Bees as Environmental Indicators

Besides producing honey, bees provide many useful services, including their use as environmental indicators. In 2003, a group of scientists in Bologna, Italy published their research on bees’ sensitivity to pesticides. Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk from the University of Montana published conclusions in 1994 in Beekeeping in New Zealand that “bees sample contaminants in all forms—gaseous, liquid, particulate—and can detect chemicals in their surroundings at levels often difficult, if not impossible, to detect using more conventional approaches.” In other words, when other testing methods failed to detect pesticides in crops, scientists would find entire groups of dead bees.

In the 2003 study, bees died after being exposed to low levels of pesticides that were either illegally or improperly administered. In fact, studies show that levels were detected not only in the bees themselves, but also in the pollen and wax. Bees seem to tend to bring the contaminants from the pollen back into the hive, infecting the entire colony.

Ironically, however, toxins are vastly diminished in the honey. In many tests, even though wax and pollen contained high levels of contaminants, the honey usually contained the same or lower amounts of contaminants. Therefore, Dr. Bromenshenk concludes, “Even when contaminated, honey is as good or better than most food products.”

Sources:

Claudio Porrini, Anna Gloria Sabatini, Stefano Girotti, Fabiana Fini, Lorenzo Monaco, Giorgio Celli, Laura Bortolotti, Severino Ghini, “The death of honey bees and environmental pollution by pesticides: the honey bees as biological indicators.” Bulletin of Insectology 56 (1): 147-152: 2003.

Florida Extension Beekeeping Newsletter, Apicultural Information and Issues, Volume 12, Number 5, May 1994. Cited in Beekeeping in New Zealand.