At 03:53 PM 10/16/1998 -0400, you wrote:
 
I think that you are looking for us.  We have 25+ years in this field.
Check out our web page at http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees
 
 
>A year ago or so I remember someone posting on this list about using bees as
>pollution indicators.
>
>A new gigantic magnesium plant (Magnola) is being erected in my area.  The
>plant will use a chlorine based process.  Likely, a large volume of
>organochlorates (hope I spell right) will disperse in the environment from
>the plant.  The agricultural and beekeeping community is worrying about the
>situation.
>
>The issues I would like to get information on are the folowing:
>
>1) to what extent can the hive products be affected by dioxins, furans,
>chlorobenzene, hexachlorobenzene, BCP etc?  I suspect that the pollen,
>containing lipids, can be contaminated.  What about the wax?  What about
>the honey?
 
In most cases, the honey remains relatively free of organics that are in
the air.  The wax is a lipid sink as is propolis.  Pollen is most likely to
be contaminated by particulate (dust) borne chemicals like lead and arsenic
(a common scenario in smelter areas)
 
Nikola Kezic from Croatia has documented transfer of radioactive cesium
from soil through trees to aphids and then into honey dew honey.  Floral
honeys generally do not show much, if any of this contamination.
 
Returning forager bees carry contaminants on their body hairs, which they
can pick up while flying through the air by electrostatic forces.
 
Volatile and semi-volatile organic chemicals appear in the air inside the
hive - not surprisingly when you consider that the bees and all of the
materials that they bring back may off-gas any volatile chemicals in or on
them -- and the temperature is elevated inside the hive which promotes
release of these gases.
 
>2) as I will be personnally involved in the development of a protocol for
>the monitoring of the environmental pollution (from the beekeeping
>perspective), I would like to know if the bees themselves (their body
>tissues) can be good organochlorate pollution indicators?
 
Depending on volatility and routes of entry, you would either look at the
air inside the hive or conduct an extraction (usually using a solvent) to
look at the more persistant chemicals like the chlorinated pesticides.
 
>3) who are the specialists in this field?
>
 
We have the longest track record, but there are others like Celli in Italy,
Nikola in Croatia, groups of scientists at Oak Ridge National Labs and Las
Alamos National Labs.
 
Roger Morse and associates in the U.S., several scientists from Germany,
UK, and various European countries including Sweden have conducted trials.
 
>4) is there serious written technical information on this matter and where
>to find it (I consider using the IBRA library)?
>
 
Would you consider publications in SCIENCE, Journal of Environmental
Quality, EPA Protocols, and other peer reviewed journals to be serious?
 
Cheers
 
Jerry
 
>Jean-Pierre Chapleau
>1282, rang 8, Saint-Adrien, Que., Canada, J0A 1C0
>tel : (819) 828-3396, fax (819) 828-0357
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
Jerry J. Bromenshenk, Ph.D.
Director, DOE/EPSCoR & Montana Organization for Research in Energy
The University of Montana-Missoula
Missoula, MT  59812-1002
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel:  406-243-5648
Fax:  406-243-4184
http://www.umt.edu/biology/more
http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees