Honey bees and their products: Bioindicators of environmental contamination

Human activities produce contaminants, the amounts and toxicity of which often exceed the environment's homeostatic capacity to cleanse itself. Hence, the systematic analysis and monitoring of the environment is increasingly a matter of urgency. Honey bees, thanks to their morphological features, and also bee products are regarded as good indicators of environmental pollution by toxic substances, be these heavy metals, radioactive elements, or persistent organic pollutants such as pesticides. Bees can carry back to the hive many contaminants deposited on utilitarian plants. The pesticides used in agriculture (especially in spring and summer when farming activities reach their peak) may not only be the cause of the large-scale mortality of bees, but can also get into bee products. The presence of xenobiotics in these products may impair their quality and properties, and put human health at risk. In this article available literature data and information on the morphological features of the honey bee, the utilization of the honey bee and its products as indicators of environmental pollution, and a historical outline of some of the legislation relating to beekeeping have been critically compared and discussed.