Low maize pollen collection and low pesticide risk to honey bees in heterogeneous agricultural landscapes

Abstract

Honey bees foraging on and around maize may be exposed to a number of pesticides, including neonicotinoids, but this exposure has not been well quantified in heterogeneous landscapes. Such landscapes may provide alternative foraging resources that add to or buffer pesticide risk. We assessed the influence of landscape context and maize pollen collection on pesticide levels during maize flowering. We quantified pesticides in (1) bee bread from 49 hives across New York and (2) pollen trapped weekly in one yard. Landscape composition and percent maize pollen were not related to pesticide levels. Furthermore, pesticide risk was low (< 1% contact LD50) in all but one of the pollen samples, and maize pollen was absent in the majority of samples. Our results suggest that hives near maize fields during maize flowering are not necessarily exposed to high levels of neonicotinoids and other pesticides in pollen, especially if uncontaminated pollen sources exist nearby.