Chemical Signals to Manipulate Honey Bee Behavior

The European honey bee, Apis mellifera L., significantly contributes to the global agriculture economy generating billions of dollars in honey and pollination services annually.  Honey bee colony numbers have been declining worldwide.  These declines are due to a number of factors including the exposure to pesticides.  The current management practices to reduce honey bee exposures to pesticides are limited and, thus, there is a need to explore alternative approaches to minimize the contact of these pollinators with harmful chemicals.  One approach to reduce the exposure of honey bees to pesticides is the use of spatial and/or contact repellents.   Here, we explore the use of heterocyclic amines to manipulate honey bee behavior.  We will report the effects of heterocyclic amines on honey bee locomotor activities and the structure-activity relationships of these chemistries as a pre-requisite for the discovery and development of repellents to protect of honey bees from pesticide exposures.