Bacillus thuringiensis

honeybee

transgenic maize pollen

antioxidant status

To assess potential impacts of transgenic insect-resistant (MON 863 x MON 810) Bt maize-pollen consumption on hive honeybees, two-, three-, four- and five-day-old workers were fed during five days with a mixture of honey and sugar (Control, Group I), honey with non-transgenic Limagrain maize pollen (Group II) and honey with Bacillus thuringiensis maize pollen (Group III). The consumption rate, weight of bees, protein content, antioxidant enzyme activities and total antioxidant status were estimated. There were no significant differences in any of the above parameters among the groups of bees fed on the three diets. Only trehalose and maltose levels were higher in bees fed a pollen-free control diet compared to bees fed either transgenic or non-transgenic maize pollen. Our data indicate that the transgenic pollen had no adverse impact on studied markers of young hive honeybees.