ABSTRACT

The concept of using honey bees as indicators of the presence of environmental contaminants continues to receive much deserved attention around the globe. Many studies have demonstrated that honey bees can be used successfully to sample an area for environmental contaminants. Honey bees are currently being used to monitor a variety of environmental pollutants including many trace elements and radionuclides. Information collected from these monitoring programs can support the ongoing attempts to assess the influences of contaminants on living systems and their impacts to ecosystems. In addition, comparing the concentration of contaminants in the hive and bees to the known concentrations in the surrounding area is useful in modeling the redistribution of contaminants through ecosystems. Understanding the dynamics of the interactions between honey bees and contaminants becomes a critical component in interpreting the data collected as part of a monitoring program. In particular, incorporating honey bees into an environmental monitoring program designed to examine radionuclides presents unique issues and problems. While honey bees can be indicators of radionuclide contamination, how truly useful are they? This chapter describes a series of field experiments designed to examine some of the pros and cons of using honey bees in this capacity.