Effects of some insecticides on longevity of the foragers honey bee worker of local honey bee race Apis mellifera jemenatica

INTRODUCTION: Honeybees are constantly exposed to a wide range of vital and non-vital pressures that may interact with each other and affect the health or survival of the insects. Pesticides are the main danger for the insects, and they subsequently have impacts on human and environmental health. METHODS: Field research was conducted in the apiary of Hada Al Sham Research Station, where the worker honeybees forager Apis mellifera jemenatica were selected to examine the effect of pesticides on workers’ longevity. We used three insecticides, i.e., deltamethrin, malathion, and abamectin, in different concentrations. The longevity of worker honeybee foragers was calculated; the honeybees were supplied with water, food, natural protein, and sugar solution laced with selected insecticide by mouth under laboratory conditions. RESULTS: The longest period of insect longevity was 15.5 days when using deltamethrin concentrate at a concentration of 1.00 ppm; the lowest longevity was two days when using abamectin at a concentration 1.00 ppm. The longevity of the unexposed forager worker honeybees was 18 days, as the variation in the intensity of the effect of the insecticide on the bees appeared with the severity of the effect diminishing in the order of abamectin followed by malathion followed by deltamethrin. CONCLUSION: The study found that the type and concentration of the insecticides that are found in the honeybees’ food had a significant impact on the time of survival of the insects. The longevity of a worker honeybee depends on the health and safety of all of the members of the beehive, and safe alternatives to insecticides must be used because of the danger imposed by the application of insecticides on the continuity of life of the entire society depends on the life of this layer bee community.