Multiple Routes of Pesticide Exposure for Honey Bees Living Near Agricultural Fields is the title of a new research article published on honey bee deaths. It was published on January 3, 2012.
Abstract: Populations of honey bees and other pollinators have declined worldwide
in recent years. A variety of stressors have been implicated as
potential causes, including agricultural pesticides. Neonicotinoid
insecticides, which are widely used and highly toxic to honey bees, have
been found in previous analyses of honey bee pollen and comb material.
However, the routes of exposure have remained largely undefined. We used
LC/MS-MS to analyze samples of honey bees, pollen stored in the hive
and several potential exposure routes associated with plantings of
neonicotinoid treated maize. Our results demonstrate that bees are
exposed to these compounds and several other agricultural pesticides in
several ways throughout the foraging period. During spring, extremely
high levels of clothianidin and thiamethoxam were found in planter
exhaust material produced during the planting of treated maize seed. We
also found neonicotinoids in the soil of each field we sampled,
including unplanted fields. Plants visited by foraging bees (dandelions)
growing near these fields were found to contain neonicotinoids as well.
This indicates deposition of neonicotinoids on the flowers, uptake by
the root system, or both. Dead bees collected near hive entrances during
the spring sampling period were found to contain clothianidin as well,
although whether exposure was oral (consuming pollen) or by contact
(soil/planter dust) is unclear. We also detected the insecticide
clothianidin in pollen collected by bees and stored in the hive. When
maize plants in our field reached anthesis, maize pollen from treated
seed was found to contain clothianidin and other pesticides; and honey
bees in our study readily collected maize pollen. These findings clarify
some of the mechanisms by which honey bees may be exposed to
agricultural pesticides throughout the growing season. These results
have implications for a wide range of large-scale annual cropping
systems that utilize neonicotinoid seed treatments.
You can read the entire research article including their discussion of the results at this link:
Please contact your representatives about this problem and ask them to submit a bill to save the honey bees from neonicotinoid poisoning. I am including a link here that will allow you to easily look up your federal and state representatives names and contact address/email/phone numbers. http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
If you want to know more about the honey bees, here are past posts on the honey bees.
Sept 23, 2011
Mar 02, 2011
