BEE AS ENVIRONMENTAL BIOINDICATOR: FIRST RESULTS IN PIEDMONT

Abstract

Many investigators have employed honeybees or honeybee products (honey, wax, pollen) as tools for assessing environmental pollution in industrial areas. Several reports refer of their utility in monitoring environmental radionuclides or heavy metal contamination. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential impact of pollution on Biella area, located in the east of Piedmont region. A survey of 6 apiaries was carried out, samples of: honey, beeswax, bees and pollen were collected and analyzed for: pesticides and PCB, neonicotinoides and heavy metal; by GC/MS, LC/MS/MS or AAS. We found 23% of samples of bees contained neonicotinoides, suggesting the correlation with bees mortality.

Keywords

• bee, neonicotinoids, pesticides, heavy metal, PCB.