EPA Research Partner Support Story: Potential hazards to bees associated with the consumption of pesticide contaminated pollen
Partner: Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (New Haven, CT)
Challenge: Protecting New England bees from potential impacts of exposures to pesticides used in plant nurseries
Resource: Case studies characterizing potential hazards to bees associated with the consumption of pesticide contaminated pollen
Project Period: 2017 – 2020
EPA Region 1 (New England) has identified the protection of bees and other pollinators from pesticide risk as a regional research priority. The area is home to a thriving horticulture industry, including large plant nurseries and greenhouse operations. Currently, there is little data on how pesticide use in these operations might impact local bee populations.
"This collaborative research project with the US EPA allowed us to continue and expand the research of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station with the ornamental nursery industry in Connecticut – the largest agricultural industry by value in the state, and one of the largest in the region. Through this research, we have been able to quantify levels of exposure of honey bees to pesticides in pollen under realistic nursery conditions, and to identify insecticides such as acetamiprid that are not likely to pose a hazard to bee health at the levels of exposure we have found in the field.” – Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Entomologist Kimberly Stoner, PhD
To address this knowledge gap, EPA ORD researchers, in collaboration with EPA Region 1, partnered with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, CT, to design studies to provide information on: 1) the types and quantities of pesticides found in pollen harvested by honey bees in New England plant nurseries, 2) the types of plants that honey bees forage on in New England plant nurseries, and 3) the effects that chronic dietary exposure of the pesticide acetamiprid (a neonicotinoid purported to be less toxic to bees) has on bumble bee microcolony development and productivity under laboratory conditions. Bumble bees are under-studied and little information is available about the effects of exposure to acetamiprid on these bees.
Research results to date suggest that neonicotinoids play a smaller role in the toxicity associated with the contaminated pollen than initially anticipated. Additionally, there is evidence that chronic dietary exposure to acetamiprid has the potential to impact bumble bee microcolony development and productivity, but only at concentrations higher than environmental concentrations that would be achieved when following label rates. Additional studies conducted under field conditions are necessary to better understand the potential consequences of exposure to acetamiprid on bumble bees.