The Effect of Pyrethroid Group Pesticides on Honey Bee Deaths in Cukurova Region

Abstract

Apiculture is one of the agricultural activities carried out widely in our country and in the world. Our society attaches great importance to beekeeping and honey products, especially honey, so bee colony health is very important in the continuity of bee products. There are many factors that can be shown to cause colony loss in bees and one of them is poisoning caused by pesticides. Causes such as improper dosing of pesticides, day-to-day spraying, or potentiation or effect differentiation due to random mixing of drugs may cause collective bee deaths. In this study, 188 dead bee samples (each sample contains approximately 100 g dead bees) from different bee farms, which were collected from beekeepers and brought to Adana Veterinary Control Institute with the suspicion of pesticide poisoning due to intensive deaths, were examined. Qualitative examination was performed by gas chromatography (GC) device. In the examination of dead bee samples, tau-fluvalinate residue was found in 2 samples in 2015 and cypermethrin residue was found in 1 sample in 2016. In 2017 and 2018, no detectable substance was detected in terms of pyrethroid pesticides. In 188 samples which we examined in terms of pyrethroit group pesticides, 1 substance was found to be toxic for bees. This shows, at the samples examined, that pyrethroid pesticides are not involved in bee colony losses in Çukurova.