THE COMPOSITION OF HEAVY METALS AND THE CONTENT OF ESTERIFIED FATTY ACIDS IN BEE TISSUES DEPENDING ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION

Abstract

The work aimed to record the content of heavy metals, including toxic and esterified forms of fatty acids in tissues, and the honey productivity of bees in different natural zones of the Carpathian region. The level of dangerous elements of the first class of toxicity - Lead and Cadmium - increases significantly in the tissues of honey bees of the foothills and forest-steppe zones, compared to the conditionally clean mountain environment. In the Carpathian region, all heavy metals accumulate in more significant quantities in the abdominal tissues of honey bees than in the tissues of the chest and head. In the direction from the mountain to the foothills and further to the forest-steppe zone of the Carpathian region, a decrease in the content of esterified forms of fatty acids is observed in the tissues of honey bees. The intensity of conversion of the esterified form of linolenic acid into its longer-chain and unsaturated fatty acids of the omega-3 family in the tissues of the head of honeybees in the foothills and especially in the forest-steppe zones is sharply reduced.