Scientists have requested about 30 beekeepers in Manchester to collect honey samples and send them for analysis in the laboratory. The result of this citizen science project shows how bees provide valuable information about air quality, soil and water where they live. Honey analyzes allowed the presence of minerals and minerals to maps Sometimes very high, in the case of arsenic and lead – In that British urban area.
“Bees collect nectar, pollen and vegetable water, which grow on soil that may be contaminated, either naturally or by human influence. If the environment is polluted, then the flowers have a” signature “from these pollutants that the bees take to the cell. Remove Tony Walker, Professor at Doso University, Canada.
An environmental pollution specialist was recently in Porto to participate in Congress Toxon – One health toxicity unit is oneOrganized by the Cooperative Education Cooperative for Applied and University Arts (CESPU).
Our region’s honey tells stories about where we live?
Yes, this is correct. It seems as if the honey was working “Canary in the Coal Mine”, an expression that is widely used in the UK. In the past, coal miners were wearing a bell in mines because these birds are very sensitive to toxic gases, and to alert mines when the environment was not safe.
Likewise, the bees are able to search for food in a very small area, three kilometers away, feed on the largest possible number of flowers and then return to the cell. But when doing this, the bees collect nectar, pollen and water from plants, which grow on soil that may be contaminated, either naturally or by human influence. If the environment is contaminated, then the flowers (and the plants themselves) have a “signature” of these pollutants, which are transmitted by bees to the cell. During the trip, these insects also combine dust and other particles in the atmosphere. That is why honey honey tells us a lot about environmental pollution in an area.
Theresa Pacheko Miranda/File
A Ticket The involvement of beekeepers in Manchester, UK. Can you talk more about this experience?
Instead of wandering in the city to collect samples, my colleagues and my colleagues resorted to the power of citizen science to enable local beekeepers. This is because the beekeepers themselves were interested in getting to know the honey they produce better. Before we deal with them, beekeepers were already volunteer. Then we created a project that includes honey producers, where we received a small scholarship from the British government.
How did their educators participate in the study?
We handed over to the beekeepers Collections With very simple instructions, which they said to collect a tablespoon, put it in the container and send it by mail to the researchers in Manchester. In all, 31 bee breeders participated throughout the U -Kingdom urban zone.
Did the bee breeders show any hesitation in the participation? Or did they reveal the fear that the results were negative for the reputation of the honey they produce?
I am sure that there was some hesitation, but I was not working on the ground at that time, I entered the study shortly after that. I think 35 have been sent Collections By mail and there was a selection box in the document with information that anyone uncomfortable to study can refuse to send the sample. There were four beekeepers who decided, for any reason, not to send their samples. I don’t know if this is by stigma or a seizure on the results. Our interest was to make the participation model as simple as possible and I think this is why we got 31 samples – which is great.
Environmental progress /Dr
Is the data anonymous?
The good news is that these results are not general, so it is not related to the fact that the sample in North Manchester belongs to a company, LORD X or Mrs. Y.
What brought citizenship to the project? Will it be possible to reach this type of conclusions without this feature?
I think that, but I imagine this means employing licensed students and investing more resources. We will have to collect samples and spend a lot of time, weeks, and perhaps months, to collect this article. By sending packages by mail to citizens, the participants only had to collect samples from their cells, and on the property where they are, then they sent them to us. Thus, the time for gathering samples is already reduced, and time is mainly spent in analyzing and interpreting results.
How can we say that the minerals they found in samples are due to the history of Manchester manufacturing? How to exclude the hypothesis of minerals that occur naturally in the soil?
This question is logical because, in fact, if we look at the same map of Manchester and analyze the cadmium concentrations on the ground, we will also find a natural contrast. Cadmium is found in the Earth’s crust, but high concentrations are usually associated with heavy industry, old pollutants or environmental pollution. Then there are elements such as arsenic: there may be high concentrations of arsenic on the soil of Manchester, but there may also be high concentrations if there is a heavy industry in the region, so in some cases it occurs normally and in other cases there will be humanity.
It will be interesting to deepen this experimental study as a follow -up study, with the aim of collecting soil samples and groundwater and surface, as well as vegetable samples in the same places where beehives were and then the relationship between data.
Environmental progress /Dr
Do you think this type of study can provide us with a map of the best places for summaries?
Certainly, but instead of using the word “better”, I think we should think about avoiding high -risk places, as the concentrations are clearly higher than global averages, and in some cases, they are often higher than the WHO guidelines. In beekeeping, you only need to move the cell, and safely transfer it to a new place where the map already indicates that the concentrations are lower. Bee cells are portable as long as Queen is a bee and colony.
Do you think that this type of geographical change of bee cells will happen in this group of 31 beekeepers?
Yes. These 31 beekeepers are all members of the Manchester Boirez Association, so they belong to a local club, so to speak. Many of them may know each other, so in some cases they have their cells on their own property, and in other cases, they have cells on a friend’s property, as they may have a larger garden with more flowers. There is cooperation and a sense of society, so this logic can be applied to beekeepers.
Do you think this is an example of citizens’ science that allows people to have data to make enlightened decisions and influence?
Yes. These results also warn the organizers and people watching pollution. In the UK, it will be interesting for the Environmental Agency, for example. The use of traditional methods to monitor pollution is very expensive. This is something that citizens want to do only for pure attention to their products. Many of these beekeepers were amateurs, so they did so for entertainment. But the information that I give to us tells us that we can search for critical pollution points very effectively and then make informed decisions about whether we want to sell this honey or if we want to transfer the cell in the following year to a new place where the concentrations will be much lower.
