Surveying the levels of pesticide residues in bees and stored pollen and their effects on bees.

The recent high levels of colony losses in the beekeeping industry worldwide have led to considerable speculation as to the cause of these losses. One of the potential reasons for the sudden death of colonies is a general decline in the health of bee colonies. Hence, an important question to address is why this decline in bee health is occurring. Several speculations have indicated that pesticides or the residue of pesticides in the bee hive could have a considerable negative effect on the behaviour of honeybees. What this effect is remains to be seen, but it could result in a dramatic change in bee behaviour e.g. bees taking longer to find food, having difficulty in finding food or bees becoming more prone to disorientation and hence becoming lost. Due to this some pesticides have already been banned in Germany and France, as it was thought that these pesticides are responsible for the death of honeybees. Recent international studies revealed that pesticides can accumulate in pollen, but also indicated a potential negative effect on bee behaviour. In the research project, a collaboration between Keele University and Sheffield University, adult bees and stored pollen will be collected from many bee colonies originating from four regions of the UK; all having different agricultural practices. These samples will all be chemically analysed for trace levels of any pesticide residues and compared to each other. Since the effect of pesticides on bee health is likely to be related to the bees' behaviour (disorientation) rather than a direct effect (mortality), the analysis will detect levels below lethal doses. Through a survey given out to bee keepers data related to colony losses and colony health will also be obtained. This data can then be compared to the levels of pesticides present. If pesticides are found in either bees or stored pollen, this study will reveal which pesticides are found in the different areas in the UK. This data will be compared to similar data from other European countries, where specific pesticides have been banned. To test the real effect these pesticides may have is quite complicated, as not all pesticides will have a similar effect at a similar concentration. Another complication is that the effect of pesticides residues is likely to be a long-term effect. Bees' behaviour can be affected resulting in disorientation of bees and bees not being able to return to their nests. But unless data on the presence of pesticides are available, bioassays cannot be developed or carried out. Therefore this project will lay a firm foundation for the development of bioassays, an important means of testing the effect of pesticides on bee behaviour. Although beekeeping associations have protested against the use of pesticides, no full investigation has been undertaken in the UK to ascertain the real (long-term) effect of pesticides. Therefore this project will give an invaluable indication of whether pesticides are harmful to the health of honeybees and will clarify some of the contradictory results obtained earlier. This is where the real impact of this project lies. Creating a substantial set of baseline data regarding the presence of pesticides in bee hive, will benefit the whole beekeeping industry directly but also those involved in the manufacturing, use and regulation of pesticides.