Issue |
Apidologie
Volume 32, Number 4, July-August 2001
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Page(s) | 305 - 321 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:2001131 |
Apidologie 32 (2001) 305-321
Assessing the exposure and toxicity of pesticides to bumblebees (Bombus sp.)
Helen M. ThompsonNational Bee Unit, Central Science Laboratory, Sand Hutton, York, YO41 1LZ, UK
(Received 10 August 2000; revised 15 December 2000; accepted 31 March 2001)
Abstract
Many of the reported pesticide incidents involving honeybees probably also result in mortality of
bumblebees and, together with a reduction in suitable habitat, these have resulted in the decline in
bumblebees in the UK over the last 20 years. Applications of sprays, e.g. pyrethroids, to flowering crops
or weeds at times when honeybees are less active are likely to result in unreported bumblebee deaths.
There is a need to protect foraging bumblebees from direct overspray during the early morning and late
evening when pesticides which are repellent but highly toxic are applied, i.e. pyrethroids. Of particular
concern are those pesticides applied when queens are emerging and establishing colonies, e.g. March/April,
when colonies may be significantly impacted by the loss of a small number of workers or the queen. This is
a problem which cannot readily be addressed by risk management measures due to differing foraging profiles
of honeybees and bumblebees but does need to be taken into account in risk assessment and the development
of more selective compounds.
Key words: Bombus / pesticides / exposure / toxicity / risk assessment
Correspondence and reprints: Helen M. Thompson
e-mail: H.Thompson@csl.gov.uk
© INRA, EDP Sciences, DIB, AGIB 2001