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Published July 13, 2017 | Version v1
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Data from: Chronic exposure to neonicotinoids reduces honey bee health near corn crops

Description

Experiments linking neonicotinoids and declining bee health have been criticized for not simulating realistic exposure. Here we quantified the duration and magnitude of neonicotinoid exposure in Canada's corn-growing regions and used these data to design realistic experiments to investigate the effect of such insecticides on honey bees. Colonies near corn were naturally exposed to neonicotinoids for up to 4 months—the majority of the honey bee's active season. Realistic experiments showed that neonicotinoids increased worker mortality and were associated with declines in social immunity and increased queenlessness over time. We also discovered that the acute toxicity of neonicotinoids to honey bees doubles in the presence of a commonly encountered fungicide. Our work demonstrates that field-realistic exposure to neonicotinoids can reduce honey bee health in corn-growing regions.

Notes

Agrochemical
Agrochemicals found in different colony sample types, location, and time points.
agrochemicals.xlsx
Pollen analysis of NNI positive samples
The relative proportion of pollen grains from different plants found in samples that tested positive for neonicotinoids
Pollen.xlsx
Oral Toxicity of Clothianadin and Thiamethoxam in the presence of Linuron and Boscalid
The mortality of worker honeybees in cage experiments with different doses of NNIs in the presence of constant levels of either the herbicide linuron or the fungacide boscalid.
LD50_NNIs.xlsx

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Additional details

Related works

Is cited by
10.1126/science.aam7470 (DOI)