What is the fate of honey bees that survive ecotoxicity tests on honey bees? The EPA guidelines do not specify it and the ethics committee requests the information for the protocol.
In some studies the bees are anesthetized and cold killed, however I don't know if this is the correct disposal.
Insects that are used for experimental purposes are normally bred and purchased externally instead of collected naturally. Purchased insects are therefore not part of the natural ecosystem and must be disposed of ethically without being released back into the environment. For this purpose freezing has been considered one of the most ethical ways of euthanasia. If your purpose is ecotoxicology I would imagine that the euthanized insects must also be disposed of as hazardous waste (i.e. treated and/or burned afterwards) as to not allow potential toxins to get back into the environment.
Hi Lizeth,
This usually depends on the tier of the ecotoxicity test. Usually, individual honey bees and bee larvae used in laboratory tests (lower tier) are killed by freezing. Higher tier tests use whole bee colonies, but they are not euthanized after the test. If they have a chance of recovery, they are kept alive. If they are too weak, for example after treatment with a reference substance, to prove the effect as a positive control, they can be merged with another colony.
Hope this helps,
Richard
In higher tier studies I collected them via hand held vaccum pump and killed them using solid carbondioxide.
But it could be used for composting purpose I guess no idea where their fate ends.
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