Honey Bee Colony Health in Thiamethoxam-Treated Sugar Beet Fields: A Field-Based Case Study

Emergency use of thiamethoxam seed treatments in sugar beet was approved in Germany in 2021, despite EU restrictions on neonicotinoids because of pollinator risks. During the field experiment underlying this case study, residues in bee-relevant matrices were detected only at very low levels, and conservative exposure modeling indicated no acute or chronic concern for honey bees. Building on these exposure findings, the present analysis examined whether such exposures translated into measurable effects on honey bee colony performance. In Experiment 1, colony development was monitored at two geographically distinct sites across the 2021 sugar beet season. Colonies at both sites exhibited strong seasonal growth. Generalized linear mixed models detected no consistent adverse effects of thiamethoxam treatment on either adult bee populations or brood cell numbers. Although temporal fluctuations and site-specific variability were evident, treatment effects were not statistically supported, highlighting the importance of multi-site approaches when assessing pesticide impacts and the need for continued multi-year evidence under diverse environmental conditions. In Experiment 2, survival of individual workers was evaluated using free-flying mini-hives. Mixed-effects Cox modeling, which accounted for colony variance, found no significant differences in worker longevity between treated and control groups. This indicates no evidence for reduced worker survival under a field-relevant neonicotinoid exposure scenario. Together, these two complementary experimental approaches show that thiamethoxam seed treatments in sugar beet did not cause consistent adverse effects on honey bee colonies under the tested agricultural conditions. By integrating residue analyses, statistical modeling, and colony-level monitoring, the study provides ecologically relevant evidence that current agricultural practices with thiamethoxam in sugar beet pose a low apparent risk to honey bee colony health, while underscoring the value of longer-term and broader-scale field evaluations.