Safety Assessment of Certain Newer Insecticides to Western Honey Bee, Apis mellifera L.

The widespread use of insecticides in agriculture has raised concerns about their potential impacts on non-target pollinators, particularly the European honey bee, Apis mellifera L which plays a key role in ecosystems and pollination services. The current study aimed to evaluate newer generation insecticides including neonicotinoids such as sulfoxaflor, flupyradifurone and pyrifluquinazon with respect to their effects on the honey bees. Laboratory bioassays were conducted to assess both acute and sublethal effects on worker bees including mortality. The results revealed that acephate and sulfoxaflor were highly toxic to honey bees causing the highest mortality in less time followed by chlorantraniliprole.