INSIGNIA-EU: Monitoring of environmental pollution with honey bees and citizen scientist beekeepers

Honey bees collect forage and pollutants when in contact with the environment. INSIGNIA-EU is the first biomonitoring project that measures environmental pollution across Europe with honey bee colonies and a broad network of citizen scientist beekeepers. Between 5 to 20 apiaries per EU country (see map) were involved. Investigated parameters are: pesticides, microplastics, heavy metals, the air pollutants polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and pollen diversity available to honey bees. Supported by research organizations using advanced analytical and modeling techniques, this citizen science approach contributes to the understanding of pollution, identifies varying pollution levels, and supports environmental improvement efforts.