Pesticide problems for honey bees: a closer look in our towns

蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）凭借其授粉服务对全球粮食生产至关重要。令人担忧的是，有一个公认的蜜蜂健康危机威胁着蜜蜂种群，从而威胁着全球粮食安全。导致蜜蜂死亡的原因之一是农药（杀菌剂、除草剂、杀虫剂）污染，这导致人们呼吁减少农药的使用。这些呼吁最近导致在农业生产中禁止使用新烟碱类杀虫剂。但是，在大多数养蜂人有蜂箱的城市环境（住宅花园、公园、路边等），农药的使用情况如何呢？与农业地区相比，城市地区的蜜蜂是否存在农药亚致死中毒的严重问题？学生和全国养蜂人将从城市地区、农业用地和非农业农村的蜜蜂和蜂箱中收集花粉，包括空间和时间。花粉中农药含量的鉴定和数量将由质谱法确定。花粉植物的来源将通过下一代测序和显微镜分析来确定。此外，针对城市地区的反应性采样方法将确定明显慢性和急性农药中毒的蜂箱中的农药污染和花粉特征。将对来自这些蜂箱的蜜蜂进行基因生物标记检查，以指示农药暴露。总的来说，该项目的目的是评估蜜蜂和其他传粉昆虫在城市环境中相对于农业环境对农药的暴露情况，以便未来的任何政策变化都能以证据为基础。该项目将提供尖端化学和基因组指纹测序以及现代分子生物学方面的培训。该学生将在阿伯丁大学工作，并有机会在爱丁堡的苏格兰农业科学机构（SASA）工作。

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are critically important to global food production by virtue of their pollination services. Worryingly, there is a well-recognised honey bee health crisis threatening bee populations and, thereby, global food security. One of the causes implicated in honey bee deaths is pesticide (fungicide, herbicide, insecticide) pollution that has led to calls for reduced pesticide use. These calls have recently resulted in the prohibited use of the neonicotinoid pesticide in agricultural production. But, what of the pesticide use in urban environments (residential gardens, parks, roadsides, etc) where most beekepers have their hives? Is there a significant problem of pesticide sub-lethal poisoning of honey bees in urban areas relative to agricultural areas?Pollen will be collected from bees and hives in urban areas, agricultural land and non-agricultural countryside by the student and by beekeepers nationwide both spatially and temporally. The identity and quantity of the pesticide content of the pollen will be determined by mass spectrometry. The source of the pollen plant will be determined by next-generation sequencing and microscopic analysis. In addition, a reactive sampling approach focussed on the urban areas will determine any pesticide contamination and pollen identity in hives with apparent chronic and acute pesticide poisoning. Bees from such hives will be examined for gene biomarkers indicative of the pesticide exposure. Overall, the aim of the project is to assess the exposure of honey bees, and de facto other insect pollinators, to pesticides in urban environments relative to agricultural environments to allow any future policy change to be evidence-based.The project will provide training in cutting edge chemical and genomic finger-printing sequencing and modern molecular biology. The student will be based within the University of Aberdeen with opportunities to work at the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency (SASA), Edinburgh.