Behavioral responses of honey bees (Apis mellifera) to natural and synthetic xenobiotics in food

Abstract

While the natural foods of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) contain diverse phytochemicals, in contemporary agroecosystems honey bees also encounter pesticides as floral tissue contaminants. Whereas some ubiquitous phytochemicals in bee foods up-regulate detoxification and immunity genes, thereby benefiting nestmates, many agrochemical pesticides adversely affect bee health even at sublethal levels. How honey bees assess xenobiotic risk to nestmates as they forage is poorly understood. Accordingly, we tested nine phytochemicals ubiquitous in nectar, pollen, or propolis, as well as five synthetic xenobiotics that frequently contaminate hives—two herbicides (atrazine and glyphosate) and three fungicides (boscalid, chlorothalonil, and prochloraz). In semi-field free-flight experiments, bees were offered a choice between paired sugar water feeders amended with either a xenobiotic or solvent only (control). Among the phytochemicals, foragers consistently preferred quercetin at all five concentrations tested, as evidenced by both visitation frequency and consumption rates. This preference may reflect the long evolutionary association between honey bees and floral tissues. Of pesticides eliciting a response, bees displayed a preference at specific concentrations for glyphosate and chlorothalonil. This paradoxical preference may account for the frequency with which these pesticides occur as hive contaminants and suggests that they present a greater risk factor for honey bee health than previously suspected.

Direct determination of glyphosate and aminomethyl phosphonic acid in honeybees

“…In this context, a combination of GLY with cadmium, promoted lipid peroxidation in bees (Jumarie et al, 2017). Last but not least, Liao et al (2017) reported that bees display a contradictory preference for fl oral tissues that contain GLY in sugar water at 10ppb. Therefore, GLY is not an obstacle for bees to visit fl oral nectar that contains it.…”

Effects of Pesticides and Adjuvants on the Honey Bee, Apis mellifera: An Updated Bibliographic Review

“…Therefore, honey bees are more likely to encounter fungicides than insecticides in agricultural or horticultural settings when foraging for pollen and nectar [9,29]. Although fungicides are generally considered less toxic to honey bees than insecticides, fungicides may in fact negatively compromise honey bee health [30,31].…”

“…Nonetheless, foraging adults may transport fungicide residues back, along with pollen and nectar, to a hive where the residues are mixed into larval diets, which can result in inhibition of larval and pupal development [28]. In addition, fungicide residues may be present in pollen stores and wax combs, resulting in contamination of food for honey bees [30]. The widely used fungicide, chlorothalonil, which is applied to blooming crops when honey bees are active [14], has been detected at levels up to 300 ppm in bee-collected pollen and wax [4].…”

Poacic acid suppresses dollar spot and snow mould in amenity turfgrass

“…In addition, repeated fungicide usage has resulted in widespread development of fungicide‐resistant strains of C. jacksonii and, to a lesser extent, M. nivale (Miller et al , ; DeVries et al , ; Gourlie & Hsiang, ). Lastly, repeated fungicide usage can increase the risk of non‐target injury to humans, aquatic organisms and pollinator populations (Maqbool et al , ; Liao et al , ).…”