Most corn (Zea mays) seeds planted in the United States in recent years are coated with a seed treatment containing neonicotinoid insecticides. Abrasion of the seed coating generates insecticide‐laden planter dust that disperses through the landscape during corn planting and has resulted in many “bee‐kill” incidents in North America and Europe. We investigated the linkage between corn planting and honey bee colony success in a region dominated by corn agriculture. Over 3 yr we consistently observed an increased presence of corn seed treatment insecticides in bee‐collected pollen and elevated worker bee mortality during corn planting. Residues of seed treatment neonicotinoids, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, detected in pollen positively correlated with cornfield area surrounding the apiaries. Elevated worker mortality was also observed in experimental colonies fed field‐collected pollen containing known concentrations of corn seed treatment insecticides. We monitored colony growth throughout the subsequent year in 2015 and found that colonies exposed to higher insecticide concentrations exhibited slower population growth during the month of corn planting but demonstrated more rapid growth in the month following, though this difference may be related to forage availability. Exposure to seed treatment neonicotinoids during corn planting has clear short‐term detrimental effects on honey bee colonies and may affect the viability of beekeeping operations that are dependent on maximizing colony size in the springtime. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:1212–1221. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

中文翻译：

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蜜蜂和新烟碱处理的玉米种子：污染、暴露和影响

近年来在美国种植的大多数玉米种子都涂有含有新烟碱类杀虫剂的种子处理剂。种子包衣的磨损会产生含有杀虫剂的播种机灰尘，这些灰尘在玉米种植期间会散布到整个景观中，并导致北美和欧洲发生许多“蜜蜂死亡”事件。我们调查了以玉米农业为主的地区玉米种植与蜂群成功之间的联系。三年多来，我们一直观察到蜜蜂采集的花粉中玉米种子处理杀虫剂的含量增加，并且在玉米种植期间工蜂死亡率升高。在花粉中检测到的种子处理新烟碱类、噻虫胺和噻虫嗪的残留量与养蜂场周围的玉米田面积呈正相关。在用田间收集的花粉喂养含有已知浓度的玉米种子处理杀虫剂的实验群体中，也观察到工蜂死亡率升高。我们监测了 2015 年接下来一年的菌落生长情况，发现暴露于较高杀虫剂浓度的菌落在玉米种植月份表现出较慢的种群增长，但在接下来的一个月表现出较快的增长，尽管这种差异可能与饲料供应有关。在玉米种植期间接触种子处理新烟碱类杀虫剂对蜂群有明显的短期有害影响，并可能影响依赖于春季蜂群规模最大化的养蜂作业的生存能力。环境毒理学2021；40：1212–1221。© 2020 作者。《环境毒理学和化学》由 Wiley periodicals LLC 代表 SETAC 出版。