Honey bees as biomonitors of environmental contaminants, pathogens, and climate change

Cunningham, Morgan M.; Tran, Lan; McKee, Chloe; Polo, Rodrigo Ortega; Newman, Tara; Lansing, Lance; Griffiths, Jonathan S.; Bilodeau, Guillaume J.; Rott, Michael; Guarna, M. Marta

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108457

Cited by 102 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 112 publications

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“…These agents negatively affect both bees and people, causing changes in the endocrine and nervous systems [ 4 ]. Detailed information on the potential sources of the contamination of honeys (e.g., heavy metals, airborne particulate matter, and agrochemical pesticides) was provided by Cunningham et al [ 5 ]. Therefore, the monitoring of their levels in food products is crucial for ensuring consumer health safety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residues of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in Polish Varietal Honey

Kędzierska‐Matysek

Teter

Skałęcki

et al. 2022

Foods

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The levels of chemical pollutants were determined in 30 samples of varietal honey from southeastern Poland, including 223 pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, acaricides, plant growth regulators, and veterinary drugs) and 5 heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, Cu, and Zn). In 10% of the samples, no pesticide residues were found. The most frequently identified pesticides were thiacloprid (90% of the samples, max 0.337 mg/kg), acetamiprid (86.6%, max 0.061 mg/kg), carbendazim (60%, max 0.049 mg/kg), DMF (56.6%, max 0.038 mg/kg), total amitraz (53.3%, max 0.075 mg/kg), thiamethoxam (26.6%, max 0.004 mg/kg), thiacloprid-amide (13.3%, max 0.012 mg/kg), dimethoate (10%, max 0.003 mg/kg), azoxystrobin (10%, max 0.002 mg/kg), tebuconazole (6.66%, max 0.002 mg/kg), and boscalid (3.33%, max 0.001 mg/kg). The acceptable limits for the compounds were not exceeded in any sample. The Pb content ranged between 0.044 and 0.081 mg/kg. The concentration of Hg and Cd did not exceed 5.0 µg/kg and 0.02 mg/kg, respectively. The honey variety significantly (p < 0.01) influenced the content of Cu, which ranged from 0.504 (rapeseed honey) to 1.201 mg/kg (buckwheat). A similar tendency (p > 0.05) was observed for the Zn content, which ranged from 0.657 mg/kg (linden) to 2.694 mg/kg (buckwheat). Honey produced in southeastern Poland was shown to be safe for human consumption.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residues of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in Polish Varietal Honey

Kędzierska‐Matysek

Teter

Skałęcki

et al. 2022

Foods

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“…More recently, bees have been used to monitor heavy metals such as Hg, Cr, Cd, and Pb in urban areas and natural reserves [Perugini et al, 2011], for sampling airborne Particulate Matter (PM) [Negri et al, 2015] to understand environmental pollution level, and for monitoring agricultural pesticide residue [Silvina et al, 2017]. Cunningham et al (2022) [Cunningham et al, 2022] provides a broad review of honey bee biomonitors for environmental contaminants, plant and pollinator pathogens, climate change and antimicrobial resistance.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Environmental & Ecological Monitoring The use of honey bees as environmental and ecological bio-indicators is emerging as an approach to gather qualitative and quantitative environmental data by using the species' predictable responses to environmental changes [Cunningham et al, 2022]. Honey bees can sense chemical signals and recognize vapour concentrations of as little as a few parts per trillion [Bromenshenk et al, 2015].…”

Section: Investigative Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Framework for Better Sensor-Based Beehive Health Monitoring

Zaman

Dorin

2022

Preprint

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Hive bees provide essential pollination services to human agriculture. Managed honey bees in particular pollinate many crops, but also create honey and other bee products that are now of global economic importance. Key aspects of honey bee behaviour can be understood by observing hives. Hence, the limitations of manual observation are increasingly being addressed by new technologies that automate and extend the reach of hive monitoring. Here we propose a framework to classify and clarify the potential for sensor-assisted hive monitoring to inform apiculture and, ultimately, improve hive bee management. This framework considers hive monitoring approaches across three newly proposed categories: Operational monitoring, Investigative monitoring, and Predictive monitoring. These categories constitute a new ``OIP Framework'' of hive monitoring. Each category has its own requirements for underlying technology that includes sensors and ICT resources we outline. Each category is associated with particular outcomes and benefits for apiculture and hive health monitoring detailed here. Application of these three classes of sensor-assisted hive monitoring can simplify understanding and improve best-practice management of hive bees. Our survey and classification of hive monitoring to date show that it is seldom practiced beyond honey bees, despite the need to understand bumble bees and stingless bees also. Perhaps unsurprisingly, sensor-based hive monitoring is shown to remain primarily a practice of developed nations. Yet we show how all countries, especially developing nations, stand to gain substantially from the benefits improved sensor-based hive monitoring offers. These include a better understanding of environmental change, an increased ability to manage pollination, an ability to respond rapidly to hive health issues such as pests and pathogens, and even an ability to react quickly to the danger posed to insects and humans alike by extreme events such as floods and fires. Finally, we anticipate that the future of hive monitoring lies in the application of Predictive monitoring, such that a hive's anticipated future state can be preemptively managed by beekeepers working iteratively with novel hive monitoring technologies.

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“…The results of this study suggest that honey may be a good bioindicator of environmental contamination of a wide area surrounding honey bee hives [29,32]. When foraging, bees can cover an area of between 914 and 3935 hectares, considering that, on average, they forage at distances between 1.6 and 3.2 km from their hive [51,52].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The foraging behavior of bees allows them to cover large areas of land, which turns them into sentinels of the environment [29,30], although this behavior puts bees in a vulnerable situation, as they are often exposed to pesticides [31,32]. Several studies have used honey as an indicator of the environmental contamination of heavy metals [33], ionic compounds [34], radioactive compounds [35], and pesticides [36] in a number of countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection and Concentration of Neonicotinoids and Other Pesticides in Honey from Honey Bee Colonies Located in Regions That Differ in Agricultural Practices: Implications for Human and Bee Health

Ponce-Vejar

Robles

Macías-Macías

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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This is a preliminary study conducted to analyze the presence and concentration of pesticides in honey obtained from honey bee colonies located in two regions with managed ecosystems that differ in the intensity and technification of agricultural practices. Fourteen pesticides at variable concentrations were detected in 63% of the samples analyzed. The pesticides most frequently found at higher concentrations were insecticides (neonicotinoids, followed by organophosphates), herbicides, and fungicides. The number, frequency, and concentration of pesticides were higher in samples collected from hives located where intensive and highly-technified agriculture is practiced. Forty-three percent of the samples from that zone had residues of imidacloprid, compared with only 13% of the samples from the less-technified zone. Furthermore, 87.5% of those samples had imidacloprid concentrations that were above sublethal doses for honey bees (>0.25 ng/g) but that are not considered hazardous to human health by the European Commission. The results of this study suggest that honey can be used as a bioindicator of environmental contamination by pesticides, which highlights the need to continue monitoring contaminants in this product to determine the risks of pesticide impacts on pollinator health, on ecosystems, and on their potential implications to human health and other non-target organisms.

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Honey bees as biomonitors of environmental contaminants, pathogens, and climate change

Cited by 102 publications

References 112 publications

Residues of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in Polish Varietal Honey

Residues of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in Polish Varietal Honey

A Framework for Better Sensor-Based Beehive Health Monitoring

Detection and Concentration of Neonicotinoids and Other Pesticides in Honey from Honey Bee Colonies Located in Regions That Differ in Agricultural Practices: Implications for Human and Bee Health

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