Bees are key regulators in the maintenance of global biodiversity and food security. Overwhelming evidence has shown elevated colony losses for honey bees and a decrease in the abundance of other pollinators. Insecticides of the neonicotinoid type have been associated with these losses, but few studies have explored how residual exposure doses affect the queen’s energy metabolism. Here, we studied how a residual dose of neonicotinoid (imidacloprid), combined with reproductive status (virgin and inseminated) affects honey bee queen’s metabolism. We conducted the same experiment in two geographical locations (Chile and Colombia) and found a strong reduction of standard metabolic rate (SMR) in insecticide-treated queens (Chilean queen bees 11.3% reduction in watt output; Colombian queen bees 11.7% reduction in watt output). No effects were found when comparing reproductive condition on SMR. We will highlight the possible consequences of a weak honey bee queen’s performance on colony stability.

中文翻译：

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新烟碱（吡虫啉）残留剂量对蜜蜂蜂王（膜翅目：蜂科）代谢率的影响

蜜蜂是维护全球生物多样性和粮食安全的关键监管者。压倒性的证据表明蜜蜂的群体损失增加，其他传粉媒介的数量减少。新烟碱类杀虫剂与这些损失有关，但很少有研究探讨残留暴露剂量如何影响蜂王的能量代谢。在这里，我们研究了残留剂量的新烟碱类（吡虫啉）以及生殖状态（未受精和受精）如何影响蜜蜂蜂王的新陈代谢。我们在两个地理位置（智利和哥伦比亚）进行了相同的实验，发现经过杀虫剂处理的蜂王的标准代谢率 (SMR) 显着降低（智利蜂王的瓦特输出减少 11.3%；哥伦比亚蜂王的瓦特输出减少 11.7%输出）。比较生殖条件对 SMR 没有影响。我们将重点介绍弱蜂王对蜂群稳定性的可能影响。