Submitted by Nicholas Mills on
Overview: Curious about bee decline and the role of pesticides in agriculture? This project looks at whether both honey bees and wild bees are exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides in agricultural landscapes. We are investigating whether seed-treated crops are an indirect route of neonicotinoid exposure for bees, with an eye to informing farmers, policy makers, and scientists. During the semester, students will work on laboratory processing, such as pinning bees and removing their pollen. Forming a relationship via labwork may lead to future opportunities in field work.
Project Description: Neonicotinoids are widely used as a seed treatment in a variety of crops, and as they are systemic insecticides, residues may be translocated through the plant and into pollen and nectar, from which bees forage. The risk of exposure to neonicotinoid residues from seed treatments in agricultural landscapes remains largely unknown. Sunflowers are planted with a neonicotinoid seed treatment, and are also heavily dependent on pollination by honey bees and native, wild bees for crop yield. In a pair-design field study, in which neonicitoinid treatments were applied/withheld from seeds prior to planting, we collected samples of sunflower pollen, nectar, soil, and foraging bees for neonicotinoid analysis, to determine whether neonicotinoids from the seed treatment are present these tissues. We also collected bee samples for diversity measures. This study will help us to better understand the routes of exposure for bees in these landscapes.
Students will be trained in laboratory skills including pollen extraction, identification, and curation of bees. Preferably students will work in the lab two shifts per week (3-5 hours each), however scheduling can be negotiated.
Interest in environmental studies, such as entomology, sustainable agriculture, and/or ecotoxicology.