During last years several cases of bee losses have been reported during the period of corn sowing in different European countries. In Italy an institutional system for bee losses survey does not exist and therefore some Italian regions decided to organise an official network to collect data and analyse dead bee samples.
Collected data indicate that the higher number of bee losses events occurred in intensively cultivated flat areas, located in the North of Italy, mainly during or after corn sowing. The chemical analyses of dead bees revealed the presence of three neonicotinoid residues: imidacloprid was found in 25.7% of the sample, thiamethoxam in 2.8%, clothianidin in 25.7%, both imidacloprid and thiamethoxam in 4.7%. The visual examination and the virological analyses excluded pathological causes. The spatial and temporal correlation between hive damages and corn sowing and the presence of residues of active ingredients used for seed dressing (imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin) in almost half of the samples confirms the connection between spring mortality and the sowing of corn seed dressed with neonicotinoids.
Source: Laura Bortolotti, Anna Gloria Sabatini, Franco Mutinelli, Mario Astuti, Antonio Lavazza, Roberto Piro,
Donato Tesoriero, Piotr Medrzycki, Fabio Sgolastra, Claudio Porrini. Spring honey bee losses in Italy.
In: Hazards of pesticides to bees – 10th International Symposium of the ICP-Bee Protection Group
Julius-Kühn-Archiv 423, 2009 (attached)
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