Effects of coumaphos on queen rearing in the honey bee, Apis mellifera

Jeffery Pettis , Anita Collins , Reg. Wilbanks , Mark. F. Feldlaufer

Young honey bee larvae were transferred into the queen cups containing known concentrations (0 to 1000 mg/kg) of the organophosphate pesticide coumaphos. These larvae were placed in queenless colonies and examined ten days later to determine the rate of rejection or acceptance as indicated by a mature sealed queen cell. All queens failed to develop at 1000 mg/kg, and greater than 50% of the queen cells were rejected at the 100 mg/kg concentration. Additionally, queens that survived exposure to100 mg/kg coumaphos weighed significantly less than control queens. The implications of exposure of developing queens to sublethal amounts of pesticides are discussed.

Mots clés: coumaphos; queen rearing; residues; beeswax

Domaines: Zoologie des invertébrés; Biodiversité; Ecologie, Environnement; Science des productions animales

Jeffery Pettis, Anita Collins, Reg. Wilbanks, Mark. F. Feldlaufer. Effects of coumaphos on queen rearing in the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Apidologie, 2004, 35 (6), pp.605-610. ⟨10.1051/apido:2004056⟩. ⟨hal-00891856⟩