The pollution of six agricultural areas of Greece (north, central, south) by insecticides used in crop protection has been
investigated utilizing, as a bioindicator, bee honey produced in those areas. Honey samples collected randomly from apiaries
located in those areas were analyzed for pesticide residues with a multianalytical method, able to determine simultaneously
up to 10 organophosphorous insecticides from the same honey extract. Findings concerning the acaricide coumaphos were also
included, even though it is not used in crop protection. Coumaphos is used to control the mite Varroa destructor, an external
parasite of the honeybee. The above areas are cultivated in large extent with citrus trees or cotton or sunflower crops, which
are good forages for honeybees. The main pests of those crops are insects; hence, insecticides are used on a large scale for
crop protection. The most contaminated samples originated from citrus groves; 16 out of 19 had pesticide residues: 4 samples
had chlorfenvinphos (21.05%), 10 had chlorpyrifos (52.63%) and 2 had phorate (10.53%). Out of 17 samples from cotton fields,
residues were found in 8, phorate in 6 (35.29%), chlorfenvinphos in 1 (5.88%), and chlorpyrifos in 1 (5.88%). Out of nine
samples from fields of sunflower, four had phorate residues (44.44%). In brief, from the 50 analyzed samples, residues of
chlorfenvinphos were detected in 5 samples (10%), residues of chlorpyrifos in 11 samples (22%), and residues of phorate in
12 samples (24%). Their levels ranged between 0.70 and 0.89 μg/kg. Coumaphos residues ranged from 0.10 up to 4.80 μg/kg and
were derived exclusively from beehives treated with Perizin (the commercial formulation of coumaphos) for Varroa control.
This study indicates that in agricultural areas with developed apiculture, useful information about the occurrence and the
distribution of pesticide residues due to crop protection treatments can be derived from the analysis of randomly collected
honey samples, used as bioindicators. It also shows that, very often, the chemicals used by apiculturists inside the hives
in order to control disease are the main pollutants of the produced honey.