Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

How Environmental and Ecological Stressors Reprogram Honey Bee Chemistry Through the Microbiome–Metabolome Axis

Researchers reviewed how major environmental stressors — including pesticides, pathogens, nutritional imbalance, and contaminants — disrupt the honey bee gut microbiome-metabolome axis, finding recurring patterns of functional dysbiosis such as impaired energy metabolism and weakened immune regulation that can scale up to threaten colony resilience.

2026 Insects
Article Tier 2

Application of a Quality-Specific Environmental Risk Index for the Location of Hives in Areas with Different Pollution Impacts

This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it describes a methodology for mapping regional pollution levels to identify suitable locations for placing beehives, using honeybees as environmental bio-indicators.

2023 Agriculture 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Climate change, air pollution, and risks to honeybees – a review of biomonitoring data

Not relevant to microplastics — this review synthesizes global biomonitoring data on honeybee exposure to metals, PAHs, pesticides, and other environmental pollutants, assessing bees as sentinel species for ecosystem health under climate change.

2023 Global NEST International Conference on Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

Bio-Monitoring of environmental pollution using the citizen science approach

This project developed and tested citizen science protocols using honeybees as biomonitors for detecting environmental pollutants including pesticides, microplastics, and heavy metals across European landscapes. Bees collect materials from their surroundings, making them practical living sensors for tracking atmospheric and environmental contamination in a cost-effective, large-scale monitoring network.

2022 Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in the agri-food chain: The case of honeybees and beehive products

Researchers investigated microplastic and microfiber contamination in honeybees and beehive products across urban and rural areas in Southern Italy. They confirmed that microplastics were present on bee bodies and in honey, wax, and propolis regardless of the surrounding environment, indicating widespread airborne contamination. The findings suggest that honeybees and their products could serve as bioindicators for monitoring microplastic pollution in the atmosphere.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 19 citations
Review Tier 2

Honey Bees as Bioindicators of Air Pollution: A Narrative Review on Human Health Implications

This review explores the use of honey bees as bioindicators of air pollution, including airborne microplastics, within a One Health framework. Researchers found that bees accumulate environmental contaminants during foraging, making them effective biological monitors for tracking air quality and pollution exposure relevant to both ecosystem and human health.

2026 REVISTA BIOMÉDICA
Article Tier 2

Analysis of Potential Supply of Ecosystem Services in Forest Remnants through Neural Networks

Researchers applied an artificial neural network to geospatial indicators to assess the potential supply of regulating ecosystem services from forest remnants in Campinas, Brazil. The study analyzed landscape configuration factors and evaluated how both the supply of and societal demand for ecosystem services influence the actual benefits provided by fragmented forest patches.

2023 Sustainability 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Indicators of a data-deficient taxa: combining bird and environmental data enhances predictive accuracy of wild bee richness

Researchers combined bird occurrence data with environmental variables to develop predictive models for wild bee richness in the eastern region studied, addressing data deficiencies that hinder bee conservation planning. The study found that integrating taxon-based indicators with environmental data substantially improved predictive accuracy for this data-deficient pollinator group.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microbiota and Its Importance in Honey Bees

This review examines the role of microbiota in honey bee health, finding that gut microbiome composition is critical for metabolism, immune function, and protection against pathogens, with environmental stressors including pollution threatening bee microbiome stability.

2021 Bee Studies- Apiculture Research Institute 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Developing Strategies to Help Bee Colony Resilience in Changing Environments

This review identified strategies for improving bee colony resilience under multiple stressors including climate change, pathogen pressure, and pesticide exposure, with a focus on the links between nutrition, gut microbiota, and immune and stress response systems. The authors highlight dietary diversity and microbiome support as practical levers for maintaining colony health.

2022 Animals 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization of Microplastics in Bees and Their Products in Urban and Rural Areas of the Sabana De Bogotá, Colombia

Researchers characterized microplastics in honey bees and their products (honey, wax, propolis) from both urban and rural areas of the Sabana de Bogota, Colombia. Microplastics were found across all matrices and bee types, with urban bees showing higher contamination levels, raising concerns about both pollinator health and honey safety.

2024 Microplastics 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of Geographic Separation Between Urban Centers and Microplastic Burden on Bees (Apis mellifera)

Researchers studied whether the distance between honeybee colonies and urban centers affects the amount of microplastic contamination found on the bees. They found that bees closer to cities carried significantly more microplastics on their bodies than those in more rural areas. The study suggests that honeybees could serve as biological indicators for monitoring local microplastic pollution levels.

2024 One Ecosystem 4 citations
Article Tier 2

The Honey Bee Apis mellifera: An Insect at the Interface between Human and Ecosystem Health

This review provides an updated overview of the many ways honey bees benefit both human societies and natural ecosystems, from pollinating crops and wild plants to producing honey and serving as environmental monitors. Researchers highlight the bee's role as a bioindicator species that can reveal pollution levels, including microplastic contamination, in the environment. The study underscores how threats to honey bee health, including exposure to environmental pollutants, can have cascading effects on food security and biodiversity.

2022 Biology 150 citations
Article Tier 2

Propolisul ca bioindicator al contaminării cu microplastice în mediul ambiant din Republica Moldova

Scientists in Moldova tested whether propolis—the resinous material honeybees collect from plants—could serve as a bioindicator of microplastic pollution, finding plastic particles in samples collected from different regions during 2023–2024. This approach is valuable because bees forage over wide areas and propolis accumulates environmental contaminants, potentially offering a low-cost, landscape-scale monitoring tool.

2026 Akademos
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of microplastic pollution using bee colonies: An exploration of various sampling methodologies

This study evaluated honeybees, pollen, and a novel in-hive passive sampler called the APITrap as biological and passive monitors for microplastic pollution, finding that honeybees and pollen effectively captured particles from the surrounding environment.

2024 Environmental Pollution 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Analytical Method Development and Chemometric Approach for Evidencing Presence of Plasticizer Residues in Nectar Honey Samples

Researchers detected phthalate plasticizers and bisphenol A — chemicals found in plastic materials — in commercial honey samples, raising concerns about food contamination from plastic packaging and production equipment. Honey is considered a sensitive indicator of environmental contamination, and finding plastic chemicals in it highlights the pervasiveness of plastic additive exposure through diet.

2020 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 26 citations
Article Tier 2

The effects of anthropogenic toxins on honey bee learning: Research trends and significance

Researchers reviewed dozens of studies on how human-made toxins — especially pesticides and other agrochemicals — impair the ability of honey bees to learn, a skill critical for foraging and navigation. They found that neurotoxic insecticides are the most studied class but that testing methods vary widely, making it difficult to compare results or set reliable safety standards.

2023 Apidologie 7 citations
Clinical Trial Tier 1

Effects of microplastic, heat and ozone on Bombus terrestris mortality and relative fat body content

This study tested how microplastic exposure, heat stress, and ozone affect bumblebee survival and fat reserves. The results showed that combining multiple stressors, including microplastics, had worse effects on bees than any single stressor alone. Bumblebee health matters to humans because these pollinators are essential for producing many fruits and vegetables in our food supply.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Kimalaste kokkupuude mikroplastiga metsades, põldudel ja linnades

Researchers used bumblebees as bioindicators to assess terrestrial microplastic contamination across urban, agricultural, and forest environments in Estonia, finding that bees in urban areas — especially near busy highways — carried significantly higher microplastic loads on their body surfaces, with weather conditions (rain vs. dry heat) also influencing particle accumulation.

2026 Eesti Maaülikool. EMU Dspace
Article Tier 2

Single and Synergistic Effects of Microplastics and Difenoconazole on Oxidative Stress, Transcriptome, and Microbiome Traits in Honey Bees

Researchers exposed honey bees to microplastics and the fungicide difenoconazole, both alone and together, and found that the combination caused worse oxidative stress and gut microbiome disruption than either pollutant alone. This is concerning because bees encounter both pollutants in agricultural environments, and the combined exposure may weaken their health more than expected.

2025 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing the effects of a commercial fungicide and an herbicide, alone and in combination, on Apis mellifera: Insights from biomarkers and cognitive analysis

Researchers tested the combined effects of a commercial fungicide and herbicide on honey bees and found that the mixture was more harmful than either chemical alone. The pesticide combination impaired the bees' cognitive abilities, disrupted detoxification enzymes, and increased oxidative stress markers. The study suggests that current risk assessments, which typically evaluate pesticides individually, may underestimate the real-world dangers bees face from chemical mixtures.

2024 Chemosphere 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrated Ecological Risk Assessment of the Agricultural Area under a High Anthropopressure Based on Chemical, Ecotoxicological and Ecological Indicators

Researchers conducted an integrated ecological risk assessment of agricultural land using chemical, ecotoxicological, and ecological indicators, finding that while chemical analysis overestimated risk, the combined approach revealed most of the area had acceptable risk levels despite over a century of anthropogenic pressure.

2023 Agriculture 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection of microplastics in honey of stingless bee (Heterotrigona itama) and honey bee (Apis mellifera) from Malaysia

Researchers analyzed honey from stingless bees and European honeybees farmed in Malaysia and found microplastics in samples from both species. Microplastic types and concentrations differed between the two bee species, likely reflecting differences in foraging range and habitat, and confirming that bee honey can serve as a matrix for monitoring environmental microplastic contamination.

2025 Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity
Article Tier 2

Pollination under attack: First insights from Türkiye Plain reveal microplastics in bees from both urban and rural areas

Researchers found microplastics inside honeybees from both urban and rural areas in Turkey, with urban bees carrying significantly higher concentrations — mostly PET plastic fibers — raising concern that microplastic contamination could threaten pollinator health and the agricultural pollination services bees provide.

2025 Ecological Indicators 5 citations