The homing flight method to assess the effect of sublethal doses of plant protection products on the honey bee in field conditions: results of the ring tests and proposal of a new OECD TG

The evaluation of the potential effects of plants protection products on honeybee behavior is considered as part of the risk assessment according to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 and the EFSA Guidance document (EFSA 2013). But no standardized and validated method is still available. With current revisions of plant protection product risk assessment on the honeybee, a European ring test is conducted since 2015 with 11 voluntary laboratories to test a methodology assessing the effects of sublethal doses of a plant protection product administered in controlled conditions on the homing capacity of forager bees in the field. Homing success is measured by monitoring free-ranging honey bees with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tagging technology.