The most common causes of honeybee poisoning

Abstract

Th is paper discusses the most common causes of poisoning of honeybees and other pollinating insects that occur in the Republic of Serbia and the world as well. Some potential ways of pollinator exposure to diff erent poisons and their intake are described. Th e paper also deals with the methods of testing and assessing toxicity of newly synthesized chemical substances and new formulations, classifi cation of potential toxic substances according to their chemical characteristics and mechanism of action on the insects, symptoms of honeybee poisoning and risk assessment for the uses of pesticides. In the end, the paper looks into the methods of responsible use of pesticides and their toxicity in order to avoid bee poisoning.