Ramona here, speaking for herself...
Here are a couple of papers related to pesticides/fungicides in pollen/beebread from Poland, published 1999 and 2000 respectively:
Kubik M, Nowacki J, Pidek A, Warakomska Z, Michalczuk L, Goszczynski W (1999) Pesticide residues in bee products collected from cherry trees protected during blooming period with contact and systemic fungicides
http://www.apidologie.org/index.php?option=com_article&access=doi&doi=10.1051/apido:19990607&Itemid=129
Apidologie 30 (1999) 521-532
DOI: 10.1051/apido:19990607
Pesticide residues in bee products collected from cherry trees protected during blooming period with contact and systemic fungicides
Marek Kubika, Janusz Nowackia, Andrzej Pideka, Zofia Warakomskab, Lech Michalczuka and Wlodzimierz Goszczyñskia
a Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, 96-100 Skierniewice, Pomologiczna 18, Poland
b University of Agriculture, Department of Botany, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Abstract - Pesticide (vinclozolin, iprodione and methyl tiophanate) residues were determined in honey, pollen and bee bread from a plantation of cherry (Prunus cerasus) cv. English morello. The least contaminated were honey samples, which contained up to 0.1 mg·kg-1 and pollen with up to 0.25 mg·kg-1, and the most contaminated was bee bread with up to 23.6 mg·kg-1 of the used fungicides. Obtained results suggest that residues of vinclozolin and iprodione present in pollen grains are chemically modified (possibly conjugated) and thus undetected by the method used. During fermentation of bee bread the conjugates are hydrolysed and free pesticides released. Experiments showed that both vinclozolin and iprodione applied to old leaves were transported to young leaves and flowers. Thus, despite contact mode of action declared by producers, they also show systemic properties. This assumption may be corroborated by the dynamics of pollen contamination (4-5 days of lag period between the spray time and time of incidence of maximum contamination). © Inra/DIB/ AGIB/Elsevier, Paris
Key words: honey / pollen / contamination / residues / fungicides
From my hard copy pp. 529-530: "Vinclozolin and iprodione are regarded as contact fungicides [2, 11]. Thus, one should expect that the highest contamination of pollen with these pesticides would be just after spray and then steadily decreasing. however, in our experiments the dynamics of pollen contamination with those pesticides was similar to dynamics of contamination with systemic fungicide - methyl tiophanate, i.e. there was a 4-5 day lag period observed between spraying of the cherry plants and the occurrence of maximum contamination of pollen (fig. 1)."
And another one:
Kubik M, Nowacki J, Pidek A, Warakomska Z, Michalczuk L, Goszczynski W, Dwuznik B (2000) Residues of captan (contact) and difenoconazole (systemic) fungicides in bee products from an apple orchard
My link to this study is broken but typed from my hard copy abstract:
"Abstract - Ten bee colonies were placed in the middle of a ten-hectare-apple orchard at about 10% in bloom. The orchard was sprayed with a mixture of a contact fungicide, Captan 50WP (active ingredient captan) and a systemic fungicide, Score 250 EC (active ingredient difenoconazole). The residues of fungicides in honey, pollen and bee bread were then measured by gas chromatography. honey had very low contamination - 0.0006 mg-kg to the minus 1 of difenoconazole and 0.009 mg-kg to the minus 1 of captan. Contamination of pollen was much higher - about 0.043 and 2.99 mg-kg to the minus 1 of difenoconazole and and captan, respectively. The most contaminated was bee bread, 0.27 and 6.39 mg-kg to the minus 1, of difenoconazole and captan, respectively. This finding may be due to some chemical reactions between difenoconazole and some plant metabolites taking place in pollen and bee bread. Difenoconazole, a systemic fungicide, penetrates about 1.66 and 1.16 times more efficiently into pollen and bee bread, respectively, than the contact fungicide captan. But in pollen pellets from apple, the penetration coefficient was lower than 1. This observation corroborates the suggestion that in fresh pollen some fungicides may be fixed by sugars, aminoacids, or even proteins."
From the discussion p. 539:
"A practical conclusion from our results is that special attention should be paid while collecting pollen because contamination of this product with systemic pesticides could be higher than permissible residue levels, thus such pollen should not be recommended for use as a source for human food, medicines and cosmetics."
And the effects on the bees?????????
Ramona
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