Honey bee hives near a uranium purification plant in western Kentucky were used to monitor radionuclides, heavy metals and polychlorinated biphenyls taken up by plants within foraging range of the bees. Pollen from returning forager bees was collected with pollen traps for periods each lasting approximately one week. Honey made by bees during the same week-long periods was also collected. Adult bee samples were taken at the end of these sampling periods. These samples were compared to samples taken from a control site distant from the uranium plant. In most cases, pollutant levels were slightly higher near the plant than at the control site. These results will be used to monitor and evaluate attempts to remove pollutants from the soil near the uranium plant over the coming years.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Apidae Apis mellifera (honey bee)
Keywords: pollutant, monitoring
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA