How to translate text using browser tools
22 April 2021 Field-Level Exposure of Bumble Bees to Fungicides Applied to a Commercial Cherry Orchard
K. M. Kuivila, H. Judd, M. L. Hladik, J. P. Strange
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Bumble bees, Bombus spp. (Apidae), are important native pollinators; however, populations of some species are declining in North America and agricultural chemicals are a potential cause. Fungicides are generally not highly toxic to bees, but little is known about sublethal or synergistic effects. This study evaluates bumble bee exposure to fungicides by quantifying concentrations of boscalid and pyraclostrobin in nectar and pollen collected by colonies of Bombus huntii Greene, 1860 (Hunt bumble bee) deployed in a commercial cherry Prunus avium L. orchard in the spring of 2016. Seven colonies were placed adjacent to an orchard block that was sprayed with a fungicide mixture of boscalid and pyraclostrobin and a control group of seven colonies was placed next to an unsprayed block of orchard 400 m away from the treated block. Nectar and pollen were collected daily, beginning 1 d before spray application and continuing for a total of 12 d, and analyzed for both fungicides. Fungicide concentrations varied spatially by colony and temporally by day. The highest concentrations in nectar occurred 1 and 3 d after spraying: up to 440 ng/g boscalid and 240 ng/g pyraclostrobin. Six days after application, pollen from cherry flowers contained the highest concentrations of the fungicides: up to 60,500 ng/g boscalid and 32,000 ng/g pyraclostrobin. These data can help to determine field-level fungicide concentrations in nectar and pollen and direct future work on understanding the effects of these compounds, including their interactions with important bumble bee pathogenic and beneficial symbionts.

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America 2021. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.
K. M. Kuivila, H. Judd, M. L. Hladik, and J. P. Strange "Field-Level Exposure of Bumble Bees to Fungicides Applied to a Commercial Cherry Orchard," Journal of Economic Entomology 114(3), 1065-1071, (22 April 2021). https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toab051
Received: 12 September 2020; Accepted: 24 February 2021; Published: 22 April 2021
JOURNAL ARTICLE
7 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
boscalid
nectar
pollen
pollinator health
pyraclostrobin
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top