Behavioural methods to assess the effects of pesticides on honey bees

Abstract

-We reported on the use of experimental procedures dealing with these behavioural skills in the assessment of pesticide effects. The relevance of the following methods are discussed: (1) use of automatic activity counters set at the hive entrance to establish the balance between outgoing and incoming worker bees; (2) observation of the homing flights of bees; (3) the analysis of the information encoded in the dances of returning foragers; and (4) recording of the conditioned proboscis extension response on restrained bees to evaluate individual learning performances involved in foraging behaviour. These behavioural assays could be developed for sublethal toxicity assessment. However, careful validation of the tests is needed before being used in a routine evaluation procedure. At a minimum, they are valuable tools to understand the mechanisms underlying insecticide toxicity.Apis mellifera / ecotoxicology / risk assessment / pesticide / behaviour

Predictive modelling of honey bee foraging activity using local weather conditions

“…Many different metabolic and environmental parameters have been considered to characterise the state and health of honey bee colonies. Such parameters include local CO 2 gas concentrations to determine metabolic rate (Seeley 1974), temperature and humidity in the hive to investigate hive metabolic activity and homeostasis (Southwick and Moritz 1987;Human et al 2006), hive weight to indicate colony size and food reserves (Meikle et al 2008), vibration and sound to indicate swarming events (Ferrari et al 2008) and bee foraging activity as a behavioural method to assess the effects of pesticide exposure (Pham-Delegue et al 2002;Schneider et al 2012).…”

Effects of Bt corn pollen on honey bees: emphasis on protocol development

“…Effects on the orientation, foraging, and communication behavioral activities could also impair the ability of worker bees to find and relocate food sources. Although experimental methods are available for assessing behavioral changes (Pham-Delègue et al, 2002), these potential sublethal effects of Bt corn have not been addressed in current laboratory protocols. Thus, reliable experimental protocols that evaluate the potential risks of Bt crops on honey bees are needed (Stark et al, 1995, Hilbeck et al, 2000.…”

Effect of the herbal preparation Nozevit on the mid-gut structure of honeybees (Apis mellifera) infected with Nosema sp. spores

“…Honey bees are an extremely important part of natural ecosystems because they enhance agricultural productivity and help maintain biodiversity by engaging in pollination, a process based on the ecological principal of mutual interactions between the pollinated-plants and pollinator (Williams, 1994;Delaplane and Mayer, 2000;Pham-Delegue et al, 2002). Previously, Nosema sp.…”