EVALUATING PESTICIDE EXPOSURE OF HONEY BEE COLONIES USING AUDITORY SIGNALS

• Sponsoring Institution: Agricultural Research Service/USDA
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: USDA INHOUSE
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0433127
• Project Start Date: Jul 10, 2017
• Project End Date: Jul 9, 2018
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
Open Source Beehives
3002 York St.
Denver,CO 80205-4655

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
(N/A)

Animal Health Component

50%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

50%

Applied

50%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
203	3010	1070	100%

Knowledge Area
203 - Plant Biological Efficiency and Abiotic Stresses Affecting Plants;

Subject Of Investigation
3010 - Honey bees;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

honey

bees

auditory

signals

sublethal

pesticide

dose

Goals / Objectives
Analyzing sound from honey bee colonies exposed to sublethal doses of pesticides.

Project Methods
Solar-powered microphones will be installed in honey bee colonies in an apiary managed by the SY. Those colonies will be placed in one of four treatment groups, and each group fed different concentrations of pesticide in sugar syrup for 6 weeks. Auditory data will be collected for several days before pesticide exposure and then again for several days at discrete points during the following 9 months. The auditory signals will be analyzed for treatment effects and compared to hive weight and temperature data gathered at the same time.