Honey bees (Apis cerana indica) are vital not only as pollinators and for their contribution to the economy and food systems, but also for their role in biodiversity. Surveys show that the increasing environmental pollution of fluoride from industry and phosphate fertilizers has raised concerns about the impact of the increasing background of fluoride on beneficial insects. The present study was carried out to analyze the effect of the developmental toxicity of fluoride on honey bees in the laboratory. Newly hatched larvae (less than twenty-four hours) were fed in vitro on artificial diets containing sodium fluoride (NaF) at concentrations of 0 (control), 1.5, 3.0 and 5.0 mg/L. In total, three hundred and sixty larvae were used and each treatment had three biological replicates. The analysis showed that developmental performance of Apis cerana indica decreased significantly with increasing concentration of NaF. NaF treatment at a concentration of 5.0 mg/L decreased survival of larvae from 95.6 % in the control group to 58.9 %, decreased the success of pupation from 92.3 % to 52.1 % and decreased the adult emergence from 90.1 % to 44.7 %. NaF also delayed the development of larvae from 20.8 days in the control group to 24.2 days in the treatment group. NaF treatment showed NaF treatment also caused developmental abnormalities and impaired adult emergence of NaF treated larvae. NaF showed developmental toxic effects on Apis cerana indica and fluoride of industrial origin is a detrimental pollutant for honey bees. Chronic fluoride pollution will cause depletion of honey bee populations and impair viability of bee colonies and their pollinating activities.
Honey bee, Apis cerana indica, Fluoride, Toxicity, Larval survival, NaF, Chronic Indica.
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