areas under the depletion and formation curves of amitraz and its hydrolysis products revealed that DMPF, amitraz and DMF accounted for 92%, 7% and 1% (respectively) of the overall toxicity of the mixture. The chronic oral LC₅₀ of amitraz was 3300 μmol/L, of similar magnitude as that of the non-toxic hydrolysis product DMF. The toxicity of DMPF and the mixture decreased over time; whereas the toxicity of DMF increased over time. Amitraz's instability in aqueous media and the highly toxic profile of DMPF, suggest that DMPF is the actual toxic entity responsible for amitraz's toxicity toward honeybees.

Pesticides residues and metabolites in honeybees: A Greek overview exploring Varroa and Nosema potential synergies

The aim of this study was to investigate reported cases of honeybee mortality incidents and the potential association to pesticide exposure and to their metabolites. The same honeybee samples were also assessed for Varroa mites, and Nosema microsporidia provoked infections to provide an integrated picture of all observable stressors that may impact bees' survival. Thus, honeybee samples from different areas of Greece (2014-2018) were analyzed for the presence of pesticide residues and metabolites. In this context, an existing LC-ESI-QqQ-MS multiresidue method of analytes of different chemical classes such as neonicotinoids, organophosphates, triazoles, carbamates, was enriched with additional active substances, developed and validated. A complementary GC-EI-QqQ-MS method was also exploited for the same scope covering pyrethroid compounds. Both methods monitored more than 150 active substances and metabolites and presented acceptable linearity over the ranges assayed. The calculated recoveries ranged from 65 to 120% for the three concentration levels, while the precision (RSD%) values ranged between 4 and 15%. Therefore, this approach proved sufficient to act as a monitoring tool for the determination of pesticide residues in cases of suspected honeybee poisoning incidents. From the analysis of 320 samples, the presence of 70 active substances and metabolites was confirmed with concentrations varying from 1.4 ng/g to 166 μg/g. Predominant detections were the acaricide coumaphos, several neonicotinoids exemplified by clothianidin, organophosporous compounds dimethoate and chlorpyrifos, and some pyrethroids. Metabolites of imidacloprid, chlorpyrifos, coumaphos, acetamiprid, fenthion and amitraz were also identified. Concerning Nosema and Varroa they were identified in 27 and 22% of samples examined, respectively, verifying their prevalence and coexistence with pesticides and their metabolites in honeybees.

Antibiotic Treatment Decrease the Fitness of Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Larvae

Simple Summary

To determine the biologic function of gut bacteria with no host specificity in honeybee larvae, honeybee larvae were treated with antibiotics for disrupting the gut bacteria. Then, the body weight, development time, and expression of nutrient metabolism genes and immune genes of honeybee larvae were investigated. The results demonstrated that the disruption of gut microbiota by antibiotics weakened the nutrient metabolism, decreased the body weight, extended the development process, and decrease the immune competence of honeybee larvae, indicating the vital roles of gut bacteria in bee larvae fitness.

Abstract

Symbiotic bacteria could increase the nutrient provision, regulate the physiological state, and promote immunity in their insect host. Honeybee larvae harbor plenty of bacteria in their gut, but their functions are not well studied. To determine their effect on honeybee larvae, the 1-day-old larvae were grafted on to 24-well plates from the comb and artificially reared in the lab. They were treated with penicillin–streptomycin to remove the gut symbiotic bacteria. Then, the 5-day-old larvae and the newly emerged adults were weighted. The developmental periods to pupae and eclosion were investigated, respectively. The bacterial amount, expression of developmental regulation genes (ecr and usp), nutrient metabolism genes (ilp1, ilp2, hex 70a, hex 70b, hex 70c, and hex 110), and immunity genes (apidaecin, abaecin, defensin-1, and hymenoptaecin) were determined by qRT-PCR. The result showed that the antibiotics-treated larvae have significantly lower body weights in the 5-day-old larvae and the emerged bees. The expression of ilp2 and hex 70c in 5-day-old larvae was down-regulated. The usp was down-regulated in 5-day-old larvae, but increased in 7-day-old larvae, which disturbed the normal developmental process and caused the extension of eclosion. Moreover, antibiotics treatment significantly decreased the expression of apidaecin and abaecin in 5-day-old larvae, and defensin-1 and hymenoptaecin in 7-day-old larvae, respectively. These results showed that antibiotics could weaken the nutrient metabolism, disturb the development process, and decrease the immune competence of honeybee larvae, indicating the vital roles of gut bacteria in bee larvae fitness, so the antibiotics should be avoided to control microbial disease in honeybee larvae.

A Qualitative Analysis of Beekeepers' Perceptions and Farm Management Adaptations to the Impact of Climate Change on Honey Bees

Simple Summary

This paper addresses climate change effects on honey bees and beekeeping, as observed by the beekeepers. Focus groups were used to identify the perceptions, thoughts and impressions of two groups of beekeepers, regarding their viewpoints and direct observations on the effects of climate change on honey bees and management strategies. Beekeepers reported several consequences related to severe weather events (weakening or loss of colonies; scarcity of nectar, pollen, and honeydew; decrease or lack of honey and other bee products; intensive transhumance; greater infestation by varroa; decline in pollination), making it necessary to provide supplemental sugar feeding, more effective and sustainable techniques for varroa control, and increased production of nuclei. Thanks to their strong motivation and collaborative attitude, beekeepers succeed in adopting strategies that are able to limit the climatic adverse effects. However, the institutional and financial support for the beekeeping sector should be strengthened and better targeted in order to help beekeepers to cope with the specific issues arising due to climatic stresses.

Abstract

(1) Background: Bees are the primary animal pollinators in most ecosystems, and honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are important providers of pollination ecosystem services and products. Climate change is one of the major threats for honey bees. (2) Objectives and methods: Qualitative research using focus group discussions was carried out in northwestern Italy, to investigate the beekeepers’ perceptions of climate change effects, the relevant management adaptations, and the main issues affecting the sector. (3) Results: Beekeepers reported several consequences related to severe weather events (weakening or loss of colonies; scarcity of nectar, pollen, and honeydew; decrease or lack of honey and other bee products; greater infestation by varroa; decline in pollination), making it necessary to provide supplemental sugar feeding, intensive transhumance, more effective and sustainable techniques for varroa control, and increased production of nuclei. A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis was completed, displaying the factors able to strengthen or weaken the resilience of the beekeeping sector to climate change. (4) Conclusions: Thanks to their strong motivation and collaborative attitude, beekeepers succeed in adopting farm and bee hive adaptation strategies that are able to limit the climatic adverse effects. However, these findings highlight how the institutional and financial support for the beekeeping sector should be strengthened and better targeted.

Quality, composition and health-protective properties of citrus honey: A review

Citrus honey is one of the most important monofloral honeys produced and consumed worldwide. This honey has pleasant sensorial characteristics, which include light color and typical aroma and flavor. Besides that, several constituents such as minerals, phenolic and volatile compounds, amino acids, sugars, enzymes, vitamins, methylglyoxal and organic acids are found in citrus honey. Moreover, potential biological properties have been associated with citrus honey. All these factors make it highly desired by consumers, increasing its market value, which can stimulates the practice of fraud. Also, citrus honey is susceptible to contamination and to inadequate processing. All these factors can compromise the quality, safety and authenticity of citrus honey. In this sense, this review aims to update and to discuss, for the first time, the data available in the literature about the physicochemical and the sensorial characteristics, composition, health properties, contamination, authenticity and adulteration of citrus honey. With this background, we aim to provide data that can guide future researches related to this honey.

Concentration- and time-dependent toxicity of commonly encountered pesticides and pesticide mixtures to honeybees (Apis mellifera L.)

Honeybees are exposed to a wide range of pesticides for long periods via contaminated water, pollen and nectar. Some of those pesticides might constitute health hazards in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Time-dependent toxicity profiles for many applied pesticides are lacking, despite the fact that such profiles are crucial for toxicological evaluations. Therefore, we sought to determine the time-dependent toxicities of pesticides/pesticide metabolites frequently found in Israeli beehives, namely, amitraz metabolites, N'-(2,4-dimethylphenyl)-N-methylformamidine (DMPF) and N-(2,4-dimethylphenyl)-formamide (DMF), coumaphos, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, acetamiprid and dimethoate (toxic reference). By applying accepted methodological approaches such as the modified Haber's rule (product of concentration and exposure duration leads to a constant effect) and comparisons between cumulative doses at different time points, we determined the time-dependent toxicities of these pesticides. We also studied the mixture toxicities of frequently occurring pesticide combinations and estimated their potential contributions to the overall toxicities of neonicotinoids. Thiacloprid was the only pesticide that complied with Haber's rule. DMPF, dimethoate and imidacloprid exhibited time-diminished -toxicities. In contrast, DMF and acetamiprid exhibited time-reinforced toxicities. Neither the binary mixtures nor the tertiary mixtures of DMF, DMPF and coumaphos at 10 times their environmentally relevant concentrations potentiated the neonicotinoids' toxicities. DMPF and imidacloprid were found to present the greatest hazard to honeybees, based on their 50% lethal cumulative dose and 50% lethal time. Amitraz's instability, its low detection frequency and high toxicity profile of its metabolite, DMPF, lead us to the conclusion that DMPF constitutes the actual toxic entity responsible for amitraz's toxic effect.

Assessment of risk to honey bees and honey consumers resulting from the insect exposure to captan, thiacloprid, penthiopyrad, and λ-cyhalothrin used in a commercial apple orchard

Samples of leaves, flowers, soil, pollen, bee workers, bee brood, honey, and beeswax were collected to assess the possibility of a transfer of captan, thiacloprid, penthiopyrad, and λ-cyhalothrin from apple trees of Idared variety to honey bee (Apis mellifera) hives. Chemical analyses were performed using the Agilent 7890 Gas Chromatograph equipped with the Micro-cell Electron Capture Detector. It was found that significant amounts of penthiopyrad, the active ingredient of Fontelis 200 SC, were present in leaves, flowers, pollen, bee workers, and beeswax. Simultaneously, captan was present in the brood, worker bees, and honey samples. Significant levels of the captan residues were also detected on the soil surface. In honey samples, captan residue levels exceeded the acceptable standard, reaching 160% of its maximum residue level. However, in no case the amounts of captan, thiacloprid, penthiopyrad, and λ-cyhalothrin ingested with honey by an adult consumer exceeded the level of 0.02% of the acceptable daily intake. Despite the trace amounts of pesticide residues in honey samples collected during the field trial, bee honey consumption can be considered safe. An adult consumer can safely consume about 16 kg of honey.

Use of Postregistration Monitoring Data to Evaluate the Ecotoxicological Risks of Pesticides to Surface Waters: A Case Study with Chlorpyrifos in the Iberian Peninsula

Chemical monitoring data sets such as those provided by the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) offer opportunities to evaluate the ecological risks of pesticides under large spatiotemporal scales and to evaluate the protectiveness of the current prospective risk-assessment framework. As a case study, we used the monitoring data set for the insecticide chlorpyrifos to perform a probabilistic risk assessment for Iberian surface-water ecosystems. The specific objectives of the study were 1) to assess the occurrence of chlorpyrifos in relation to different agricultural production land uses, 2) to assess the spatiotemporal variation in the exceedance of the European WFD short- and long-term environmental quality standards (maximum allowable concentration environmental quality standard [MAC-EQS] and annual average [AA] EQS), and 3) to perform a probabilistic risk assessment for freshwater invertebrates. A database that contains chlorpyrifos concentrations from 14 600 surface water samples taken between 2012 and 2017 in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) was analyzed, and chlorpyrifos was detected in 21% of these samples. The MAC-EQS was exceeded in 2% of the cases, whereas the AA-EQS was exceeded in 18% of the cases. The majority of the exceedances took place in the littoral areas of the eastern and southeastern parts of the Iberian Peninsula, particularly in areas with dominant citrus production during late spring, late summer, and autumn. The present study indicates unacceptable risks posed by chlorpyrifos to Iberian surface waters over the study period, although it was approved for use in Europe. The present study supports the need to perform further postregistration monitoring assessments with other pesticides following similar approaches, which can help to identify possible pesticide-misuse practices and improvements of the prospective risk-assessment framework. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:500-512. © 2020 SETAC.

The investigation of honey bee pesticide poisoning incidents in Czechia

Honey bees are major pollinators of crops with high economic value. Thus, bees are considered to be the most important nontarget organisms exposed to adverse effects of plant protection product use. The side effects of pesticides are one of the major factors often linked to colony losses. Fewer studies have researched acute poisoning incidents in comparison to the study of the sublethal effects of pesticides. Here, we compared pesticides in dead/dying bees from suspected poisoning incidents and the suspected crop source according to government protocols. Additionally, we analyzed live bees and bee bread collected from the brood comb to determine recent in-hive contamination. We used sites with no reports of poisoning for reference. Our analysis confirmed that not all of the suspected poisonings correlated with the suspected crop. The most important pesticides related to the poisoning incidents were highly toxic chlorpyrifos, deltamethrin, cypermethrin and imidacloprid and slightly toxic prochloraz and thiacloprid. Importantly, poisoning was associated with pesticide cocktail application. Almost all poisoning incidents were investigated in relation to rapeseed. Some sites were found to be heavily contaminated with several pesticides, including a reference site. However, other sites were moderately contaminated despite agricultural use, including rapeseed cultivation sites, which can influence the extent of pesticide use, including tank mixes and other factors. We suggest that the analysis of pesticides in bee bread and in bees from the brood comb is a useful addition to dead bee and suspected crop analysis in poisoning incidents to inform the extent of recent in-hive contamination.

Dietary quercetin impacts the concentration of pesticides in honey bees

Honey bees are important pollinators and are subject to numerous stressors, such as changing floral resources, parasites, and agrochemical exposure. Pesticide exposure has been linked to the decline in the global honey bee population. We have limited knowledge of the metabolic pathways and synergistic effects of xenobiotics in bees. Quercetin is one of the most abundant phytochemicals in plants and is therefore abundant in the honey bee diet. Quercetin can upregulate the detoxification system in honey bees; however, it is still unknown to what extent quercetin ingestion can reduce the content of absorbed pesticides. In this study, we investigated the effect of dietary quercetin on the contents of three pesticides in honey bees: imidacloprid (insecticide), tebuconazole (fungicide), and tau-fluvalinate (insecticide and acaricide). Bees were divided into two main groups and fed either quercetin-sucrose paste or only sucrose for 72 h. Thereafter, they were orally exposed to ∼10 ng/bee imidacloprid or contact-exposed to ∼0.9 μg/bee tau-fluvalinate or ∼5.2 μg/bee tebuconazole. After 1 h of oral exposure or 24 h of contact exposure, the bees were anaesthetised with CO₂, sacrificed by freezing, and extracted with a validated QuEChERS method. Subsequently, the concentrations of the three pesticides and quercetin in the bees were determined with a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer coupled to an HPLC system. No significant effect on the concentration of tebuconazole or tau-fluvalinate was observed in bees fed quercetin. Intake of quercetin led to a reduction in the concentration of imidacloprid in honey bees. Quercetin-rich plants may be exploited in future beekeeping.

Pesticide and veterinary drug residues in Belgian beeswax: Occurrence, toxicity, and risk to honey bees

Pesticide and veterinary drug residues are one of the stress factors affecting bee health and mortality. To investigate the occurrence, the concentration and the toxicity risk to bees of pesticide residues in four different types of beeswax (brood comb wax, recycled comb wax, honey comb wax, and cappings wax), 182 samples were collected from apiaries located all over the Belgian territories, during spring 2016 and analysed by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS for the presence of 294 chemical residues. The toxicity risk to bees expressed as the Hazard Quotient (HQ) was calculated for each wax sample, according to two scenarios with different tau-fluvalinate LD₅₀ values. Residues showing the highest prevalence were correlated to bee mortality in a multivariate logistic regression model and a risk-based model was used to predict colony bee mortality. Altogether, 54 different pesticide and veterinary drug residues were found in the four types of beeswax. The residues with a higher likelihood to be retained in beeswax are applied in-hive or with a high lipophilic nature. The multivariate logistic regression model showed a statistically significant influence of chlorfenvinphos on bee mortality. All our results indicated that cappings wax was substantially less contaminated. This national survey on beeswax contamination provides guidelines on the re-use of beeswax by beekeepers and shows the necessity to introduce maximum residue levels for global trade in beeswax. An online tool was developed to enable beekeepers and wax traders to estimate the risk to honey bee health associated with contaminated wax.

Lethal and Sublethal Effects of Pyriproxyfen on Apis and Non-Apis Bees

Pyriproxyfen is a juvenile hormone mimic used extensively worldwide to fight pests in agriculture and horticulture. It also has numerous applications as larvicide in vector control. The molecule disrupts metamorphosis and adult emergence in the target insects. The same types of adverse effects are expected on non-target insects. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the existing information on the toxicity of pyriproxyfen on the honey bee (Apis mellifera) and non-Apis bees (bumble bees, solitary bees, and stingless bees). The goal was also to identify the gaps necessary to fill. Thus, whereas the acute and sublethal toxicity of pyriproxyfen against A. mellifera is well-documented, the information is almost lacking for the non-Apis bees. The direct and indirect routes of exposure of the non-Apis bees to pyriproxyfen also need to be identified and quantified. More generally, the impacts of pyriproxyfen on the reproductive success of the different bee species have to be evaluated as well as the potential adverse effects of its metabolites.

Seek and you shall find: An assessment of the influence of the analytical methodologies on pesticide occurrences in honey bee-collected pollen with a systematic review

Honey bee mortality and colony losses have been reported worldwide. Although this phenomenon is caused by a combination of factors, agrochemicals have received special attention due to their potential effects on bees. In agricultural and urban environments bees are exposed to several compounds that may interact in unexpected ways, but information on the extent of pesticide exposure remains unclear. Several monitoring studies have been conducted to evaluate the field-realistic exposure of bees to pesticides after their release on the market. However, their outputs are difficult to compare and harmonize due to differences in the analytical methodologies and the sampling protocols (e.g. number of screened compounds and analysed samples, and detection limits (LODs)). Here, we hypothesize that the analytical methodologies used in the monitoring studies may strongly affect the pesticide occurrences in pollen underestimating the real pesticide exposure. By mean of a systematic literature review, we have collected relevant information on pesticide contaminations in the honey bee-collected pollen. Our findings showed that the pesticide occurrences were associated with the analytical methodologies and the real pesticide exposure has likely been underestimated in some monitoring studies. For four highly toxic compounds, the LOD used in these monitoring studies exceeded the doses that cause toxic effects on honey bees. We recommend that, especially for the highly toxic compounds, the LODs used in the monitoring studies should be low enough to exclude lethal or sublethal effects on bees and avoid "false negative" samples.

Effects of selected insecticidal substances on mRNA transcriptome in larvae of Apis mellifera

For the last decade, scientists have reported a loss of honeybee colonies. Multiple factors like parasites, pathogens and pesticides are dealt as possible drivers of honeybee losses. In particular, insecticides are considered as a major factor of pollinator poisoning. We applied sublethal concentrations of four insecticidal substances to honeybee larval food and analyzed the effects on transcriptome. The aim was to identify candidate genes indicating early negative impacts after application of insecticidal substances. Honeybee larvae were kept in-vitro under hive conditions (34-35 °C) and fed with dimethoate, fenoxycarb, chlorantraniliprole and flupyradifurone in sublethal concentrations between day 3-6 after grafting. Larvae at day 4, 6 and 8 were sampled and their transcriptome analyzed. By use of a RT-qPCR array differences in gene expression of selected gene families (immune system, development detoxification) were measured. Targets mainly involved in development, energy metabolism and the immune system were significantly affected by the insecticidal substances tested, selectively inducing genes of the detoxification system, immune response and nutritional stress.

Insights into the Toxicity and Degradation Mechanisms of Imidacloprid Via Physicochemical and Microbial Approaches

Imidacloprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide that has been widely used to control insect pests in agricultural fields for decades. It shows insecticidal activity mainly by blocking the normal conduction of the central nervous system in insects. However, in recent years, imidacloprid has been reported to be an emerging contaminant in all parts of the world, and has different toxic effects on a variety of non-target organisms, including human beings, due to its large-scale use. Hence, the removal of imidacloprid from the ecosystem has received widespread attention. Different remediation approaches have been studied to eliminate imidacloprid residues from the environment, such as oxidation, hydrolysis, adsorption, ultrasound, illumination, and biodegradation. In nature, microbial degradation is one of the most important processes controlling the fate of and transformation from imidacloprid use, and from an environmental point of view, it is the most promising means, as it is the most effective, least hazardous, and most environmentally friendly. To date, several imidacloprid-degrading microbes, including Bacillus, Pseudoxanthomonas, Mycobacterium, Rhizobium, Rhodococcus, and Stenotrophomonas, have been characterized for biodegradation. In addition, previous studies have found that many insects and microorganisms have developed resistance genes to and degradation enzymes of imidacloprid. Furthermore, the metabolites and degradation pathways of imidacloprid have been reported. However, reviews of the toxicity and degradation mechanisms of imidacloprid are rare. In this review, the toxicity and degradation mechanisms of imidacloprid are summarized in order to provide a theoretical and practical basis for the remediation of imidacloprid-contaminated environments.

Landscape factors influencing honey bee colony behavior in Southern California commercial apiaries

Colony brood levels, frames of bees (adult bee mass) and internal hive temperature were monitored for 60 colonies for each of two years as they were moved from agricultural, tree crop and mountain landscapes in southern California to blueberry and almond pollination sites. Hive weight was also continuously monitored for 20 of those hives for 6 weeks for both years, during commercial pollination. Pesticide residues in wax, honey and beebread samples were analyzed by composite apiary samples. While colonies in mountain sites had more adult bees and brood than those in agricultural sites in August, by October brood levels were higher in colonies from agricultural sites. Though hives from different original landscapes differed in size in October, hive assessments revealed no differences between the groups after co-wintering when graded for commercial almond pollination. Beebread from hives in agricultural sites had greater agrochemical diversity and in general higher pesticide hazard quotients than those from mountain sites, but those hives also had higher and more constant temperatures from September until January than hives from mountain sites. Hives placed in commercial almond pollination gained on average 287 g per d, compared to an average loss of 68 g per d for colonies in commercial blueberry pollination, although weight data indicated greater foraging effort by colonies in blueberries, possibly due to the proximity and abundance of almond pollen during bloom. Temperature monitoring was effective at distinguishing hive groups and had the best overall value in terms of equipment, installation, colony disturbance and information yield.

Pollutants and Their Interaction with Diseases of Social Hymenoptera

Many insect species, including social insects, are currently declining in abundance and diversity. Pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals, or airborne fine particulate matter from agricultural and industrial sources are among the factors driving this decline. While these pollutants can have direct detrimental effects, they can also result in negative interactive effects when social insects are simultaneously exposed to multiple stressors. For example, sublethal effects of pollutants can increase the disease susceptibility of social insects, and thereby jeopardize their survival. Here we review how pesticides, heavy metals, or airborne fine particulate matter interact with social insect physiology and especially the insects’ immune system. We then give an overview of the current knowledge of the interactive effects of these pollutants with pathogens or parasites. While the effects of pesticide exposure on social insects and their interactions with pathogens have been relatively well studied, the effects of other pollutants, such as heavy metals in soil or fine particulate matter from combustion, vehicular transport, agriculture, and coal mining are still largely unknown. We therefore provide an overview of urgently needed knowledge in order to mitigate the decline of social insects.

A Survey from 2015 to 2019 to Investigate the Occurrence of Pesticide Residues in Dead Honeybees and Other Matrices Related to Honeybee Mortality Incidents in Italy

Honeybee health can be compromised not only by infectious and infesting diseases, but also by the acute or chronic action of certain pesticides. In recent years, there have been numerous reports of colony mortality by Italian beekeepers, but the investigations of these losses have been inconsistent, both in relation to the type of personnel involved (beekeepers, official veterinarians, members of the police force, etc.) and the procedures utilized. It was therefore deemed necessary to draw up national guidelines with the aim of standardizing sampling active ties. In this paper, we present the results of a survey carried out in Italy from 2015 to 2019, following these guidelines. Residues of 150 pesticides in 696 samples were analyzed by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS. On average, 50% of the honeybee samples were positive for one or more pesticides with an average of 2 different pesticides per sample and a maximum of seven active ingredients, some of which had been banned in Europe or were not authorized in Italy. Insecticides were the most frequently detected, mainly belonging to the pyrethroid group (49%, above all tau-fluvalinate), followed by organophosphates (chlorpyrifos, 18%) and neonicotinoids (imidacloprid, 7%). This work provides further evidence of the possible relationship between complex pesticide exposure and honeybee mortality and/or depopulation of hives.