Risk evaluations for agricultural chemicals are necessary to preserve healthy populations of honey bee colonies. Field studies on whole colonies cannot detect behavioural impacts, while lab studies don’t allow conclusions on potential colony impacts.  The solution, non-disturbing long-term recordings of within-hive behaviour, were hitherto missing. I developed a video registration method that enables within-cell analysis in honey bee (Apis mellifera) observation hives to conduct impact analyses of chemicals, pests and other stressors on worker behaviour and development using our machine learning algorithm.

The cholinergic system is a popular target of insecticides, because the pharmacology of insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) differs substantially from their vertebrate counterparts. Besides its effects on behavior, it becomes increasingly evident that neonicotinoids affect developmental processes in bees that appear to be independent of neuronal AChRs. Brood food (royal jelly, worker jelly or drone jelly) produced in the hypopharyngeal glands of nurse bees contains millimolar concentrations of ACh, which is required for proper larval development. I investigate the underlying modes of actions of acetylcholine in honeybee development.

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