EDP Sciences Journals List
Home Document
Subscriber Authentication Point
Free access article

Issue Apidologie
Volume 34, Number 6, November-December 2003
Page(s) 597 - 602
DOI 10.1051/apido:2003055

Apidologie 34 (2003) 597-602
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2003055

A method to feed individual bees (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) known amounts of pesticides

Edith Ladurnera, Jordi Boschb, Stefano Mainia and William P. Kempc

a  Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agroambientali, Università di Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
b  Biology Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-5310, USA
c  USDA-ARS, Bee Biology & Systematics Laboratory, Logan, UT 84322-5310, USA

(Received 10 October 2002; revised 1 February 2003; accepted 16 May 2003)

Abstract
We devised a simple method ("flower") to feed bees individually, and compared it with two other methods commonly used ("film canister" and "glass vial"). We tested the three methods on two solitary species, Osmia lignaria and Megachile rotundata, and one social species, Apis mellifera, under four different light regimes (natural, artificial, plant growth and darkness). The flower method was the most effective for all three bee species: 90-95% of the bees fed under natural light, 80-95% under artificial light, 75-100% under plant growth light, and 45-70% in darkness. Percent success was 0-50% with the film canister method, and 0-60% with the glass vial method. The flower method may allow more comprehensive future evaluation of pesticide effects on bees.


Key words: oral toxicity test / individual feeding / Osmia lignaria / Apis mellifera / Megachile rotundata

Correspondence and reprints: Jordi Bosch Nomada@biology.usu.edu

© INRA, EDP Sciences, DIB, AGIB 2003


What is OpenURL?

The OpenURL standard is a protocol for transmission of metadata describing the resource that you wish to access. An OpenURL link contains article metadata and directs it to the OpenURL server of your choice. The OpenURL server can provide access to the resource and also offer complementary services (specific search engine, export of references...). The OpenURL link can be generated by different means.
  • If your librarian has set up your subscription with an OpenURL resolver, OpenURL links appear automatically on the abstract pages.
  • You can define your own OpenURL resolver with your EDPS Account. In this case your choice will be given priority over that of your library.
  • You can use an add-on for your browser (Firefox or I.E.) to display OpenURL links on a page (see http://www.openly.com/openurlref/). You should disable this module if you wish to use the OpenURL server that you or your library have defined.