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THE CONTAMINANTS OF THE BEE COLONY

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Abstract

The contamination sources of the bee colony can roughly be divided into environmental and apicul-tural ones. The environmental sources can be further divided in agricultural and non-agricultural ones. The following environmental sources were examined: heavy metals, radioactivity and pesticides. The contamination of bee products by these sources is relatively small and the levels found are non-toxic for humans. The bees seem to have a filtering effect, leaving honey relatively free of toxic contaminants. The contamination of pollen, wax and propolis is greater than that of honey. Pollen quality is mostly endangered by pesticides. The apicultural sources include varroacides, antibiotics, paradichlorobenzene etc. Synthetic varro-acides are the most important sources for contamination, as they have to be used for long-term varroa control. The acaricide levels, found in the different products after treatment with the different acar-icides, decrease in the following order: brood combs > honey combs » sugar feed ~ honey. The contamination level of the brood combs, found in our study, is: bromopropylate > coumaphos and fluvalinate. Non toxic acaricides as organic acids and thymol will not endanger honey quality, if applied after the prescriptions. During honey control activities of the Swiss Canton Laboratories, residues of antibiotics, used for the control of American foul brood were found. The measurements in 1999 to 200 1 showed that one third of the imported honey contained antibiotics, while 6 to 9 % of the Swiss honeys were contaminated, mostly by sulfathiazole. Some beekeepers use paradichlorobenzene (PDCB) for the control of wax moth. This substance was found in about 30 % of all analysed Swiss honeys. Residues coming from wood protectants of bee hive, honey harvest and storage are also dis. cussed. The results show that the main contamination danger for bee products originates in a lesser extent from the environment, than from the apicultural practice. Antibiotics are the most likely contaminants of honey. Acaricides are the most important contaminants of wax and propolis.
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Bulgarian Journal of Veterinary Medicine (2003), 6, No 2, 59-70
THE CONTAMINANTS OF THE BEE COLONY
S. BOGDANOV, A. IMDORF, V. KILCHENMANN,
J. D. CHARRIERE & P. FLURI
Swiss Bee Research Centre, Federal Dairy Research Station,
Bem; Switzerland
Summary
Bogdanov, S., A. Imdorf, v. Kilchenmann, J. D. Charriere and P. Fluri, 2003. The contami- nants of the
bee colony. Bulg. J. Vet. Med., 6, No 2,59 -70.
The contamination sources of the bee colony can roughly be divided into environmental and apicul- tural ones.
The environmental sources can be further divided in agricultural and non-agricultural ones. The following
environmental sources were examined: heavy metals, radioactivity and pesti- cides. The contamination of bee
p
roducts by these sources is relatively small and the levels found are non-toxic for humans. The bees seem to have
a filtering effect, leaving honey relatively free of toxic contaminants. The contamination of pollen, wax and
p
ropolis is greater than that of honey. Pollen quality is mostly endangered by pesticides.
The apicultural sources include varroacides, antibiotics, paradichlorobenzene etc. Synthetic varro- acides are
the most important sources for contamination, as they have to be used for long-term varroa control. The acaricide
levels, found in the different products after treatment with the different acar- icides, decrease in the following
order: brood combs > honey combs » sugar feed ~ honey. The contamination level of the brood combs, found in
our study, is: bromopropylate > coumaphos and fluvalinate. Non toxic acaricides as organic acids and thymol will
not endanger honey quality, if ap- plied after the prescriptions. During honey control activities of the Swiss Canton
Laboratories, resi- dues of antibiotics, used for the control of American foul brood were found. The measurements
in 1999 to 200 1 showed that one third of the imported honey contained antibiotics, while 6 to 9 % of the Swiss
honeys were contaminated, mostly by sulfathiazole. Some beekeepers use paradichlorobenzene (PDCB) for the
control of wax moth. This substance was found in about 30 % of all analysed Swiss honeys. Residues coming
from wood protectants of bee hive, honey harvest and storage are also dis. cussed. The results show that the main
contamination danger for bee products originates in a lesser extent from the environment, than from the apicultural
p
ractice. Antibiotics are the most likely con- taminants of honey. Acaricides are the most important contaminants
of wax and propolis.
Key words: bee products, beeswax, honey quality, contamination, pollution, propolis, resi- dues
INTRODUCTION
Contamination of honey and other bee products
has placed the beekeepers in the situation of
Hamlet and they lead a "to bee or not bee" fight
against the sea of troubles arising from the
contamination sources of bee products. In order
to win this struggle, the beekeepers should un-
derstand the importance of the different
contamination sources. In this short re- view it
will be attempted to discuss the relative
importance of the different con- tamination
sources.
The contamination sources can roughly be
divided into environmental (heavy metals,
pesticides, bacteria, GM plants) and apicultural
ones (Varroacides,
The contaminants of the bee colony
Pharn-Delegue, Taylor & Francis,
London and New York, 12-41.
Swiss Cantonal laboratories, 2002 (per-
sonal communication).
Wallner, K., 1991. Das Wachsmotten-
bekiimpfungsmittel Paradichlorbenzol.
Schweizerische Bienen-Zeitung, 116,
582-587.
Wallner, K., 1997. Bericht der LA fUr
Bienenkunde d. Universitiit Hohen-
heim, 1996,ADIZ, 31, S.XV.
Wallner, K., 1999. Varroacides and their
residues in bee products. Apidologie,
30, 235-248.
Wenk, P., 2002 (personal communica-
tion).
Williams, I. H., 2002. The EU regulatory
framework for OM crops in relation to
bees. Bee World, 83, 24-35.
Paper received 20.02.2003; accepted for
publication 07.05.2003
Kubik, M., J. Nowacki, A. Pidek, Z.
Warakomska, J. Michalczuk, W.
Goszczynski and B. Dwuznik, 2000.
Residues of captan (Contact) and dife-
noconazole (Systemic) fungicides in
bee products from an apple orchard.
Apidologie, 31,531-541.
Menkissoglu-Spiroudi, U., A. D. Tsigouri,
G. C. Diamantidis and A. T. Thra-
syvoulou, 2001. Residues in honey
and beeswax caused by beekeeping
treatments. Fresenius Environmental
Bulletin, 10, 445-450.
Milani, N., 1999. The resistance of Var-
roa jacobsoni Oud. to acaricides. Api-
dologie, 30, 229-234.
Porcini, C., S. Ghini, S. Girotti, A. G.
Sabatini, E. Gattavecchia, and G.
Celli, 2002. Use of honey bees as
bioindicators of environmental pollu-
tion in Italy. In: Honey Bees: Esti-
mating the Environmental Impact of
Chemicals, eds J. Devillers and M. H.
Pham-Delegue, Taylor & Francis,
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Snowdon, J. A. and D. 0. Cliver, 1996.
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of honey. American Bee Journal, 139,
51-60.
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G. Alnasser, 2002. Volatile and semi-
volatile organic compounds in beehive
a!:Inospheres. In: Honey Bees: Estima-
ting the Environmental Impact of
Chemicals, eds J. Devillers and M. H.
Correspondence:
Dr. S. Bogdanov,
Swiss Bee Research Centre,
Federal Dairy Research Station,
3003, Bern, Switzerland
www .apis.admin.ch
stefan. bo gdano v @ fam. admin. ch
BNM,6,No2
70
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... All the minerals and heavy metals identified in honey samples are listed in Table 5. The mean mineral concentrations in the different honey groups were expressed by mg kg -1 for Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, and Zn and by µg kg -1 for As, Pb, and Cd, the concentrations of the two later were compared to the maximum allowable contaminant levels established by the Commission Regulation (EU) (2015) and proposed by Bogdanov et al. (2003). ...
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Bericht der LA fUr Bienenkunde d. Universitiit Hohenheim
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Wallner, K., 1997. Bericht der LA fUr Bienenkunde d. Universitiit Hohenheim, 1996,ADIZ, 31, S.XV.
Volatile and semivolatile organic compounds in beehive a!:Inospheres. In: Honey Bees: Estimating the Environmental Impact of Chemicals
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Smith, G., J. Bromenshenk, D. Jones and G. Alnasser, 2002. Volatile and semivolatile organic compounds in beehive a!:Inospheres. In: Honey Bees: Estimating the Environmental Impact of Chemicals, eds J. Devillers and M. H. Correspondence: Dr. S. Bogdanov, Swiss Bee Research Centre, Federal Dairy Research Station, 3003, Bern, Switzerland www.apis.admin.ch stefan. bo gdano v @ fam. admin. ch BNM,6,No2