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Propolis is a honey bee product containing chiefly beeswax and resins originated from plant buds or exudates. Propolis resin exerts a diversity of biological activities, such as antitumoral, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and defense of the hive against pathogens. Chemical standardization and identification of botanical sources is crucial for characterization of propolis. Types of Brazilian propolis are characteristic of geographical regions and respective biomes, such as savannas (Cerrado), mangroves, dry forest (Caatinga), rain forests (Amazon, Atlantic, and Interior forests), altitudinal fields ("Campos Rupestres"), Pantanal, and Araucaria forests. Despite the wide diversity of Brazilian biomes and flora, relatively few types of Brazilian propolis and corresponding resin plant sources have been reported. Factors accounting for the restricted number of known types of Brazilian propolis and plant sources are tentatively pointed out. Among them, the paper discusses constraints that honey bees must overcome to collect plant exudates, including the characteristics of the lapping-chewing mouthpart of honey bee, which limit their possibilities to cut and chew plant tissues, as well as chemical requirements that plant resins must fulfil, involving antimicrobial activity of its constituents and innocuity to the insects. Although much still needs to be done toward a more comprehensive picture of Brazilian propolis types and corresponding plant origins, the prospects indicate that the actual diversity of plant sources of honey bee propolis will remain relatively low.

The study examined the effect of stearin and paraffin adulteration of the wax foundation on brood survival. In combs formed on a stearin-adulterated wax foundation (10, 30, and 50% stearin, which means: 3.9, 11.7, and 19.5% of stearic acid, respectively), the survival of brood decreased statistically significantly (p ≤ 0.001) compared to the survival rates noted on a pure beeswax foundation. The brood appearance resembled the so-called scattered brood although the queens oviposited normally. The scattered brood was caused by the death of young larvae, most probably due to changes in the properties of royal jelly. Larvae transferred into stearin-adulterated wax cups died as well. The adulteration of the wax foundation with paraffin (10, 30, and 50%) did not reduce the survival of the brood but lowered the mechanical strength of the combs. Adulteration of wax with even a small amount of stearin/stearic acid makes it useless for apiculture.

Various reports recently informed about the effects of contaminated or adulterated wax foundations as a main cause of poor brood and colony development. Beekeepers reported that affected colonies were showing a holey brood pattern and a decline in population size. Twenty-five samples of wax foundations were collected from different sources in Germany. Samples were analyzed using a multi-residue analysis for 147 insecticides, acaricides, and varroacides to investigate the actual load of contamination in beeswax. Furthermore, the effect of selected contaminated and/or adulterated wax foundations on colony and brood development of honeybees was evaluated under field conditions. Our results show that 38 active substances in total were found in the wax samples. Acaricides used in-hive were the most frequently detected contaminants at high concentrations. Trace concentrations of plant protection products and biocides were also found. In the field trials, a significant influence of stearin-adulterated wax on population size, the number of capped brood cells, and termination rate was found compared with the reference. No detectable effects of other treatments on the investigated parameters were observed.

Until 1985 discussions of pesticides and honey bee toxicity in the USA were focused on pesticides applied to crops and the unintentional exposure of foraging bees to them. The recent introduction of arthropod pests of honey bees, Acarapis woodi (1984), Varroa destructor (1987), and Aethina tumida (1997), to the USA have resulted in the intentional introduction of pesticides into beehives to suppress these pests. Both the unintentional and the intentional exposure of honey bees to pesticides have resulted in residues in hive products, especially beeswax. This review examines pesticides applied to crops, pesticides used in apiculture and pesticide residues in hive products. We discuss the role that pesticides and their residues in hive products may play in colony collapse disorder and other colony problems. Although no single pesticide has been shown to cause colony collapse disorder, the additive and synergistic effects of multiple pesticide exposures may contribute to declining honey bee health.

Bee colonies were dosed with chloramphenicol (CAP) 1.0 g per hive (single dose in sucrose solution). Samples of honey were then collected at intervals over a 48-week period and samples of royal jelly, beeswax, honeybees and brood collected at intervals over a 12 week period. The mean concentration of CAP in the honey at 7 days after dosing was 26 μg/g, declining to 1.0 μg/g at 332 days. Application of the shook swarm procedure resulted in a mean concentration of CAP in honey of 26 μg/g at 7 days, declining to 0.1 μg/g at 332 days. The mean concentration of CAP in non-honey samples was in the range of 0.5 to 6.8 μg/g, and 0.2 to 3.3 μg/g at 7 days and 56 days, respectively. These results indicate that use of CAP can be detected up to 332 days after dosing even if the shook swarm procedure is used in an attempt to clean the hives. There was no evidence of any significant formation of bound CAP-glucose conjugates in honey.

Acaricide residues were assessed in French commercial beeswax using newly developed liquid and gas chromatography methods. Most of the commercial wax samples and all samples taken during the industrial recycling process contained coumaphos and fluvalinate. Amitraz and coumaphos residue levels were also followed in several hives experimentally treated with Asuntol®50 or Apivar®, two products used in France to control varroa infestation. After the Asuntol®50 treatment, coumaphos residues increased in honey and wax combs, persisted more than 30 days in honey and one year or more in comb wax. The half-life of coumaphos was 69 and 115–346 days in honey and comb wax respectively. Following Apivar® treatment, amitraz was not detected in honey nor in wax. These results are consistent with and complete other studies: the use of coumaphos entails wax contamination which persists through commercial recycling. As this may be a threat for bee health, the use of Asuntol®50 should be avoided.

Les sources de contamination des produits du rucher peuvent provenir soit de l'environnement, soit des pratiques apicoles (Fig. 1). La premiere partie de cette revue de synthese decrit les principaux contaminants d'origine environnementale : les metaux lourds, tels le cadmium, le plomb et le mercure, les isotopes radioactifs, les polluants organiques tels les biphenyles polycycliques, les pesticides (insecticides, fongicides, herbicides et bactericides), les bacteries pathogenes et le materiel genetiquement modifie. La contamination par le plomb et le cadmium, trouvee par divers auteurs, est resumee dans le tableau I. Le tableau II presente la contamination des abeilles, du pollen et du miel par les pesticides, d'apres l'article de Fleche et al. ( 1997). La pertinence des risques possibles de contamination est discutee pour chacun des contaminants, de meme que le role du miel et des autres produits du rucher comme marqueurs de l'environnement. De tous les contaminants issus de l'environnement, les pesticides sont les plus importants pour la contamination du miel et du pollen, tandis que le plomb compromet la qualite de la propolis. Dans la seconde partie on discute des divers contaminants issus des pratiques apicoles. Des acaricides de synthese lipophyles et persistants sont utilises dans de nombreux pays contre l'acarien Varroa destructor. Les acaricides les plus utilises sont presentes dans le tableau III avec leur limite maximale de residu. Ces substances polluent principalement la cire d'abeille, alors que le miel est relativement peu touche (Tab. IV). Des acaricides non toxiques tels que les acides organiques et les composes d'huiles essentielles (thymol par ex.) ne compromettent pas la qualite du miel. Les taux trouves dans le miel sont faibles et sans danger, mais ne compromettent pas la qualite du miel alors que ceux trouves dans la cire d'abeille sont bien plus eleves (Tab. V). Les antibiotiques utilises contre la loque americaine et la loque europeenne sont aujourd'hui une source importante de contamination du miel. Divers antibiotiques, appartenant a 7 classes differentes, sont actuellement detectes dans le miel (Tab. VI) : sulfonamides, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, amphenicols, macrolides, beta-lactams et les metabolites du nitrofurane. Actuellement on trouve principalement a l'echelle mondiale des tetracyclines, de la steptomycine, des sulfonamides et du chloramphenicol. L'apiculture fournit aussi d'autres contaminants : le para dichlorobenzene, utilise contre la fausse-teigne, des insecticides (par ex. le coumaphos) contre le Petit Coleoptere des ruches, des repulsifs utilises lors de la recolte du miel, des pesticides, pour proteger le bois, et des substances qui diffusent dans le miel a partir des futs. Les contaminants les plus importants pour les produits du rucher et qui proviennent des pratiques apicoles sont les antibiotiques pour le miel et les acaricides pour la cire et le pollen. Les niveaux de residus trouves dans les produits du rucher ne presentent en general pas de risques pour les consommateurs, mais alterent l'image des produits du rucher comme produits naturels et sains. La conclusion de la synthese est que les contaminants issus des pratiques apicoles sont actuellement plus importants pour la qualite des produits du rucher que ceux issus de l'environnement.

International audience; The response of male and female Small Hive Beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida, to air-borne volatiles from adult worker bees, (Apis mellifera), pollen, unripe honey, beeswax, wax by-products ("slumgum"), and bee brood, was investigated in olfactometric and flight-tunnel choice bioassays. In both bioassay systems, males and females responded strongly to the volatiles from worker bees, freshly collected pollen and slumgum but not to those from commercially available pollen, beeswax and bee brood. The response to pollen volatiles was dose dependent, while response to volatiles from worker bees increased with both the number and age of the bees. Females were more responsive than males to the different volatile sources, with greater response in tests with unripe honey. In flight-tunnel choice tests, Super Q-trapped volatiles from worker bees elicited a response comparable to the response to living workers, while trapped volatiles from other sources were not attractive.

International audience; The organophosphate insecticide coumaphos has recently received emergency approval in the United States for control of fluvalinate-resistant Varroa destructor and the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida Murray. We investigated the transfer of coumaphos from wax into syrup and honey, using adsorption of coumaphos from diluted syrup or honey onto a solid-phase extraction cartridge, elution, and subsequent analysis. Coumaphos in syrup was quantitated using HPLC with UV detection, and we found that coumaphos migrates from wax into syrup, with low concentrations increasing over a few months. Concentrations reached 200-300 ppb in 100 g of syrup in contact with 10 g of wax containing 1000 ppm of coumaphos; contact with wax containing 100 and 10 ppm led to lower amounts. Impurities made HPLC determination of coumaphos in honey impossible, but the solid phase extract could be analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Concentrations in honey were similar to those in syrup, reaching 430 ppb after 26 weeks at 1000 ppm in wax.

L'augmentation de la resistance des spores a la chaleur en presence de corps gras (fat protection) est un fait bien connu (Molin et Snygg, 1967) et on peut s'attendre a une influence semblable de la cire d'abeilles sur la survie des spores de Bacillus larvae. Les spores de B larvae ont ete isolees a partir de cire non sterile d'apres les methodes de Rose (1969) et de Wilson (1972). La cire infectee a ete dissoute dans le benzene dans la proportion de 1:9, puis inoculee dans un bouillon de culture dans la meme proportion. Dans le cas de la determination de la resistance a l'acide, 0,5% d'acide sulfurique a ete ajoute. Par la methode du chauffage et de l'incubation repetes, on a elimine des materiaux testes tous les microorganismes non sporulants et tous les micro-organismes sporulants moins exigeants pour leur croissance