Mortalidade de abelhas Apis mellifera em apiários e utilização de agrotóxicos em Citrus: estudo de caso na microrregião de Araraquara (SP)
Abstract
It has been increasingly constant and mediatic the mortality of bees with regard to
beekeeping activity and the environmental benefits for the ecosystem balance. Several
factors under the responsibility of human action are pointed out as potential precursors
of mortality or weakening of colonies. Environmental contamination by the use of
agrochemicals and other chemical products and the current agricultural model based on
extensive monoculture areas can be mentioned as examples. From the perspective of
apicultural production, the social, economic and environmental spheres are included.
For the discussion of the challenges that beekeepers are currently facing in the activity,
interviews were conducted with 26 beekeepers from the Araraquara microregion, in the
state of São Paulo. The pesticides are considered as potentially toxic to pollinators and
the orange monocultures of the region are of beekeeping interest. Thus, we sought to
investigate, by field survey, the main active principles used by the citrus agro-industries
of the study region. The contact was made by phone call and formalized by a Term of
Responsibility. The objective was to describe the sublethal effects that these products
are capable of causing Apis mellifera bees. The orange honey produced in the region
was used as a matrix for laboratory analysis of residues of the active ingredients
obtained by liquid and gas chromatography. It was verified that most of the pesticides
under discussion belong to the chemical group of neonicotinoids and organophosphates,
which are capable of causing a series of damages to the individuals and integrity of the
colony. No residues of the agrochemicals obtained in the samples of orange honeys of
the region were detected, but the mortality of bees in apiaries remains a frequent
problem according to beekeepers interviewed.