INVESTIGATION OF THE USE OF HONEY-BEES AND HONEY-BEE PRODUCTS TO ASSESS HEAVY-METALS CONTAMINATION

Experiment was carried out using 12 colonies of honey bees bred in hiv es located near an extraurban crossroad. We analyzed the Pb, Cd and Zn deposited on the bee's surfaces and the heavy metal accumulation in t he foragers, dead bees, honey products and some environmental markers during nine weeks of the experiment. Results showed a large amount of Zn and Cd on the bee's surface as a consequence of atmospheric fallout , whereas Pb seems to be either water-extractable and/or likely accumu lated in the body of the insect. Dead bees expelled from the hives dis played a progressive accumulation of all heavy metals during the exper imental period. Royal jelly and honey contained large amounts of heavy metals. In particular, we found a linear relationship between Cd in t he honey and that found in flowers of Trifolium pratense L. Results ob tained suggested that honey bee products and the examined environmenta l markers may be considered useful parameters to assess the presence o f environmental contaminants, whereas the measurements of heavy metals in the dead bees may be considered a suitable tool also to verify a p ossible dynamics of accumulation of pollutants.