VOLUME 2 Issue 3/4
DOI: 10.32636/agroscience.2023-(2)-3-4
PECULIARITIES OF THE EFFECT OF HEAVY METALS AND FATTY ACIDS OF BEE POLLEN
ON THE REPRODUCTIVE CAPACITY OF QUEEN BEES
Yosyp RIVIS1, Volodymyr POSTOIENKO2, Olha STADNYTSKA1, Ivan SARANCHUK3, Oleh KLYM1, Oleksandr DIACHENKO1, Vasyl FEDAK1, Andrii SHELEVACH1, Olha HOPANENKO4
1Institute of Agriculture of the Carpathian Region of NAAS 2NSC “Institute of beekeeping named after P. I. Prokopovych”
3Bukovyna State Agricultural Research Station
4VNКZ LОR “Lviv Medical Academy named after Andrey Krupynskyi”
The article states that experimental apiaries of clinically healthy honey bees of the Carpathian breed were selected on the basis of private apiaries in the mountain, foothill and forest-steppe zones of the Lviv region. In order to assess the intensity of man-made load on the environment where experimental bee apiaries are located, the content of Zinc, Copper, Lead and Cadmium in the topsoil, bee pollen and abdominal tissues of honey bees was determined. It was recorded that the ecological condition of the environment worsens in the direction from the mountain to the foothills and further to the forest-steppe zone of the Carpathian region. This is confirmed by the level of Zinc, Copper, Lead, and especially Cadmium in the topsoil, bee pollen, abdominal tissues of honey bees, and the intensity of egg laying by queen bees.
Copper and especially Zinc are extremely necessary for the normal functioning of plant tissues. This is consistent with the relatively high rate of transition of the mentioned mineral elements from the arable layer of the soil to the bee colony in various natural zones of the Carpathian region. At the same time, the transfer coefficients of Cadmium and especially Lead into bee pollen are very low. In the direction from the mountain to the foothills and further to the forest-steppe zone of the Carpathian region, the assimilation of Zinc by plants decreases. This fact is confirmed by the decrease in the coefficient of zinc transition from the arable layer of the soil to the bee colony. At the same time, the assimilation of Cadmium by plants increases. Zinc, Сopper, Lead and cadmium, due to the biological value of unsaturated fatty acids in bee pollen, affect the reproductive capacity of honey bees in the Carpathian region.
In particular, in the direction from the mountain to the foothills and further to the forest-steppe zone of the Carpathian region, due to the high concentration of Zinc, Copper, Lead and especially Cadmium, the biological value of unsaturated fatty acids of the omega-3, omega-6, omega-7 and omega-9 bee families decreases bedding for intensive egg-laying of bee queens.
The high level of Zinc, Copper, Lead and Cadmium in bee pollen and abdominal tissues of honey bees obtained from hives located in the foothills and especially the forest-steppe zones of the Carpathian region is a consequence of the urbanization and industrialization of the territories. In the second half of the spring period, the egg-laying intensity of queen bees kept in hives located in the foothills and especially in the forest-steppe zones of the Carpathian region is 1.12 and 1.17 times lower, respectively, compared to queen bees in the mountain zone.
Bee pollen and abdominal tissues of honey bees can serve as a bioindicator of the ecological state of the environment by the content of Zinc, Copper, Lead, Cadmium and unsaturated fatty acids of the omega-3, omega-6, omega-7 and omega-9 families. An integrated indicator such as the intensity of egg-laying by queen bees can also serve as a good bioindicator of the ecological state of the environment.
Keywords: natural zones of the Carpathian region, heavy metals, fatty acids, arable soil layer, bee pollen, bee abdominal tissues, egg-laying intensity of queen bees, bioindicator.