U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Date of this Version
12-3-2018
Citation
Environmental Entomology, 48(1), 2019, 1–3 doi: 10.1093/ee/nvy134
Abstract
Since the mid-2000s, increased annual losses of honey bee (Apis mellifera L., Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies and declines in some species of non-Apis bees have been reported (Biesmeijer et al. 2006, NRC 2007). These losses, particularly with respect to honey bees, have been associated with multiple factors including pesticides, pathogens (viruses, fungi, bacteria), pests (primarily the parasitic mite Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman [Arachnida: Parasitiformes: Varroidae]), poor nutrition, and bee management practices acting in combination (vanEngelsdorp et al. 2008, 2009; Ratnieks et al. 2010). Because of the role that bees play in providing pollination services to natural and agricultural-based ecosystems, efforts are underway to understand and mitigate factors associated with global declines (IPBES 2016). With respect to the potential role that pesticides may be playing in these declines, regulatory authorities across the continents have collaborated with a range of stakeholders to develop effective means of estimating the risk to bees that is associated with exposure to pesticides.
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Comments
This document is a U.S. government work and is not subject to copyright in the United States.