Preface

Beekeeping in recent years has seen a strong increase in both its production and its scientific development in response to an increasing consumption of bee products and pollination requirements to respond to the enormous world demand for safe products.

Despite the aforementioned, beekeeping has faced new challenges that threaten its future and which have undoubtedly become restrictive factors for production.

Such are the problems, that there are scientists who think that this productive activity could become extinct given new diseases, climate change, indiscriminate application of pesticides, and loss of natural spaces where honey and other products of the hive were formerly produced. Habitat loss is one of the serious problems facing global beekeeping.

In addition to the diseases and pests of bees that are currently distributed worldwide, there is the challenge of producing food free of contaminants such as antibiotics and others. This is a great challenge for the world's beekeepers.

Given the great importance that bees have for ecology and man, this book was written in simple and accessible terms for different readers and it includes very relevant topics such as bee diseases, the effect of pesticides on bees and its products, sustainable productive management, analysis of pollen present in honeys, molecular techniques for analyzing products, production of royal jelly, ecological management of bees and their importance in the conservation of plant species, as well as a chapter on meliponiculture.

The chapters have been written by leading world-class researchers and presented in a way that is understandable to the reader. The book is intended for researchers, academics, undergraduate and graduate students, beekeepers, entrepreneurs, as well as the general public, who will find answers in each chapter. The chapters respond to most of the problems that beekeepers face and correspond to the latest research carried out by researchers in their respective subjects.

For this editor, it has been a source of great pride to give shape to the present work and to interact with the different authors with my observations so that the works are written in the best possible way for the reader, be it a researcher, student, professional beekeeper or any person who is interested in starting out in this beautiful profession that brings many benefits both for him and for nature.

**II**

**Chapter 9 153**

**Chapter 10 173**

Southeast Asian Meliponiculture for Sustainable Livelihood *by Atsalek Rattanawannee and Orawan Duangphakdee*

Diagnostic Radioentomology

*by Mark Greco*

**Ramón Eduardo Rebolledo Ranz** University of La Frontera, Chile

**1**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

*Raymond A. Cloyd*

adjuvants on honey bees.

synergism

**1. Introduction**

Effects of Pesticides and Adjuvants

on the Honey Bee, *Apis mellifera:*

An Updated Bibliographic Review

The European or western honey bee, *Apis mellifera*, pollinates approximately 75% of crop species in agricultural and horticultural production systems worldwide at a value of \$170–\$200 billion per year. While foraging for pollen and nectar in flowering plants, honey bees may be exposed to insecticides; however, they may also be exposed to a multitude of other pesticides and compounds including:

fungicides, insect growth regulators, herbicides, and adjuvants. Previous and recent studies show that these pesticides and compounds are directly or indirectly harmful to honey bees, which could negatively impact pollination and colony health. Fungicides can directly and indirectly affect honey bees, and enhance the toxicity (synergize) of certain insecticides, thus increasing their toxic effects to honey bees. Insect growth regulators negatively affect larvae, which impacts brood production in honey bee colonies. Herbicides can indirectly affect honey bee populations by reducing the availability of flowering plants, which decreases pollen and nectar sources during foraging, and consequently reduces colony survival during the winter. Adjuvants, especially surfactants, are a component of pesticide formulations, and are indirectly harmful to honey bees. This book chapter provides a detailed discussion of the effects of fungicides, insect growth regulators, herbicides, and

**Keywords:** fungicides, insect growth regulators, herbicides, adjuvants, surfactants,

The European or western honey bee, *Apis mellifera* L., is relied upon extensively worldwide for pollinating approximately 75% of crop species in agricultural and horticultural cropping systems at a value of \$15–\$17 billion per year in the USA and \$170–\$200 billion per year globally [1–3]. When foraging for pollen and nectar in flowering plants, honey bees can be exposed to a diverse array of pesticides, including: insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides [4–8] that can cause direct or indirect toxic effects to honey bees [9]. Direct toxicity occurs when honey bees are immediately killed when exposed to wet sprays or dried pesticide residues on leaves or flowers [10, 11]. Indirect toxicity is associated with sublethal effects on foraging behavior, development, orientation, reproduction, learning and memory retention, immune system functionality, longevity, and overwintering survival. Indirect
