CONTAMINANTS FROM BEEKEEPING

The most important contaminants are the substances used for the control of bee pests.

Varroacides are an important contamination source, as they have to be used for long-term Varroa destructor control. In 1987 there were more than 90 products used for control world wide (Wienands, 1987).

The acaricides can be divided into two groups:
• Synthetic, persistent substances
• Natural non-toxic substances

Synthetic acaricides

Synthetic acaricides are mostly fat-soluble and persistent in wax. After acaricide treat- ments, they accumulate in wax and contami- nate honey to a much lesser extent. 

The Swiss bee research centre has a moni- toring program for a follow up of acaricide res- idues in Swiss commercial wax (Bogdanov et al., 1998a). As all Swiss producers of beeswax participate in this monitoring, the results can serve as a model for the long-term behaviour of acaricides in commercial beeswax. During the monitoring period, the acaricides bromopropylate, coumaphos and fluvalinate were always present, while no flumethrin below the detection limit of 0.25 mg/kg was measured. 

Residues of bromopro- pylate, an acaricide used until 1991, have been found to be steadily decreasing. However, another 20 years will pass before it is expected to fully disappear from beeswax.

Organic acids

Long-term use of formic acid, applied according to the prescriptions, does not lead to an acid increase, but if used during the honey flow, residues might be high enough to change the honey taste (Bogdanov et al., 2002a). Single or repeated treatments with oxalic acid do not lead to accumulation of residues in honey

The results summarised in this section show that Varroa control with natural acaricides like organic acids and thymol is a good alternative to treatments with synthetic substances. If used properly, the residues in honey are low


Stefan Bogdanov. Contaminants of bee products. Apidologie, Springer Verlag, 2006, 37 (1), pp.1-18. <hal-00892166>

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