Several shrubs of the heath family are poisonous to livestock. They are grouped together because they have somewhat similar growth habits, distributions and toxic principles. These shrubs produce neurotoxic diterpenoids, which have an assortment of terms, including andromedotoxin and grayanotoxin. These toxins occur throughout the plant, including the nectar, and can be found in honey. They are toxic to bees.

Nonetheless, a number of P450s in bees have been implicated in the metabolism of secondary compounds found in nectar and pollen as well as xenobiotics, such as acaricides used to control Varroa mites, and the CYP6 family of P450s has shown expansion relative to other insect genomes and may be involved in the metabolism of phytochemicals found in nectar, pollen, and honey.

PLB

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