Pesticides and Honey Bee Death and Decline
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1 Volume XXXIII, Number 1/2, January/February 2011 Pesticides and Honey Bee Death and Decline By William Quarles Photo courtesy of Kathy Keatley Garvey large number of overwinter- ing honey bees are dying in A the U.S. For the last five years, winter losses of managed honey bee colonies have been around 30% each year (van Engelsdorp et al. 2012). Over- wintering honey bees are being killed by pathogens, pests, poor nutrition, and pesticides. Honey bee problems are part of the overall pol- linator decline in the U.S. (Spivak et al. 2011; NAS 2007). Managed honey bees are trucked from state to state and forage over large areas. Most of the crops they encounter have been treated with pesticides, and chemical analysis of overwintering honey bee hives shows extensive pesticide contami- nation (Mullin et al. 2010). Pesticides are accumulating in A honey bee, Apis mellifera, is headed toward an almond blossom. Massive hives, and bees are also being killed losses of these managed honey bees are occurring each year, and pesticide while foraging in fields (Krupke et poisoning is part of the problem. al. 2012). Part of the problem is exposure to systemic insecticides bee immune systems, making them stress, and one of those stresses is called neonicotinoids. Insecticides more susceptible to disease. In pesticides (Spivak et al. 2011; are normally applied in ways to addition, sublethal pesticides inter- USHR 2008; Quarles 2008a). One mitigate their impact on bees. fere with brood development and observation that seems to implicate Mitigation strategies are not possi- pesticides is that organic beekeep- ble with systemics because they are shorten lifespans of adults (Henry ers do not seem to have CCD always present in the plant. Over et al. 2012; Pettis et al. 2012; Wu et (Schacker 2008). 59 million ha (146 million acres) of al. 2012; Desneux et al. 2007). crops in the U.S. have been treated Pesticides may also contribute to with systemics. This represents Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). about 45% of the total cropland, This phenomenon was first In This Issue and acreage is increasing each year observed in the U.S. in 2006. Bees (Mullin et al. 2010; Stokstad 2012; disappear from the hive, leaving Honey Bees 1 Spivak et al. 2011). food, brood, and even a queen Pesticides can impact bee popula- (USHR 2007; Quarles 2008a). Backyard Chickens 9 tions through direct mortality and Despite intensive research, an exact ESA Report 10 through sublethal effects on behav- cause of CCD has not been identi- ior, such as impaired memory, fied. There may be a number of EcoWise News 11 learning and foraging. Impaired for- causes working synergistically. But Calendar 12 aging can lead to poor nutrition, it has been established that over- and pesticides may directly impact wintering bee colonies are under 2 Update The IPM Practitioner is published six times per year by the Bio-Integral Resource Helga Martin Williamson Olkowski Center (BIRC), a non-profit corporation undertaking research and education in inte- 1931-2012 grated pest management. Managing Editor William Quarles Co-Founder of the Bio-Integral Resource Center Contributing Editors Sheila Daar Tanya Drlik mental organizations, and she was Laurie Swiadon co-founder of the Farallones Institute, the John Muir Institute, Editor-at-Large Joel Grossman and others. Helga actively promoted Business Manager Jennifer Bates organic agriculture, writing for Artist Diane Kuhn Organic Gardening and other maga- For media kits or other advertising informa- zines. She was coauthor of several tion, contact Bill Quarles at 510/524-2567, influential books, including The City [email protected]. People’s Book of Raising Food, The Advisory Board Integral Urban House and Common George Bird, Michigan State Univ.; Sterling Sense Pest Control. She was co- Bunnell, M.D., Berkeley, CA ; Momei Chen, Jepson Herbarium, Univ. Calif., Berkeley; founder of the Bio-Integral Resource Sharon Collman, Coop Extn., Wash. State Center (BIRC) and worked for years Univ.; Sheila Daar, Daar & Associates, as an editor for BIRC, writing arti- Berkeley, CA; Walter Ebeling, UCLA, Emer.; cles for the IPM Practitioner and Steve Frantz, Global Environmental Options, Longmeadow, MA; Linda Gilkeson, Canadian Common Sense Pest Control Ministry of Envir., Victoria, BC; Joseph Quarterly. Hancock, Univ. Calif, Berkeley; William Helga retired from BIRC in 1999, Olkowski, Birc Founder; George Poinar, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR; and spent many enjoyable years Ramesh Chandra Saxena, ICIPE, Nairobi, traveling with her husband, William Kenya; Ruth Troetschler, PTF Press, Los Olkowski. She suffered a stroke Altos, CA; J.C. van Lenteren, Agricultural about three years ago from which University Wageningen, The Netherlands. Helga Olkowski passed away she never completely recovered. We Manuscripts The IPMP welcomes accounts of IPM for any peacefully at home on April 27, 2012 will miss her. pest situation. Write for details on format for from complications from a stroke. A more complete biography can be manuscripts or email us, [email protected]. Helga was active in many environ- found at her website www.who1615.com Citations The material here is protected by copyright, were analyzed. Wax, pollen, and and may not be reproduced in any form, Are Pesticides found in either written, electronic or otherwise without Bee Hives? bees were highly contaminated with written permission from BIRC. Contact pesticides. There were 121 different William Quarles at 510/524-2567 for proper Bees can come into contact with pesticides and metabolites in 887 publication credits and acknowledgement. pesticides when foraging or when wax, bee, and pollen samples, aver- Subscriptions/Memberships the hive is treated with pesticides to aging about 6 pesticides per sam- A subscription to the IPMP is one of the bene- kill mites. Foragers can collect con- fits of membership in BIRC. We also answer ple. pest management questions for our members taminated pollen and nectar and This diverse contamination opens and help them search for information. bring it back to the hive. Some of the question of synergism. Mixtures Memberships are $60/yr (institutions/ the nectar and pollen is mixed libraries/businesses); $35/yr (individuals). of pesticides are known to be more Canadian subscribers add $15 postage. All together with enzymes to form bee toxic to bees than individual prod- other foreign subscribers add $25 airmail bread. In the hive bees evaporate postage. A Dual membership, which includes ucts. Some fungicides, for instance, a combined subscription to both the IPMP water from nectar to produce are known to increase the toxic and the Common Sense Pest Control honey. Any pesticide in the nectar effects of insecticides (Johansen Quarterly, costs $85/yr (institutions); $55/yr is concentrated at least 4x in the (individuals). Government purchase orders 1977; Atkins 1992; USHR 2008; accepted. Donations to BIRC are tax- honey, which is stored for later use. Pilling and Jepson 1993; Schmuck deductible. So bees can be exposed both in the et al. 2003; Isawa et al. 2004). FEI# 94-2554036. field and in the hive (Bonmatin et The 350 pollen samples contained Change of Address al. 2005; Kievits 2007). about 98 different pesticides and When writing to request a change of address, Bee exposure to pesticides is please send a copy of a recent address label. metabolites in concentrations up to widespread. Mullin et al. (2010) © 2012 BIRC, PO Box 7414, Berkeley, CA 214 ppm. Each pollen sample aver- 94707; (510) 524-2567; FAX (510) 524-1758. checked a large number of commer- aged about 7 different pesticides, All rights reserved. ISSN #0738-968X cial bee hives for pesticides. Hives up to a maximum of 31. from 23 states including Florida, Pollen was contaminated from California, Pennsylvania and migra- miticides and fungicides applied in tory bees from East Coast colonies the hive, and insecticides, herbi- IPM Practitioner, XXXIII(1/2) January/February 2011 2 Box 7414, Berkeley, CA 94707 3 Update cides, and fungicides applied in the their persistence in the field (see Photo courtesy of Kathy Keatley Garvey field. Pyrethroids were the most fre- Table 1). Sublethal doses can cause quently detected insecticide, and impaired learning and foraging. were sometimes found at levels These effects have been measured known to disorient foraging bees. at very low concentrations in the Fungicides were the predominant laboratory, but critics point out that pesticide type found in pollen there are mitigating effects in the (Mullin et al. 2010). field. Bees can collect pollen from Contamination similar to this can untreated plants, and dilute pesti- lead to delayed development of bees cide effects. So experiments with and can shorten life span of adult neonicotinoids and bees often workers. Premature death of for- become a numbers game. If an agers forces nurse bees to forage, effect is detected, the first criticism with further consequences on is that doses used were not repre- colony health (Wu et al. 2011). sentative of concentrations found in the field (Stokstad 2012; Hopwood Neonicotinoids et al. 2012). It is true that dilution from Among the pesticides found in untreated plants can occur in the bee hives by Mullin et al. (2010) field. Nguyen et al. (2009) found were neonicotinoids. These pesti- Commercial hives can be heavily that imidacloprid treated corn fields cides are analogs of the neurotoxin contaminated with pesticides. in Belgium had no effect on mortal- nicotine and have similar actions. Neonicotinoids include imidaclo- and contact toxicity is 22-44 ity of honey bee hives found within prid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam ng/bee. For comparison, the oral 3 km (1.8 mi) of the fields. However, and others. They are applied as LD50 of cypermethrin is 160 only 13.2% of the corn acreage seed treatments to a number of ng/bee and for the organophos- within foraging range had been crops, including corn, sunflower, phate dimethoate 152 ng/bee (Colin treated, and these treated fields cotton, and canola.