The residue work continues, as our teams are in midst of collecting pollen and/or nectar from snapdragons and rhododendrons. Research teams in California, Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, and South Carolina are participating in this residue work, and our analytical lab has been busy processing the pollen and nectar samples for residue levels. Salvia splendens [...]
To receive reliable measurements of pesticide residue in nectar, pollen, leaves and flower tissue, chemical analytical labs need researchers to collect reasonably large volumes of nectar or pollen. When our project began, our lab needed about 1 mL of nectar, 1 mg of pollen, and 1 g of leaf and flower tissue to produce reliable [...]
Our residue studies have begun! Our research teams have set up experimental plots of rhododendrons in Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, and New Jersey. In the spring, we sampled nectar and pollen from all of our flowering rhododendrons plants. Using a pipette to extract nectar from rhododendron flowers after pesticide treatment. Since we have not yet treated [...]
In order to understand the nuances of pesticide residue levels in plant pollen and nectar, we needed an experimental design with different active ingredients acting on different plant types. Pesticides differ by their active ingredient(s). Depending on their molecular makeup, pesticides can vary in how they travel through a plant, how they manage a pest, [...]
