Assessment of synthetic acaricide residues in Royal Jelly

In this study, Royal Jelly was produced from colonies under chemical treatment of coumaphos (Perizin and Checkmite+) and tau-fluvalinate (Apistan), using artificial plastic queen cells. The contamination level was assessed 42 days after the application. The application of CheckMite + strips during the production led to higher levels of acaricide residues in the final product, in contrast to the residues from Perizin and Apistan. For this reason, the CheckMite + strips were further applied in order to assess the contamination of the product after a long period (292 days after the application). For the specific sampling, natural (center and adjacent) and plastic cells were used. The results showed that the contamination of Royal Jelly produced in plastic queen cells decreased with time; one month after removing the strips, residues were not detectable. On the contrary, the contamination of samples collected from natural queen cells was high, particularly from those adjacent to the strips, where even 292 days after the strips' removal, coumaphos concentration was 2.25 +/- 0.50 mg kg(-1). The maximum concentration (12.52 +/- 2.24 mg kg(-1)) was detected in natural queen cells. tau o our knowledge, this is the highest contamination that has ever been recorded in a food product. Our results suggest that coumaphos may be transferred from wax to Royal Jelly even in low concentrations. Also, the findings of this research provide data for setting safe intervals between acaricide treatment and Royal Jelly production, raising at the same time awareness about the impact of wax contamination on honey bees' health.

Automated summary

This study indicates that the production of Royal Jelly from chemically treated colonies results in higher levels of acaricide residues. The contamination of Royal Jelly produced in plastic queen cells decreases with time, while the contamination in natural cells remains high and may have an impact on the health of honey bees.