A three-year large scale study on the risk of honey bee colony exposure to blooming sunflowers grown from seeds treated with thiamethoxam and clothianidin neonicotinoids

Despite the restriction of the use of neonicotinoids in the EU, including thiamethoxam and clothianidin, the debate over their risk on honey bees has not been fully settled. This study presents results of a three-year study working with 180 honey bee colonies in ten replicates. Colonies were sorted into three treatments (60 colonies per treatment) exposed to sunflower blooms grown from seeds treated with thiamethoxam, clothianidin and a non-treated control. Each colony was assessed at six moments: one before to exposition to sunflower, two during the exposition (short-time risk), two after exposition (medium-time risk) and one after wintering (long-time risk). The health and development of the colonies were assessed by monitoring adult bee population, brood development, status of the queen, food reserves and survival. No significant difference among treatments when raw data was considered. However, when evolution from initial status of the colony was evaluated, a significant difference was observed from the first week of exposure to sunflower blooms. In this period, the number of adult bees and the amount of brood were slightly lower in the bee hives exposed to neonicotinoids, although such differences disappeared in subsequent evaluations. The concentration of residues in samples of beebread and adult bees was at the level of ng.g(-1). Magnitude of the effect of the treatment factor on the variability of colony health and development related parameters was low. The most important factor was the hive, followed by the replicate and year, and to a lesser extent the initial strength of the colonies. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Despite the restriction of neonicotinoids in the EU, the debate on their risk to honey bees remains unsettled. A three-year study with 180 honey bee colonies exposed to different treatments of neonicotinoids on sunflower blooms showed initial negative effects, but the impact was not significant in the long term. The variability of colony health and development parameters were influenced more by the hive, replicate, and year than by the treatment factor.