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Impact of Thiamethoxam on Honey Bee Queen (Apis mellifera carnica) Reproductive Morphology and Physiology

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Abstract

High honey bee losses around the world have been linked in part by the regular use of neonicotinoids in agriculture. In light of the current situation, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of thiamethoxam on the development of the reproductive system and physiology in the honey bee queen. Two experimental groups of honey bee queen larvae were treated with thiamethoxam during artificial rearing, applied via artificial feed in two cycles. In the first rearing cycle, honey bee larvae received a single treatment dose (4.28 ng thiamethoxam/queen larva on the 4th day after larvae grafting in artificial queen cells), while the second honey bee queen rearing cycle received a double treatment dose (total of 8.56 ng thiamethoxam/queen larva on the 4th and 5th day after larvae grafting in artificial queen cells). After emerging, queens were anesthetized and weighed, and after mating with drones were anesthetized, weighed, and sectioned. Ovary mass and number of stored sperm were determined. Body weight differed between untreated and treated honey bee queens. The results also show a decrease in the number of sperm within honey bee queen spermathecae that received the double thiamethoxam dose.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the Erasmus Placement exchange student Program 2013/2014; as well as financial support from the Slovenian Research Agency, Research Programme P4-133 and FP7 Project CropSustaIn grant agreement FP7 – REGPOT – CT2012-316205.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Honeybee Diseases - NRL, Department for Biology and Pathology of Fish and Bees, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Ivana Tlak Gajger & Martina Sakač

  2. Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova 17, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Aleš Gregorc

  3. Center for Coastal Horticulture Research, Mississippi State University, Poplarville, MS, USA

    Aleš Gregorc

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  1. Ivana Tlak Gajger
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  2. Martina Sakač
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  3. Aleš Gregorc
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Correspondence to Ivana Tlak Gajger.

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Gajger, I.T., Sakač, M. & Gregorc, A. Impact of Thiamethoxam on Honey Bee Queen (Apis mellifera carnica) Reproductive Morphology and Physiology. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 99, 297–302 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-017-2144-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-017-2144-0

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