Biomonitoring the Environmental Quality by Bees

Abstract

Modern farming techniques have increased the crop yield, but natural habitats of the pollinator were destroyed, affecting their populations compared to native vegetation. A simple, low-cost, and efficient way to determine the presence of insecticide residues from farming is the honeybee as a bioindicator. However in Brazil, there is another species of bee, the stingless bees. The insecticide toxicity analyses the beneficial insect species as pollinators which are performed to the Apis mellifera. Stingless bees are native to tropical and subtropical zones, and they are more sensitive to pesticides than honeybees. We present some results of contamination in these bees compared to Africanized honeybees, and pose an important question Why does the pesticide industry not make assays with stingless bees too? When insecticides were in larger concentrations, bees did not feed. When the concentration of the insecticide was smaller, Africanized honeybees consumed the polluted honey, resulting in the death of some. Finally, we report several experiments concerning honeybees, and mainly stingless bees, and the effect of pesticides in them results show stingless bees are more sensitive than honeybees. Our Bee Research Group studied this point, and we hope to contribute for understanding this relation between bee, pesticide, and environment.

Toxicity and effects of the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam on Scaptotrigona bipunctata lepeletier, 1836 (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…Laurino et al performed oral test with thiamethoxam and found it to be lethal to adult A. mellifera bees following exposure up to 72 h from the start of the test. These data reinforce that stingless bees are more sensitive than honey bees when exposed to pesticides …”

“…Among the threats to bees, disintegration and loss of habitat, migratory apiculture, high levels of parasites, and intensive use of pesticides are highlighted …”

Mel: Uma Jornada Na Qualidade

“…O declínio de polinizadores incita graves consequências para os ecossistemas naturais, visto que, a dependência da polinização para plantas florais varia entre 78% e 94% em ecossistemas temperados e tropicais (OLLERTON, WINFREE e TARRANT, 2011). Dentre os elementos que ameaçam a ação polinizadora das abelhas, encontra-se a fragmentação do habitat, alterações climáticas, espécies invasoras, diminuição do interesse na apicultura, patógenos e pesticidas (JOHNSON et al, 2010;MAINI, MEDRZYCKI, PORRINI, 2010;VANBERGEN et al, 2013;RUVOLO-TAKASUSUKI et al, 2015;MAGGI et al, 2016;SHEFFIELD, NGO, AZZU, 2016;REQUIER, 2020).…”

Toxicological evaluation of different pesticides in Tetragonisca angustula Latreille (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

“…These stingless bees are also important pollinators of native species of plants (Giannini et al, 2020), mainly strawberries (Abrol, Gorka, Ansari, Al-Chamdi, & Al-Kahtani, 2019). During foraging in agricultural regions, these pollinators come into contact with pesticide residues, which can compromise pollination, development of colonies and the bee products (Ruvolo-Takasusuki et al, 2015;Silva, Melo, & Blanco, 2016), but as the effects of pesticides in this species are limited, toxicological evaluations are still needed.…”