Transgenic soybean pollen (Glycine max L.) in honey from the Yucatán peninsula, Mexico

Abstract

Using precise pollen species determination by conventional microscopic methods, accompanied by molecular genetic markers, we found bees collect GMO (genetically modified) soybean pollen and incorporate it in Yucatan honey. Honey comb samples from Las Flores, Campeche, Mexico, often contained soybean pollen. Pollen in honey was analyzed in nine samples; six contained substantial soy pollen and two tested positive for soybean GMO. Our analyses confirm field observations that honey bees, Apis mellifera, gather soybean pollen and nectar. The resultant risk for honey production in the Yucatán Peninsula and Mexico is evident in wholesale price reduction of 12% when GMO products are detected and honey consignments are rejected. Although this affects only 1% of current export honey (2011–2013) GMO soybean is an unacknowledged threat to apiculture and its economics in one of the world's foremost honey producing areas.

Impacts of land use and land use changes on the resilience of beekeeping in Uruguay

“…Strict and frequently updated regulation, particularly in the European Union, has frequently redefined the technical composition and restricted the allowed amounts of chemical traces and contamination in honey with sudden outcomes in exporting countries (cf. CBI, 2015b;Villanueva-Gutiérrez et al, 2014). Some beekeepers and trade agencies also reported recent incidents of rejected and returned batches of honey due to detected traces of alkaloids or transgenic organisms in the pollen, originating from agriculture.…”

Political Agroecology in Mexico: A Path toward Sustainability

“…As a counterpart, the indigenous small-scale coffee producers' vigorous movement that emerged and expanded within the last 40 years, has generated diverse and different research approaches conducted by new academic centers and scientists guiding innovative projects (Table 2). In the case of honey, thousands of Mayan household beekeepers have benefited from countless research findings on melliferous flora [47,48], its cycles and offers [49], the effects of honey contamination by GM soya bean [50], and honeybee environmental services [51]. For example, ECOSUR (The South Border College or El Colegio de la Frontera Sur), a prestigious research and postgraduate education center offers a Diploma Program on Organic and Agroecological Apiculture, since more than 10 years ago.…”

Dinámica de adopción de buenas prácticas de producción de miel en la península de Yucatán, México

“…Sin embargo, la apicultura también enfrenta algunos retos, como son: el uso de pesticidas en las zonas aledañas a los apiarios, la contaminación por transgénicos, el crecimiento de las zonas urbanas, entre otros, los cuales frenan su crecimiento y desarrollo (3,4) . Por otra parte, la Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA) define a las buenas prácticas pecuarias en producción como un "conjunto de recomendaciones generales enfocadas a garantizar la calidad e inocuidad de los alimentos, reduciendo los riesgos físicos, químicos y microbiológicos durante el proceso de obtención y cosecha" (5) .…”