Pesticide Studies - Neonicotinoids And Bees


When I began writing this website in 2009/2010, there were convincing studies linking honey bee deaths to neonicotinoids, but though convincing, they were relatively few.  Since then, many, many more studies have signalled the worrying risk that neonicotinoids pose to pollinators and other non-target invertebrates.

Here is a sample of just some of the studies, summarized elsewhere on this website. 

Apologies for the inconsistant manner in which these studies are listed and referenced, owing to a combination of the way in which this website has evolved over time (and as volume of evidence has increased), the  insufficient resources and technical skills on my part to plan and manage it!) and the simple lack of time available to me.  Hence the need to opt for speed and convenience, and so I am guitly of 'copying and pasting' from elsewhere on this site.

Nevertheless, studies are listed here, sometimes with papers available to download, and you may be able to acquire further studies by researching yourself on the internet.  In addition, 1,121 studies up to 2014 were examined and referenced in the The World Wide Integrated Assessment of the Impact of Systemic Pesticides on Biodiversity and Ecosystems.



List of Neonicotinoid Pesticide Studies:

 

Krupke et al 2017
Krupke, C. H., Holland, J. D., Long, E. Y. and Eitzer, B. D. (2017), Planting of neonicotinoid-treated maize poses risks for honey bees and other non-target organisms over a wide area without consistent crop yield benefit. J Appl Ecol. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12924


Marianna Martinello et al, 2017
Marianna Martinello, Chiara Baratto, Chiara Manzinello, Elena Piva, Alice
Borin, Marica Toson, Anna Granato, Maria Beatrice Boniotti, Albino Gallina & Franco Mutinelli (2017); Spring mortality in honey bees in northeastern Italy: detection of pesticides and viruses in dead honey bees and other matrices; published in Journal of Apicultural Research; Volume 56, 2017 - Issue 3; April 2017.

Scott H. et al., 2017
Scott H. McArt
, Ashley A. Fersch, Nelson J. Milano, Lauren L. Truitt & Katalin Böröczky;
High pesticide risk to honey bees despite low focal crop pollen collection during pollination of a mass blooming crop
; Published: Nature.com, Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 46554 (2017); doi:10.1038/srep46554 Published online:19 April 2017


Fabio SGOLASTRA et al., 2017
Fabio SGOLASTRA, Claudio PORRINI, Stefano MAINI, Laura BORTOLOTTI, Piotr MEDRZYCKI, Franco MUTINELLI, Marco LODESANI; Healthy honey bees and sustainable maize production: why not? Published: Bulletin of Insectology 70 (1): 156-160, 2017: ISSN 1721-8861


Matthew L. Forister, et al 2016
Matthew L. Forister, Bruce Cousens, Joshua G. Harrison, Kayce Anderson, James H. Thorne, Dave Waetjen, Chris C. Nice, Matthew De Parsia, Michelle L. Hladik, Robert Meese, Heidi van Vliet, Arthur M. Shapiro; Increasing neonicotinoid use and the declining butterfly fauna of lowland California; Published 16 August 2016.DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0475

Ben A. Woodcock, et al 2016

Ben A. Woodcock, Nicholas J. B. Isaac, James M. Bullock, David B. Roy, David G. Garthwaite, Andrew Crowe & Richard F. Pywell; Impacts of neonicotinoid use on long-term population changes in wild bees in England. Published, Nature Communications 7, Article number: 12459 (2016),doi:10.1038/ncomms12459

Heard,M.S., et al., 2016
Comparative toxicity of pesticides and environmental contaminants in bees: Are honey bees a usefulproxy for wild bee species?, Sci Total Environ (2016)

Hopppe & Safer
A critical appraisal of the German Bee Monitoring Project.


Bonmatin et al 2005
J. M. Bonmatin · I. Moineau · R. Charvet · M. E. Colin · C. Fleche · E. R. Bengsch: "Behaviour of Imidacloprid in Fields.Toxicity for Honey Bees". 

Colin et al 2004
M. E. Colin,1 J. M. Bonmatin,2 I. Moineau,2 C. Gaimon,3 S. Brun,3 J. P. Vermandere 3: "A Method to Quantify and Analyze the Foraging Activity of Honey Bees: Relevance to the Sublethal Effects Induced by Systemic Insecticides". 

Girolami et al 2009
V. GIROLAMI,1,2 L. MAZZON,1 A. SQUARTINI,3 N. MORI,1 M. MARZARO,1 A. DI BERNARDO,1 M. GREATTI,4 C. GIORIO,5 AND A. TAPPARO5: "Translocation of Neonicotinoid Insecticides From Coated Seeds toSeedling Guttation Drops: A Novel Way of Intoxication for Bees". 

Riebe Presentation 2009
Hedwig Riebe, DBIB: Exposition Paths of Neonicotinoids 2009(This is a powerpoint presentation. Hedwig Riebe is from the Deutscher Berufs und Erwerbs Imker Bund e. V. in 2009 (German Beekeepers Association).


Greatti et al 2003
Moreno GREATTI1, Anna Gloria SABATINI2, Renzo BARBATTINI3, Simona ROSSI2, Antonella STRAVISI3: "Risk of environmental contamination by the active ingredient imidacloprid used for corn seed dressing. Preliminary results". 

Maini et al 2010
Stefano MAINI 1, Piotr MEDRZYCKI 2, Claudio PORRINI 1: "The puzzle of honey bee losses: a brief review".  


Tennekes 2010
Henk A.Tennekes 2010: "The significance of the Druckrey–Küpfmüller equation for risk assessment — The toxicity of neonicotinoid insecticides to arthropods is reinforced by exposure time". 







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Honey bee foraging on the pink flowers of a favourite Winter shrub for bees, Daphne Bholua