Abstract
Various reports recently informed about the effects of contaminated or adulterated wax foundations as a main cause of poor brood and colony development. Beekeepers reported that affected colonies were showing a holey brood pattern and a decline in population size. Twenty-five samples of wax foundations were collected from different sources in Germany. Samples were analyzed using a multi-residue analysis for 147 insecticides, acaricides, and varroacides to investigate the actual load of contamination in beeswax. Furthermore, the effect of selected contaminated and/or adulterated wax foundations on colony and brood development of honeybees was evaluated under field conditions. Our results show that 38 active substances in total were found in the wax samples. Acaricides used in-hive were the most frequently detected contaminants at high concentrations. Trace concentrations of plant protection products and biocides were also found. In the field trials, a significant influence of stearin-adulterated wax on population size, the number of capped brood cells, and termination rate was found compared with the reference. No detectable effects of other treatments on the investigated parameters were observed.
Highlights
The use of beehives with removable frames and wax foundations is a common practice in commercial beekeeping, allowing better inspection of hive problems, such as varroa mite and American foulbrood, and easier honey harvest
Our results demonstrate that the analyzed wax foundations are frequently contaminated with several active substances
The detected substances could be categorized as substances used outside of the colony, directly applied to the colony, or biocides (Figure 1)
Summary
The use of beehives with removable frames and wax foundations is a common practice in commercial beekeeping, allowing better inspection of hive problems, such as varroa mite and American foulbrood, and easier honey harvest. An increasing number of reports dealt with the effects of contaminated or adulterated foundations as a main cause of poor brood and colony development. Beekeepers reported that affected colonies were showing a holey brood pattern and a decline in population size. The bees accepted the comb material in the breeding area poorly, and young larvae died. The symptoms have been linked to various possible causes including diseases, poorquality queens, residues of pesticides in wax, and a poor quality of the wax foundation
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