EFFECTS ON HONEY-BEES OF INSECTICIDES APPLIED TO SNAP BEANS IN WISCONSIN - CHEMICAL AND BIOTIC FACTORS

Studies were conducted to determine the role of snap beans as a food r esource for honey bees (Apis mellifera L.), bee mortality resulting fr om pesticides, and the long-term effects on bees of such insecticide e xposure. Aerial application of microencapsulated methyl parathion indu ced elevated levels of bee mortality and reduced total pollen collecti on rates, whereas treatment with acephate did not. Honey bees did not forage snap beans for pollen or nectar even under conditions of extrem e resource dearth. Bee mortality following application of insecticides was caused by foraging either on blooming weeds in the field or among flowering plants within the spray-drift zone. Thus, such bee losses i n snap beans could be avoided almost entirely through clean cultivatio n. High intercolony variability obscured possible differences in winte r survival after exposure and in subsequent honey production.