Acute Contact Toxicity of Six Pesticides in Honeybees (Apis Mellifera Meda) in Iran

Pollination has an important role in both agricultural production and wild plant reproduction. For the pollination of crops, agriculture relies largely on managed colonies of the honeybee Apis mellifera. Worker bees are primarily affected by pesticides. The symptoms of poisoning vary depending on the developmental stage of the individual bee and kind of chemical employed. The acute contact toxicity of insecticides (phosalone and pirimicarb), acaricide (propargite), insecticide and acaricide (fenpropathrin), fungicides and bactericides (copper oxychloride and bordeaux mixture) was assessed in Iran through laboratory experiments. The median lethal concentrations (LC₅₀-24h, LC₅₀-48h and LC₅₀-72h) were evaluated for the purposes of this research. Results showed that fenpropathrin had high toxicity; LC₅₀-24h, LC₅₀-48h and LC₅₀-72h were 5.7, 3.2 and 2.9 ppm respectively. Additionally, the bordeaux mixture had the minimum contact toxicity on honeybees with LC₅₀-24h, LC₅₀-48h and LC₅₀-72h being 79,926; 69,552 and 69,045 ppm respectively and was safe and non-toxic in honeybees.