Country-specific effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on honey bees and wild bees

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 356; no. 6345; pp. 1393 - 1395
• Main Authors: Woodcock, B. A., Bullock, J. M., Shore, R. F., Heard, M. S., Pereira, M. G., Redhead, J., Ridding, L., Dean, H., Sleep, D., Henrys, P., Peyton, J., Hulmes, S., Hulmes, L., Sárospataki, M., Saure, C., Edwards, M., Genersch, E., Knäbe, S., Pywell, R. F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 30-06-2017; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Agriculture; Agrochemicals; Animals; Apis mellifera; Bees; Bees - classification; Bees - drug effects; Bombus terrestris; Cereal crops; Colonies; Colony Collapse; Continents; Corn; Crops; Dressings; Environmental conditions; Exposure; Field tests; Flowering; Fungicides; Germany; Health; Honey; Hungary; Immune response; Insecticides; Insects; Neonicotinoids - toxicity; Osmia; Overwintering; Pesticides; Pesticides - toxicity; Pollen; Pollinators; Rapeseed; Reproduction; Seed coats; Seed treatments; Seeds; Thiamethoxam; United Kingdom; Winter; United Kingdom > UK; Hungary; Germany
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa1190

Neonicotinoid seed dressings have caused concern world-wide. We use large field experiments to assess the effects of neonicotinoid-treated crops on three bee species across three countries (Hungary, Germany, and the United Kingdom). Winter-sown oilseed rape was grown commercially with either seed coatings containing neonicotinoids (clothianidin or thiamethoxam) or no seed treatment (control). For honey bees, we found both negative (Hungary and United Kingdom) and positive (Germany) effects during crop flowering. In Hungary, negative effects on honey bees (associated with clothianidin) persisted over winter and resulted in smaller colonies in the following spring (24% declines). In wild bees (Bombus terrestris and Osmia bicornis), reproduction was negatively correlated with neonicotinoid residues. These findings point to neonicotinoids causing a reduced capacity of bee species to establish new populations in the year following exposure.