INFLUENCE OF THE AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE SURROUNDING APIS MELLIFERA COLONIES ON THE PRESENCE OF GLYPHOSATE AND ITS METABOLITE AMPA IN HONEY

MEDICI, S.K.1,2; MAGGI, M.D. 1,2; GALETTO, L. 2,3; IGLESIAS, M.R. 4; SARLO, E.G.1 ; RECAVARREN, M1 ; SALAR, P.5 ; EGUARAS, M.

Workshop; 8º Latin American Residue Workshop; 2021

During foraging flights, honey bees settled in agricultural ecosystems may encounter glyphosate residues on flowers of both cultivated and native plants growing in semi-natural habitats within the landscape. This product has been considered non-toxic to bees based on acute contact and oral toxicity tests (> 100 µg / per bee) performed mostly under lab conditions; however, several authors have described various deleterious effects of this herbicide on honeybee?s behavior and survival. The configuration and heterogeneity of the landscape and the agricultural management in which the bee colonies are located, have direct and indirect implications on the presence and survival of bees. In this work, we were interested to analyze the relationship between landscape configuration and the presence of pesticides in honey. In particular, we tested the relationship between the presence of glyphosate and AMPA residues in honey and some metrics of habitat configuration. We expect a higher presence of glyphosate and AMPA as the proportion of crop lands in the landscape is increased and the connectivity of semi-natural habitats is decreased. A total of 30 honey samples belonging to the 2019 and 2020 harvests were analyzed in various areas of the southeast of the province of Buenos Aires and a frequency of 50% of glyphosate positivity was found in the analyzed simples meanwhile AMPA was found in 30% of the samples using a method of analysis of residues of Glyphosate and its main metabolite of degradation to Aminophosphoric Acid (AMPA) in honey developed using UPLC MSMS. We identified a total of 24 different sites to test the relationships between habitat configuration and residues of pesticides in honey because six of the samples were obtained in the same apiary (during the same of different season; see below). The range of values found in the samples was between 2 ? 27,5 µg/kg for Glyphosate and 1,9 ? 18,1 µg/kg for AMPA. The metrics for the near landscape (1000m ratio) surrounding the apiaries showed negative higher correlations than those for the larger one (2225 m ratio), particularly with AMPA residues. Nevertheless, these correlations were weak and thus the amount of crop lands with industrial agriculture is not enough to clear explain the values of glyphosate and AMPA residues detected in the honey bee colonies. Based on the pesticide prevalence in the environment, as well as our findings of its presence in honey samples, we propose that detailed studies at the apiary scale should be conducted in Argentina to determine if glyphosate is in fact a contributing driver to the colony losses. Geospatial analysis like the performed in this study can help honey producers to estimate risks to pesticide exposure in landscapes with intensive agriculture