Colony collapse disorder (CCD) in the European honey bee, Apis mellifera, has been a hot issue in recent years and although no one cause has been implicated, it is likely that pesticides play a role. In order to draw a correlation between pesticide exposure and CCD, it is necessary to use various analytical chemistry techniques to determine just what pesticides honey bees are exposed to most and how much accumulates in bees and bee products. Previous literature studies have shown that pesticide levels, for range of pesticide types and related chemicals, tend to be highest in pollen and wax. This paper will present the initial results of our inquiry in which we have used a modified QuEChERS technique and solid phase extraction to analyze pesticides in wax, pollen, and adult bee samples. Our analysis involves the use of gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and comparison with purchased chemical standards for detection and quantification. Our longer term goal will extend our study to quantitatively evaluate various bee-related matrices from apiaries in our region of Massachusetts.

Analysis of bee's wax for pesticides using QuEChERS, SPE, and GC-MS

247th National Meeting (2014)

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