Data from: Chronic exposure to neonicotinoids reduces honey bee health near corn crops

Experiments linking neonicotinoids and declining bee health have been criticized for not simulating realistic exposure. Here we quantified the duration and magnitude of neonicotinoid exposure in Canada’s corn-growing regions and used these data to design realistic experiments to investigate the effect of such insecticides on honey bees. Colonies near corn were naturally exposed to neonicotinoids for up to 4 months—the majority of the honey bee’s active season. Realistic experiments showed that neonicotinoids increased worker mortality and were associated with declines in social immunity and increased queenlessness over time. We also discovered that the acute toxicity of neonicotinoids to honey bees doubles in the presence of a commonly encountered fungicide. Our work demonstrates that field-realistic exposure to neonicotinoids can reduce honey bee health in corn-growing regions.

有关新烟碱类杀虫剂（neonicotinoids）与蜜蜂健康衰退之间关联的实验，此前因未能模拟真实暴露场景而受到批评。本研究量化了加拿大玉米种植区内新烟碱类杀虫剂的暴露时长与暴露强度，并基于上述数据设计了贴合田间真实场景的实验，以探究此类杀虫剂对蜜蜂的影响。玉米田周边的蜂群自然暴露于新烟碱类杀虫剂的时长可达4个月，覆盖了蜜蜂活跃季的大部分时段。贴合真实场景的实验结果显示，新烟碱类杀虫剂会提升工蜂死亡率，且随着时间推移，还与蜜蜂社会免疫能力下降以及蜂群失王率上升相关。本研究还发现，当蜜蜂接触到常见杀菌剂时，新烟碱类杀虫剂对蜜蜂的急性毒性会翻倍。本研究证实，在玉米种植区，处于田间真实暴露水平的新烟碱类杀虫剂暴露，可降低蜜蜂的健康水平。