A closer look at organosphosphate toxicity in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) workers and queens

Coumaphos and its metabolite coumaphos oxon are commonly found in bees wax throughout hives in North America. Studying the direct effects of these persistent miticides on honey bees will provide better understanding of in hive threats to honey bee health. Standard bioassays were used to evaluate the toxicity of coumaphos and chlorpyrifos and their oxygen analogs on honey bee workers and queens. Normally, organophosphates are metabolized to a more toxic oxygen analog. This is true of chlorpyrifos oxon as it is more toxic than chlorpyrifos. In contrast to organophosphate toxicity standards, coumaphos oxon is much less toxic than coumaphos in honey bees.