Influence of honey bee seasonal phenotype and emerging conditions on diet behavior and susceptibility to imidacloprid

Honey bee Apis mellifera L. colonies produce two distinct phenotypes of workers during summer and winter to cope with drastic seasonal variations in climate food resources. Imidacloprid (IMP) is a neonicotinoid insecticide widely used agriculture for pest management control. In this study, we investigate the influence phenotype emerging conditions on diet behavior bees fed ad libitum concentrations IMP. We performed three independent two-choice feeding experiments using either emerged laboratory or in-hive bees. Diet post-ingestive aversion responses IMP were investigated as well potential affinity physical location contents diets. Caged challenged rotation diet’s their susceptibility 5 20 PPB was tested. From behavioral standpoint, our results show that expressed no but rather its content strongly favored IMP-tainted syrup at both PPB. The opposite recorded naïve laboratory, which avoided tainted concentrations, particularly Summer in-hive, expected have developed mature intestinal microbiota through trophallaxis from older bee-mates, mainly neutral, showed nor contents. Our indicate physiological changes associated initial exposure mates important consequences toward pesticides.