Project
Project INSIGNIA
The European Union wanted to investigate how to monitor pollutants in our environement effectively and it quickly became clear that beekeepers could play a crucial role. During the INSIGNIA project (an abbreviation of ‘cItizeN Science InvestiGatioN for pesticides In Apicultural products), a protocol was developed for beekeepers to join collecting information on pesticides in the environment.
The project in short
Bees unintentionally pick up other substances when collecting nectar and pollen. Moreover, they have a flight range of about 3 km from the hive, making them very suitable for monitoring research. After a pilot study conducted by the researchers themselves, the project quickly expanded and became Europe-wide. Thanks to the efforts of 27 national coordinators, 315 beekeepers were enthused to participate in the citizen science project. After a kick-off meeting in Wageningen and the distribution of the necessary sampling materials, the measurements took place between March and September 2023. Most of the citizen scientists were interested in the project because it was their first time participating in a scientific study, and in addition, they were keen to find out for themselves what substances could be found in their hives. The researchers also offered to test honey samples for glyphosate and degradation products alongside the study. This way, the beekeepers could also gain insight into whether this herbicide was getting into their products. The honey samples turned out to be very clean. On the other hand, pesticides were found in the hives.
Results
Working with the group of beekeepers resulted in a considerable amount of information. Pesticides were found at all sites, including pesticides that had been banned for years. Surprisingly, many substances not used in agriculture were also found. For instance, DEET, a widely used insect repellent, was in the top 10 substances found.
Besides pesticides, the researchers were also able to show that bees collect a wide range of pollen types. While at first glance this seems to indicate a biodiverse environment, it is actually less good news. Instead of being able to get their pollen from only a few large drones, the bees had to scour the environment for small pollen sources, expanding their range to, for example, cultivated plants in gardens. Besides pesticides and pollen, the project also looked at air pollution, heavy metals and microplastics. After this study, the measurements can be done once every 4 or 5 years. This would provide insight into the trends in environmental pollution and the effectiveness of policy measures to regulate the use of pesticides.