Safeguarding Bee Health: Insights from a Collaborative Monitoring and Prevention Project Against Pesticide Poisonings

In recent decades, bee poisoning due to pesticides and agrochemicals has increased, posing significant challenges to honey bee health and contributing to the so-called "Colony Collapse Disorder" (CCD). Poor knowledge about the level of exposure of bee colonies to pesticides and agrochemicals, whether from the environment or beekeeping management practices, is a major limiting factor in preventing these diseases. Collaboration among different stakeholders, such as beekeeping associations, local veterinary authorities, and researchers, is essential to create monitoring programs that can collect these data and enable the prompt implementation of surveillance and preventive actions to address potential bee colony poisoning incidents caused by these contaminants. The present study describes the results obtained through a collaborative initiative that was implemented for monitoring and preventing pesticide-induced bee poisonings in a territory of northern Italy where the exposure of honey bee colonies to different types of pesticides and agrochemicals may occur. Four sentinel apiaries were selected based on possible sources of pollution throughout the territory. Pollen samples were collected at different times during the years 2021-2022 and analyzed for pesticides using gas and liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS) techniques. The findings showed the presence of a number of pesticides, such as pyrethroids, permethrin, cypermethrin, amitraz, and pendimethalin, at varying concentrations. Acute bee mortality was observed in a field case related to pyrethroid exposure in 2022, in an urban area. These results confirm the need for timely interventions, improved sampling methods, and continuous monitoring to safeguard bee populations. Collaboration with local beekeepers and public authorities is thus essential in addressing pesticide use and bee health challenges, fostering efficient communication and training efforts to support sustainable beekeeping.