Variations of chemical element composition of bee and beekeeping products in different taxons of the biosphere

•Bee body is the most suitable in evaluation of elements loading in different taxons of the biosphere.•Propolis is especially sensitive to Pb, Al, Sn and Cr loading.•Elements accumulation in bee bread may be used on a par with bee body mineral content only in cases with equal honey content in bee bread.•Differences in elements accumulation by bee body and honey are the largest for Mn and the smallest for Si.•Bee body/honey elements ratio depends on geochemical and anthropogenic elements loading. Geographical variations in element composition of bee products are poorly investigated though a lot of attempts are made to utilize the data in ecological monitoring. So the comparison of chemical element composition of bee and beekeeping products in different taxons of the biosphere may become valuable to test the efficiency of such approach. For this purpose content of 25 elements in bee body, bee bread, propolis and honey from Ribnitsa district of Moldavia (unpolluted area, control), Henty province of Mongolia (selenium deficient area) and Voskresensk district of Moscow region (mineral fertilizers production) were determined by means of the ICP-MS. Among 3 investigated regions Mongolia was characterized by the lowest Se levels and the highest accumulation of Al, Ca, Cd, Cu, Co, K, Mn, Mg, Na, Ni, P, Zn and V in bee bodies. The highest levels of Pb, Cr, Fe, Si, Sr and B, Se, Li, Sn were typical for Voskresensk and Moldavia bees accordingly. The highest correlation coefficients were registered between element concentrations in bee body and bee bread (r=+0.97–0.99, P