Relationship between bee mortality and agrochemical treatments in the vineyard areas of Emilia-Romagna region [Apis mellifera L.]
2005
Sgolastra, F. (Bologna Univ. (Italy). Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agroambientali) | Medrzycki, P. (Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura (CRA) - Istituto Nazionale di Apicoltura, Bologna (Italy)) | Tesoriero, D. (Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura (CRA) - Istituto Nazionale di Apicoltura, Bologna (Italy)) | Sabatini, A.G. (Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura (CRA) - Istituto Nazionale di Apicoltura, Bologna (Italy)) | Porrini, C. (Bologna Univ. (Italy). Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agroambientali)
Grapevine treatments against Scaphoideus titanus Ball, vector of Grapevine yellows (flavescence dorée), often cause high bee mortality. In 2002 and 2003, a monitoring study was conducted in some vineyard areas of Emilia-Romagna, in the period June-August, when treatments against S. titanus are carried out. Bee mortality was assessed systematically using dead bee collection traps (underbasket) and dead bees were counted weekly. When the number of dead bees exceeded the threshold value of 250 dead bees/station/week, both chemical and palynological analyses were conducted. In 2002, monitoring was performed only in three provinces and the assessments were not systematic. The most frequently found active ingredient was fenitrothion (100% in 2002; 94.1% in 2003), followed in 2003 by chlorpyrifos-ethyl (17.6%) and dimethoate and methyl-parathion (11.8%). Average number of dead bees and level of fenitrothion in dead bee samples were higher in 2002 than in 2003. Surveys on pesticides used in wine growing farms carried out by the Regional Plant Protection Service showed that wine growers have progressed from a large-scale use of micro-encapsulated pesticides in 2002 to a more diversified use of agrochemicals in 2003. Our laboratory results showed that micro-encapsulated insecticides, when ingested by bees, explicate their action more slowly then EC-formulated, but their harmful effects are similar to the ones of other formulations. All these observations suggest that micro-encapsulated products may be more hazardous than EC- or WG-formulated pesticides. Furthermore, in some cases, the palynological analyses revealed the presence of grapevine pollen on dead bees, which suggests that chemical treatments were applied also before grapevine bloom had completely ended. We applied the Index of Environmental Hazard (IEH) to determine the degree of chemical contamination in the different monitored areas
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