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1
Larson, Nicholas R. "Chemical Manipulation of Honey Bee Behavior." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78008.
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The loss of managed honey bee colonies, resulting from their unintentional exposure to pesticides, is a topic of concern for the agricultural and apicultural industry. Current methods for reducing pesticide exposure to bees involve the application of pesticides before crop bloom or in the evening when foraging bees are less likely to be exposed to these applications. There is an urgent need for additional protection procedures to reduce the annual losses of managed bee colonies. Another method for protecting these pollinators is the use of chemical deterrents to reduce the interaction times of foraging bees with pesticide-treated crops. Historically, insect repellents (IRs) have been used to prevent the spread of deadly human diseases by arthropod vectors. However, it has been shown that bees can be repelled from pesticide-treated crops using DEET and bee pheromonal compounds. Here, I report the toxicological and deterrent effects of bee pheromonal compounds, as well as the deterrent effects of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) on bees. The results of this study indicate that the bee pheromonal compounds, at 8, 20, 60 and 100% concentrations, are toxic to bees and inhibit the feeding of bees within a confined space. Additionally, the pheromonal compounds and the HCAs are as efficacious as DEET in deterring bees from treated food sources. The HCA piperidine was observed to effectively deter bee foragers from a sugar feeder in a high-tunnel experiment as well as from melon flowers and knapweed in field experiments. Electroantennogram recordings were conducted to verify an olfactory response of the bees to the tested compounds. Pheromonal compounds were readily detected by bee antennae; whereas, the HCAs did not elicit significant responses in the bee antennae. These data suggest that bee pheromonal compounds, as well as HCAs, may serve as candidates for the further investigation as repellents to protect bees from unintentional pesticide exposures.Ph. D.
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Châline, Nicolas. "Reproductive conflict in the honey bee." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.419602.
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Bask, Tanmay. "A Model For Heat Transfer In A Honey Bee Swarm." Thesis, Indian Institute of Science, 1994. https://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/131.
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During spring, it has been observed that several thousand bees leave their hive, and settle on some object such as a tree branch. Some of the scout bees search for a suitable place where a new hive can be set up, while the rest collect together to form a swarm.
Heinrich (J. of Exp. Biology 91 (1981) 25; Science 212 (1981) 565; Scientific American 244:6 (1981) 147) has done some experiments with free and captive swarms. His observations are as follows.
(1)The core (centre) temperature is around 35°C irrespective of the ambient
temperature.
(2)The mantle (outer surface) temperature exceeds the ambient temperature by 2- 3°C, provided the ambient temperature is greater than 20°C. Otherwise the mantle temperature is maintained around 17°C.
(3) The temperature gradient vanishes just before take-off of the swarm.
The present work attempts to predict temperature profiles in swarms and compare them with the data of Heinrich. A continuum model involving unsteady heat conduction and heat generation within the swarm is used. Heat loss from the outer surface of the swarm by free convection and radiation is accounted for approximately. To simplify the analysis, internal convection within the swarm is neglected. The energy balance equation is solved using the finite element method.
The effective thermal conductivity (k) is determined by comparing model predictions with data for a swarm of dead bees. The estimated value of k is 0.20 W/m-K. Both spherical and a non-spherical axisymmetric shapes are considered.
Considering axisymmetric swarms of live bees, temperature profiles are obtained using various heat generation functions which are available in literature. The effective thermal conductivity is assumed to be the same as that for the swarm of dead bees. Results based on a modified version of Southwick's heat generation function (The Behavior and Physiology of Bees, pp. 28-47, 1991) are qualitatively in accord with the data. The predicted maximum temperature within the swarm and the temperature at the lower surface of the swarm at the ambient temperature of 5°C are 34°C and 17-20°C, respectively. These are comparable to the measured values of 36°C and 19°C. The predicted maximum temperature within the swarm and the temperature at the lower surface of the swarm at the ambient temperature of 9°C are 36.5°C and 17-22°C, respectively. These are comparable to the measured values of 35°C and 19°C. The predicted oxygen consumption rates are 2.55 ml/g/hr for a swarm of 5284 bees at an ambient temperature Ta = 5°C and 1.15 ml/g/hr for 16,600 bees at Ta = 9°C. These are of the same order as the measured values (2 ml/g/hr for 5284 bees at Ta = 4.4DC and 0.45-0.55 ml/g/hr for 5284 bees at Ta = 10°C).
Omholt and Lanvik (J. of Theoretical Biology, 120 (1986) 447) assumed a non-uniform steady state profile and used it to estimate the heat generation function. Using this function in the transient energy balance, it is found that their steady state profile is unstable.
4
Bask, Tanmay. "A Model For Heat Transfer In A Honey Bee Swarm." Thesis, Indian Institute of Science, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/2005/131.
Full textAbstract:
During spring, it has been observed that several thousand bees leave their hive, and settle on some object such as a tree branch. Some of the scout bees search for a suitable place where a new hive can be set up, while the rest collect together to form a swarm.
Heinrich (J. of Exp. Biology 91 (1981) 25; Science 212 (1981) 565; Scientific American 244:6 (1981) 147) has done some experiments with free and captive swarms. His observations are as follows.
(1)The core (centre) temperature is around 35°C irrespective of the ambient
temperature.
(2)The mantle (outer surface) temperature exceeds the ambient temperature by 2- 3°C, provided the ambient temperature is greater than 20°C. Otherwise the mantle temperature is maintained around 17°C.
(3) The temperature gradient vanishes just before take-off of the swarm.
The present work attempts to predict temperature profiles in swarms and compare them with the data of Heinrich. A continuum model involving unsteady heat conduction and heat generation within the swarm is used. Heat loss from the outer surface of the swarm by free convection and radiation is accounted for approximately. To simplify the analysis, internal convection within the swarm is neglected. The energy balance equation is solved using the finite element method.
The effective thermal conductivity (k) is determined by comparing model predictions with data for a swarm of dead bees. The estimated value of k is 0.20 W/m-K. Both spherical and a non-spherical axisymmetric shapes are considered.
Considering axisymmetric swarms of live bees, temperature profiles are obtained using various heat generation functions which are available in literature. The effective thermal conductivity is assumed to be the same as that for the swarm of dead bees. Results based on a modified version of Southwick's heat generation function (The Behavior and Physiology of Bees, pp. 28-47, 1991) are qualitatively in accord with the data. The predicted maximum temperature within the swarm and the temperature at the lower surface of the swarm at the ambient temperature of 5°C are 34°C and 17-20°C, respectively. These are comparable to the measured values of 36°C and 19°C. The predicted maximum temperature within the swarm and the temperature at the lower surface of the swarm at the ambient temperature of 9°C are 36.5°C and 17-22°C, respectively. These are comparable to the measured values of 35°C and 19°C. The predicted oxygen consumption rates are 2.55 ml/g/hr for a swarm of 5284 bees at an ambient temperature Ta = 5°C and 1.15 ml/g/hr for 16,600 bees at Ta = 9°C. These are of the same order as the measured values (2 ml/g/hr for 5284 bees at Ta = 4.4DC and 0.45-0.55 ml/g/hr for 5284 bees at Ta = 10°C).
Omholt and Lanvik (J. of Theoretical Biology, 120 (1986) 447) assumed a non-uniform steady state profile and used it to estimate the heat generation function. Using this function in the transient energy balance, it is found that their steady state profile is unstable.
5
Delaney, Deborah A. "Genetic characterization of U.S. honey bee populations." Online access for everyone, 2008. http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Dissertations/Summer2008/d_delaney_070108.pdf.
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Richardson, Rodney Trey. "Molecular analysis of honey bee foraging ecology." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1543239052414523.
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Sondell, Jennifer. "Förekomsten av mikrosporidien Nosema sp. hos honungsbin (Apis mellifera) i Sverige; : en jämförelse mellan fyra honungsbiraser under höst- och vintersäsong." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-186226.
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Honey bees are fundamental for maintaining biodiversity in our ecosystems, but a recent decline in honey bee colonies has caused a growing concern for honey bee health worldwide. One component of colony collapses is Nosema (Microsporidia), which is associated with colony collapses in many subtropical regions. However, infection by Nosema is also known to accumulate within the honey bee hive during overwintering in colder climates. In this study, the prevalence of Nosema is compared between four honey bee subspecies during fall and winter and is focused on two hypotheses: 1) infection by Nosema is more prevalent in honey bees during winter and 2) infection by Nosema differs between different honey bee subspecies. Bees were dissected, and their guts were analysed for Nosema spores using a light microscope. Results showed a difference in amount of Nosema infected colonies between winter and fall. Also, results showed a difference between Buckfast bee (A. mellifera hybrid) and Carniolan bee (A. mellifera carnica) in Nosema infected colonies during the fall period. These results indicate that infection by Nosema in cold climates might be more prevalent than previously thought. Additionally, there might be differences in resilience between honey bee subspecies, but infection of Nosema seem to depend less on subspecies than season. More research is needed on Nosema in cold regions to assess the effect of Nosema on honey bees in Sweden and worldwide to prevent future colony collapses of honey bees.
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Preston, Sarah R. "THE IMPACTS OF HONEY BEE QUEEN STRESS ON WORKER BEHAVIOR AND HEALTH." UKnowledge, 2018. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/entomology_etds/48.
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Pesticides, poor nutrition, parasites and diseases work synergistically to contribute to the decline of the honey bee. Heritable sub-lethal behavior/immune effects may also contribute to the decline. Maternal stress is a common source of heritable immune/behavior deficits in many species. A stressed honey bee queen has the potential to pass such deficits on to worker bees. Using a repeated measures design, this study will determine whether the health of worker bee is reduced by a cold stress on the queen by analyzing egg hatch rate and protein content, emergence rate, and adult aggression and immune function for offspring laid before and after the stressor. Results show that queen stress influences egg hatching rate and emergence rate but does not impact egg protein content, adult offspring immune function or aggressive behavior.
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Forsgren, Eva. "Molecular diagnosis and characterization of honey bee pathogens /." Uppsala : Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2009. http://epsilon.slu.se/200979.pdf.
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Denholm, Colin Hawthorn. "Inducible honey bee viruses associated with Varroa jacobsoni." Thesis, Keele University, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.301331.
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Al, Toufailia Hasan. "Integrated control of honey bee diseases in apiculture." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2016. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/62056/.
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The honey bee, Apis mellifera, is important both ecologically and economically. Pests and diseases are arguably the greatest current challenge faced by honey bees and beekeeping. This PhD thesis is focused on honey bee disease control including natural resistance by means of hygienic behaviour. It contains eleven independent experiments, ten on honey bee pests and diseases and their control and resistance, and one on stingless bees. Each is written as a separate chapter, Chapters 4 and 14 of this thesis. Chapter 4: How effective is Apistan® at killing varroa? This shows that Apistan is not very effective at killing varroa, presumably because of resistance. It also shows that a single Apistan treatment resulted in the next treatment being significantly less effective, indicating strong selection for resistance. Chapter 5: Towards integrated control of varroa: comparing application methods and doses of oxalic acid on the mortality of phoretic Varroa destructor mites and their honey bee hosts. This shows that oxalic acid can be highly effective at killing varroa mites under beekeeping conditions in broodless hives in winter. However, varroa mortality is affected by application method and dose. In addition, bee and colony mortality and colony performance are also affected by application method and dose. The results of this chapter shows that sublimation is the best method, in that it gives greater varroa mortality at lower doses, and results in no harm to the colonies. In fact, colonies treated via sublimation had significantly more brood in spring that controls, and lower winter mortality, although this difference was not significant. Chapter 6: Towards integrated control of varroa: varroa mortality from treating broodless winter colonies twice with oxalic acid via sublimation. This shows that two treatments of 2.25 g oxalic acid via sublimation at an interval of 2 weeks in broodless honey bee colonies in winter result in greater varroa mortality than a single treatment, 99.6% vs. 97%. Making a second oxalic acid treatment was not harmful as the performance (frames of brood, queen and colony survival) of the twice-treated colonies over the next 4 months was not significantly different to the once-treated control colonies. Chapter 7: Towards integrated control of varroa: Efficacy of early spring trapping in drone brood. This indicates that trapping in drone brood in spring is probably not sufficiently effective to be able to control varroa populations on its own. It shows that trapping varroa in capped drone cells in early spring is not highly effective at controlling varroa. The first and second test frames of drone foundation removed 44% and 48% of the varroa, respectively. Chapter 8: Towards integrated control of varroa: Monitoring honey bee brood rearing in winter and the proportion of varroa in small patches of sealed cells. This shows that December is the month with the least brood. However, winter reduction in brood rearing varied among years and even in December some colonies still had sealed brood. Although the amounts of sealed brood were low, even a small patch of c. 500-600 sealed cells could contain 14% of the varroa in a colony. This will halve the duration of control provided by an oxalic acid treatment. Chapter 9: Towards integrated control of varroa: effect of variation in hygienic behaviour among honey bee colonies on mite population increase and deformed wing virus incidence. This shows clearly that hygienic behaviour reduces the one-year population growth of varroa in honey bee colonies by more than 50% and reduces the levels of deformed wing virus by more than 1000 times. Chapter 10: Hygienic behaviour saves the lives of honey bee colonies. This shows that hygienic behaviour saves the lives of honey bee colonies with shrivelled wings, a visible symptom of deformed wing virus that is considered a predictor of colony death. Over one year, only 2 of 11 colonies requeened with a non-hygienic queen survived, versus 13 of 15 requeened with a hygienic queen. Chapter 11: Hygienic behaviour by non-hygienic honey bee colonies: all colonies remove dead brood from open cells. This shows that all honey bee colonies are highly hygienic in response to dead or diseased brood in open cells. All larvae killed by freezing with liquid nitrogen and larvae with chalkbrood disease were removed. This was true even for colonies with low levels of removal of dead brood from sealed cells, which would be considered as non-hygienic colonies. Chapter 12: Removal of larvae infected by different strains of chalk brood and other fungi by hygienic and non-hygienic bee colonies. This shows that hygienic and non-hygienic honey bee colonies are highly hygienic in response to diseased larvae killed with different strains of fungus in open cells. Chapter 13: Hygienic behaviour in Brazilian stingless bees. This shows that the three stingless bee species studied (Melipona scutellaris, Scaptotrigona depilis, Tetragonisca angustula) all have high levels of hygienic behaviour, quantified as the removal of freeze-killed brood, in comparison to the honey bee Apis mellifera. In S. depilis there was considerable variation in hygienic behaviour among colonies, and hygienic colonies removed more brood affected by a naturally-occurring disease which we discovered and for which the causative agent remains to be identified. Chapter 14: First record of small hive beetle, Aethina tumida Murray, in South America. This reports the discovery of adult small hive beetles, Aethina tumida, in honey bee, Apis mellifera, hives in an apiary in Brazil, in March 2015. This is the first record for South America of this honey bee pest.
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Paillard, Marilène. "Preservation of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Semen." Master's thesis, Université Laval, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11794/27245.
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L’abeille domestique (Apis mellifera Linnaeus) joue un rôle crucial comme pollinisateur dans l’industrie de l’agriculture. Cependant, durant les dernières décennies, une mortalité des colonies d’abeilles a été observée partout à travers le monde. La conservation du sperme d’abeille est un outil efficace pour sauvegarder la diversité génétique. Sa conservation est possible à température pièce, mais la cryoconservation serait une meilleure méthode pour la conservation à long terme. Notre objectif général est de développer une méthode de cryoconservation de la semence d’abeille. L’hypothèse no.1 était que la cryoconservation de la semence d’abeille est plus efficace à long terme que les températures au-dessus de 0 °C. Nous avons évalué l’efficacité, basé sur la viabilité des spermatozoïdes, de deux températures de conservation: -196 °C et 16 °C. Après un an de conservation, la semence congelée avait une meilleure viabilité comparée à 16°C (76% ± 5% vs 0%; p < 0,05). Par la suite, la spermathèque des reines inséminées avec la semence cryoconservée a été évaluée par la migration des spermatozoïdes ainsi que la viabilité des spermatozoïdes. Il y avait beaucoup de variabilités dans nos résultats. Nous n’avons pas été en mesure de vérifier si l’ajout de la centrifugation après la conservation améliore la fertilité des reines après insémination. Toutefois, nos résultats confirment que la cryoconservation est une technique efficace pour conserver la semence d’abeille à long terme.Honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus) are critical players in the agricultural industry for food production as they account for the vast majority of insect pollination. In the last decades, however, there have been dramatic losses of honey bee colonies worldwide. Coupled with instrumental insemination, conservation of honey bee sperm is an effective strategy to protect the species and their genetic diversity. Sperm storage is possible at room temperature, but for many mammal species, cryopreservation is the preferred method for the long-term storage of gametes. However, cryopreservation of honey bee drone semen is not optimized. Our overall objective is to develop a method of drone semen cryopreservation, therefore, two experiments were conducted. Hypothesis #1 was that cryopreservation of drone semen is more effective for long-term storage than at above-freezing temperatures. We therefore compared the efficacy based on sperm viability, of two honey bee semen preservation temperatures: frozen (-196°C) and 16°C. After 1 year of storage, frozen sperm viability was higher than at 16°C (76% ± 5% vs. 0%; p < 0.05), showing that cryopreservation is necessary to conserve semen in vitro. However, the cryoprotectant used for drone sperm freezing, DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide), is toxic to queens after instrumental insemination. Hypothesis #2, therefore, was that centrifugation of cryopreserved semen to remove DMSO prior to insemination improves queen fertility. Our results indicate that centrifuging semen does not affect sperm viability (78% ± 3% vs 75% ± 4% viable sperm; p > 0.05). After queen insemination, both spermathecae and brood production were evaluated, but the results varied greatly, possibly due to the undesirable mucus present in the semen. Therefore, we cannot yet confirm that centrifugation improves queen health after insemination. Nonetheless, our study confirms that cryopreservation of honey bee sperm is necessary and possible for long-term conservation.
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Baum, Kristen Anne. "Feral Africanized honey bee ecology in a coastal prairie landscape." Texas A&M University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1969/150.
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Park, Doori, Je Won Jung, Beom-Soon Choi, Murukarthick Jayakodi, Jeongsoo Lee, Jongsung Lim, Yeisoo Yu, et al. "Uncovering the novel characteristics of Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, by whole genome sequencing." BioMed Central Ltd, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/610288.
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BACKGROUND: The honey bee is an important model system for increasing understanding of molecular and neural mechanisms underlying social behaviors relevant to the agricultural industry and basic science. The western honey bee, Apis mellifera, has served as a model species, and its genome sequence has been published. In contrast, the genome of the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, has not yet been sequenced. A. cerana has been raised in Asian countries for thousands of years and has brought considerable economic benefits to the apicultural industry. A cerana has divergent biological traits compared to A. mellifera and it has played a key role in maintaining biodiversity in eastern and southern Asia. Here we report the first whole genome sequence of A. cerana. RESULTS: Using de novo assembly methods, we produced a 238 Mbp draft of the A. cerana genome and generated 10,651 genes. A.cerana-specific genes were analyzed to better understand the novel characteristics of this honey bee species. Seventy-two percent of the A. cerana-specific genes had more than one GO term, and 1,696 enzymes were categorized into 125 pathways. Genes involved in chemoreception and immunity were carefully identified and compared to those from other sequenced insect models. These included 10 gustatory receptors, 119 odorant receptors, 10 ionotropic receptors, and 160 immune-related genes. CONCLUSIONS: This first report of the whole genome sequence of A. cerana provides resources for comparative sociogenomics, especially in the field of social insect communication. These important tools will contribute to a better understanding of the complex behaviors and natural biology of the Asian honey bee and to anticipate its future evolutionary trajectory.
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Bamford, Sally. "Studies on the infection of honey bee larvae with Ascosphaera apis." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2699.
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The fungus Ascosphaera apis causes the disease chalk brood in larvae of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Ascospores were recognised as the agents of disease, but the site of their germination to initiate infection had not been established. In this study larval surface cuticle was initially investigated as a possible site, but spores did not even activate here. Therefore, potential inhibitors of spore germination were studied, including water and chloroform washings of larval cuticle; 4 larval food constituents - pollen, honey, brood food, royal jelly; and a variety of medium-chain fatty acids a t concentrations of 1, 0.1 and 0. 01%. Royal jelly exhibited a severe inhibitory effect on all germination stages. Larvae were successfully infected by feeding them food Containing A. apis spores, both in vitro and in vivo. A histological study of infected larvae demonstrated germination of spores in the mid-gut lumen, followed by penetration of the peritrophic membrane and gut epithelium by developing hyphae; and subsequent invasion of larval tissues by mycelia. Various aspects of spore physiology were investigated. Spore activation and enlargement were shown to be independent of temperature within the ranges of 10 to 40°C and 25 to 40°C respectively, while germ-tube production was closely temperature related, only occurring between 25 and 37°C - with an optimum between 31 and 35°C . However, all 3 germination stages were found to be independent of environmental pH within the range of pH 5 to 7.8. Studies on the nutritional requirements for germination revealed the need for exogenous supplies of both a carbon and nitrogen source to support germ-tube production. The ‘spore-ball phenomenon’ was investigated and a supplementary amino acid source was identified . The etiology of chalk brood is discussed in the light of these findings.
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Chan, Man Yi Mandy. "Development and application of honey bee in vitro systems." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42148.
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The honey bee, Apis mellifera, has become tightly linked to human agriculture as one of the most important pollinators. The recent honey bee population decline has raised global concerns of a pollination crisis, yet honey bee research lags far behind in available research tools compared to other model organisms, limiting the pace we can hope to advance our knowledge of honey bee biology and improve bee health. Therefore, the major goal of this thesis was to establish new tools and to improve some of the existing tools for honey bee research and then to demonstrate that these tools can be combined with other genetic and proteomic techniques to help us address questions on honey bee biology. First of all, honey bee primary cell cultures from various tissues could be established and maintained for at least four months. Embryonic cultures could be cryopreserved and also transduced with lentivirus to express EGFP. Proteomic analysis revealed biological pathways related to glucose metabolism and oxidative stress were significantly altered in primary cells during two weeks of cultivation. In addition to cell culture, in vitro larval rearing was also established and the use of various artificial diets was compared for ability to sustain growth. Basic larval diet was by far the most efficient formulation and it was applied to study honey bees’ response to American foulbrood (AFB) infection. RNA interference (RNAi) was used to silence prophenoloxidase, a gene implicated in bees’ resistance to AFB and a multiple reaction monitoring mass (MRM) spectrometry assay was developed to assess degree of knockdown. Although dosage response was observed in in vitro rearing for AFB infection, significant gene silencing could not be achieved. Overall, we established several in vitro systems, including cell cultures and in vitro larval rearing, for honey bee research and these systems in combination with lentiviral transduction, RNA interference, proteome analysis, and MRM assay could form a thorough analysis platform for future studies to improve our knowledge of honey bee biology.
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Vojvodic, Svjetlana, Jacobus Boomsma, Jorgen Eilenberg, and Annette Jensen. "Virulence of mixed fungal infections in honey bee brood." BioMed Central, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/610138.
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INTRODUCTION:Honey bees, Apis mellifera, have a diverse community of pathogens. Previous research has mostly focused on bacterial brood diseases of high virulence, but milder diseases caused by fungal pathogens have recently attracted more attention. This interest has been triggered by partial evidence that co-infection with multiple pathogens has the potential to accelerate honey bee mortality. In the present study we tested whether co-infection with closely related fungal brood-pathogen species that are either specialists or non-specialist results in higher host mortality than infections with a single specialist. We used a specially designed laboratory assay to expose honey bee larvae to controlled infections with spores of three Ascosphaera species: A. apis, the specialist pathogen that causes chalkbrood disease in honey bees, A. proliperda, a specialist pathogen that causes chalkbrood disease in solitary bees, and A. atra, a saprophytic fungus growing typically on pollen brood-provision masses of solitary bees.RESULTS:We show for the first time that single infection with a pollen fungus A. atra may induce some mortality and that co-infection with A. atra and A. apis resulted in higher mortality of honey bees compared to single infections with A. apis. However, similar single and mixed infections with A. proliperda did not increase brood mortality.CONCLUSION:Our results show that co-infection with a closely related fungal species can either increase or have no effect on host mortality, depending on the identity of the second species. Together with other studies suggesting that multiple interacting pathogens may be contributing to worldwide honey bee health declines, our results highlight the importance of studying effects of multiple infections, even when all interacting species are not known to be specialist pathogens.
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Illgner, Peter Mark. "A phenological and bioclimatic analysis of honey yield in South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007153.
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This study has investigated the interaction between honeybees and their forage plants and the impact of selected climatic variables on honey production in South Africa. Twenty-seven scale-hive records from 25 localities have been used as a measure of colony honey reserves. At least 944 plant species are visited by honeybees in South Africa for their nectar and/or pollen, with more than half providing both rewards. The entire honeybee flora encompasses 532 genera and 137 families. The flowering phenologies of the different reward categories of the indigenous forage plants are all significantly and positively correlated at the 0.05 level. Similarly, species offering both rewards are significantly and positively correlated with the flowering phenology of the null flora. The same results were obtained for correlations between the different reward categories of the exotic forage plants in South Africa. Of the 30 species pairs which fulfilled the criteria for selection, 23 occurred in sympatry, 5 in allopatry and 2 in possible parapatry. There is evidence for both competition and facilitation within different indigenous species pairs. The lack of geographical correlation in the intra-annual variation in honey stores and the near absence of any statistically significant (p < 0.05) honey related intra-annual intracolonial correlations may indicate that the former is more important than the latter for the determination of the level of honey reserves within a colony. Only one statistically significant correlation was found between either scale-hive record from the University of Pretoria Experimental Farm and any of the selected climatic variables. A one month lag period and/or possible seasonal effects were detected for each variable, with the exception of the duration of sunshine, in the autocorrelation analyses. A possible 12 month seasonal period was also identified in the single series fourier analyses for a number of variables. Similarly, 12 months was also the most frequently recurring period in the crossspectral results for the one scale-hive record (H42). Any activities which have an impact on the landscape have the potential to affect honeybees and/or their forage plants. Honeybee crop or plant pollination may also enhance yields for commercial farmers and facilitate rural food security.
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Qiu, Peiyuan. "Application of near-infrared spectroscopy in quality assessment of bee honey /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1997. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B19324066.
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Birnie, Lynn C. "Sublethal effects of three acaricide treatments on honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colony development and honey production." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp05/mq24092.pdf.
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Sponsler, Douglas B. "Honey bee landscape ecology: foraging, toxic exposure, and apicultural outcomes." The Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1479825586271009.
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Nordström, Susanne. "Virus infections and varroa mite infestations in honey bee colonies /." Uppsala : Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2000. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&doc_number=009004684&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA.
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Collison, Elizabeth Jane. "Effects of neonicotinoid pesticide exposure on bee health : molecular, physiological and behavioural investigations." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/21797.
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Neonicotinoid exposure has been recognised as potentially impacting upon bee health, but whether realistic exposure scenarios are driving declines in bee health is not known. This thesis contributes new insights and perspectives to this research field investigating the use of molecular, physiological and behavioural endpoints as potential ecotoxicological markers for pesticide risk assessment. The thesis presents experimental data for dietary exposures of the European honey bee, Apis mellifera, and the buff-tailed bumble bee, Bombus terrestris, to one of two neonicotinoid pesticides, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. The first part of this thesis explores impacts of chronic dietary exposures to neonicotinoid pesticides on bee immunocompetence- the ability to mount an immune response- using an artificial challenge to invoke an immune response in adult workers. Levels of phenoloxidase, an enzyme involved in melanisation and part of the bee’s defence system, were largely constitutive and resilient to exposure in honey bees and bumble bees. In honey bees, transient transcriptional changes in antimicrobial effector genes were observed following neonicotinoid exposure, but the physiological antimicrobial response was unaffected. In bumble bees, the induced antimicrobial response was impaired following neonicotinoid exposure, but only when exposed to concentrations likely higher than realistic environmental exposure scenarios. The next phase of this thesis investigates whether transcriptional, physiological and behavioural endpoints associated with the functioning of the honey bee hypopharyngeal gland were altered by imidacloprid exposure. Imidacloprid exposure led to transcriptional changes in foraging genes (associated with the control of temporal polyethism) and major royal jelly proteins (fed to developing larvae by nurse workers) and enzymatic changes in glucose oxidase (an enzyme involved in social immunity), which I hypothesise are linked with hypopharyngeal gland development. Despite these laboratory observations, no behavioural effects were observed in a field setting, monitored using Radio Frequency Identification transponders. Lastly, using RNA-Sequencing to investigate changes across the honey bee transcriptome, this thesis identified a suite of genes that were differentially expressed in adult workers in response to immune challenge and/or dietary neonicotinoid exposure. Wounding and bacterial-like infection led to upregulation of known immune genes, including a peptidoglycan recognition protein and antimicrobial effectors. Chronic exposure to thiamethoxam and imidacloprid led to downregulation of genes associated with several metabolic pathways, such as oxidative phosphorylation, pyruvate- and purine- metabolic pathways, as well as ribosomal activity. Some of these genes identified provide candidates for further study to elucidate functional effects mechanisms and better understand health outcomes, as well as potential new biomarkers for use in pesticide risk assessment. This thesis presents novel findings and offers opportunities for future research that will be of interest to a wide audience, including risk assessors and policy makers, as well as the broader biological community, including ecotoxicologists, insect physiologists and molecular biologists.
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Paini, Dean. "The impact of the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) on Australian native bees." University of Western Australia. School of Animal Biology, 2004. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2004.0022.
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The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) has been present in Australia for approximately 150 years. For the majority of that time it was assumed this species could only be of benefit to Australia‘s natural ecosystems. More recently however, researchers and conservationists have questioned this assumption. Honey bees are an introduced species and may be affecting native fauna and flora. In particular, native bees have been highlighted as an animal that may be experiencing competition from honey bees as they are of similar sizes and both species require nectar and pollen for their progeny. Most research to date has focused on indirect measures of competition between honey bees and native bees (resource overlap, visitation rates and resource harvesting). The first chapter of this thesis reviews previous research explaining that many experiments lack significant replication and indirect measures of competition cannot evaluate the impact of honey bees on native bee fecundity or survival. Chapters two and four present descriptions of nesting biology of the two native bee species studied (Hylaeus alcyoneus and an undescribed Megachile sp.). Data collected focused on native bee fecundity and included nesting season, progeny mass, number of progeny per nest, sex ratio and parasitoids. This information provided a picture of the nesting biology of these two species and assisted in determining the design of an appropriate experiment. Chapters three and five present the results of two experiments investigating the impact of honey bees on these two species of native bees in the Northern Beekeepers Nature Reserve in Western Australia. Both experiments focused on the fecundity of these native bee species in response to honey bees and also had more replication than any other previous experiment in Australia of similar design. The first experiment (Chapter three), over two seasons, investigated the impact of commercial honey bees on Hylaeus alcyoneus, a native solitary bee. The experiment was monitored every 3-4 weeks (measurement interval). However, beekeepers did not agist hives on sites simultaneously so measurement intervals were initially treated separately using ANOVA. Results showed no impact of honey bees at any measurement interval and in some cases, poor power. Data from both seasons was combined in a Wilcoxon‘s sign test and showed that honey bees had a negative impact on the number of nests completed by H. alcyoneus. The second experiment (Chapter 5) investigated the impact of feral honey bees on an undescribed Megachile species. Hive honey bees were used to simulate feral levels of honey bees in a BACI (Before/After, Control/Impact) design experiment. There was no impact detected on any fecundity variables. The sensitivity of the experiment was calculated and in three fecundity variables (male and female progeny mass and the number of progeny per nest) the experiment was sensitive enough to detect 15-30% difference between control and impact sites. The final chapter (Chapter six) makes a number of research and management recommendations in light of the research findings.
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Butler, Lara Elizabeth. "Honey bee gene regulation and transcriptional effects of a pheromone and a parasite." [College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2748.
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Desai, Suresh. "The potential impact of pathogens on honey bee, Apis mellifera L., colonies and possibilities for their control." John Wiley and Sons, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1993/23505.
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Excessive honey bee colony losses all over the world are believed to be caused by multiple stressors. In this thesis, I characterized and quantified pathogen levels in honey bee colonies, studied their interactions with each other and with their associated parasite vectors, examined factors that influence their combined impacts on honey bees and developed methods to manage honey bee viruses so that colony losses can be minimized. My baseline study of virus prevalence and concentration in healthy and unhealthy (showing visible signs of disease) colonies in Canada showed that seven economically important viruses (DWV, BQCV, IAPV, KBV, SBV, ABPV, and CBPV) were all widely distributed in Canada. Differences in concentration and prevalence of some viruses were found between unhealthy and healthy colonies but these differences may have been due in part to seasonal or regional effects. Studies of the impact of viruses on worker bee populations over winter showed different factors were correlated with bee loss in different environments. Spring concentrations of DWV and mean abundance of Varroa (Varroa destructor) were positively correlated with bee loss and negatively correlated with spring population size in outdoor-wintered colonies. Fall concentration of IAPV was negatively correlated with spring population size of colonies in indoor-wintering environments but not in outdoor-environments. My study showed that it is important to consider location of sampling when associating pathogen loads with bee loss with Nosema and BQCV. Seasonal patterns of parasites and pathogens were characterized for each wintering methods (indoor and outdoor). My results revealed lower ABPV and Nosema ceranae prevalence and lower DWV concentration in genetically diverse than genetically similar colonies. I showed that within colony genetic diversity may be an important evolutionary adaptation to allow honey bees to defend against a wide range of diseases. In laboratory studies, I showed that feeding DWV to larvae in the absence of Varroa causes wing deformity and decreased survival rates of adult bees relative to bees not fed DWV. Finally, I showed that RNA silencing can be used to reduce DWV concentrations in immature and adult bees, reduce wing deformity in emerging adults, and increase their longevity relative to controls.
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Langberg, Kurt. "Toxicological Analysis of the Neonicotinoid Insecticide Imidacloprid to Honey Bees, Apis mellifera, of Different Colonies." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/73220.
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The honey bee, Apis mellifera, provides about $15 billion USD in crop value each year in the U.S. alone in the form of pollination services. Since 2006, commercial beekeepers have reported an average annual overwintering loss of about 28.6% of all managed colonies. There are many factors that are thought to contribute to colony loss including bee-specific pests (e.g. the Varroa destructor mite), bee-specific pathogens (e.g. Nosema fungus), modern beekeeping practices, diminished genetic variability, poor queens, climate change, and exposure to agricultural pesticides. While not the single cause of colony loss, the neonicotinoid insecticides elicit sublethal effects to honey bees that could increase their sensitivities to other stressors that affect colony health. Previous studies found that honey bees have differential sensitivities to the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid, which suggest a mechanism of tolerance to the insecticide in certain colonies. In this study, I examined the imidacloprid sensitivity of honey bees collected from different colonies. After determining a range of LC50 values in the tested colonies, I examined the metabolic detoxification activities of honey bees collected from two colonies that represented the highest and lowest LC50 values, between which there was a 36-fold difference in their LC50 values. I discovered that of the three main families of metabolic detoxification enzymes, general esterases, cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, and glutathione S-transferases (GSTs), a reduction of GST activity with diethyl maleate (DEM) significantly increased imidacloprid-mediated mortality to the honey bees. A comparative analysis of GST kinetic activity from imidacloprid-susceptible and -insensitive honey bees revealed a lower bimolecular inhibition rate constant (ki) for imidacloprid-insensitive individuals (5.07 ± 0.098 nmol/min/mg protein) compared to the imidacloprid-sensitive honey bees (17.23 ± 1.235 nmol/min/mg protein). The IC50 of DEM estimated for bees from each colony showed that the imidacloprid-susceptible honey bees possess a higher IC50 (10 μM) than that of the tolerant honey bees (3 μM). These data suggest that the GSTs in the imidacloprid-tolerant honey bees might be a more efficient detoxification mechanism for the conjugation and elimination of imidacloprid, or imidacloprid metabolites, compared to that of imidacloprid-susceptible honey bees. Therefore, I hypothesize that the differences in metabolic detoxification enzyme activities of honey bees collected from different colonies can result in the differential toxicities of honey bees exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides, such as imidacloprid. However, a thorough examination of imidacloprid detoxification in honey bees is warranted to confirm this hypothesis.Master of Science in Life Sciences
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Williams, Jennifer Rae. "Biomarkers of oxidative stress in atrazine-treated honey bees: A laboratory and in-hive study." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/72949.
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The decline of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony numbers in recent years presents an economic and ecological threat to agriculture. One outstanding threat to honey bees is the unintended exposure to agricultural pesticides. Previous studies report that acute exposures to the common-use herbicide atrazine elicit oxidative stress in non-target insects; however, little information is currently available on the exposure risk of atrazine to honey bees. This project examined biochemical and molecular oxidative stress response markers of honey bees following laboratory and field treatments of atrazine. Laboratory experiments were conducted with honey bees exposed to increasing concentrations of atrazine for 24 h whereas hive experiments were conducted with bees exposed to one sub-lethal concentration of atrazine for 28 d. The overall antioxidant enzyme activities of atrazine-treated honey bees were decreased compared to the untreated honey bees in both the laboratory and hive experiments. After exposure to atrazine in the laboratory and field, semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of antioxidant-encoding genes reveals the differential expression of genes in atrazine-treated bees that are important for oxidative stress tolerance in the laboratory and field experiments. Here, we provide evidence that the laboratory and hive exposure of honey bees to the common-use herbicide atrazine results in oxidative stress responses that can compromise the health of bee colonies. The data will be discussed with regard to the protection of these pollinators against the untended exposure of agricultural pesticides.Master of Science in Life Sciences
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Norton, Amanda Mary. "Disentangling the Relationship Between Deformed wing virus, the Honey Bee Host (Apis mellifera) and the Viral Vector, the Ectoparasitic Mite Varroa destructor." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2021. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25768.
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The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is indisputably the most significant driver of global colony losses of the Western honeybee, Apis mellifera. Colony deaths are frequently attributed to Deformed wing virus (DWV), which is vectored by the mite. In this thesis I attempt to disentangle the tripartite relationship between DWV,
A. mellifera and V. destructor, by investigating whether the two major DWV genotypes, A and B, differ from the point of view of the virus, the honey bee and the mite. First, I assessed the viral accumulation dynamics of multiple DWV genotypes during single or co-infection in Australian pupae (naïve to both DWV and Varroa). I found that DWV-B accumulated to higher levels than DWV-A when singly and co-injected, suggesting that DWV-B is able to outcompete DWV-A. Yet despite higher viral loads, DWV-B was associated with the lowest level of mortality. Therefore, I next investigated if the bees’ immune system reacted differently to the two DWV genotypes. I examined the expression of 19 immune genes and analysed the small RNA response of pupae exposed to DWV-A and DWV-B. Overall, I found little evidence to indicate that A. mellifera responds differently to either genotype. Finally, to uncover what role vector transmission by V. destructor plays in DWV genotype prevalence at the colony level, I experimentally increased and decreased the number of mites within A. mellifera colonies and analysed viral loads over a period of ten months. I found that DWV-A was strongly affected by mite numbers, whereas DWV-B persisted in the presence and absence of V. destructor. Overall, my thesis furthers our understanding of the intricate relationship between DWV, A. mellifera and V. destructor, and provides insight into some of the factors that may be contributing to the increasing prevalence of DWV-B.
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Ronai, Isobel. "The genetic and mechanistic basis of worker sterility in the honey bee." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/17071.
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Worker sterility is a defining feature of social insects. However, the evolution of sterility is a conundrum because workers ‘altruistically’ forgo personal reproduction. To understand how worker sterility has evolved, it is important to identify both its genetic and mechanistic basis. In this thesis I utilise an ‘evo-devo’ framework to propose that the mechanistic basis of worker sterility can be conceptualised as ‘reproductive control points’ – specific mechanisms that reduce the reproductive capacity of workers. I provide empirical evidence for two control points in honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers. The first control point is when the queen’s pheromone triggers the abortion of adult honey bee workers’ oocytes at mid-oogenesis. I show that when workers are exposed to the queen’s pheromone, their germ cells degenerate midway through development. I also find that the candidate gene, Anarchy, is important for the mid-oogenesis control point where it causes increased programmed cell death activity in the ovaries of workers exposed to a queen. The second control point is the loss of ovarioles in adult honey bee workers. I show that the number of ovarioles declines as honey bee workers age, due to programmed cell death. The mechanism underlying all the reproductive control points, and therefore worker sterility, is likely to be programmed cell death. My thesis is therefore an important contribution to a mechanistic understanding of worker sterility, and provides insights into how this trait emerged from a solitary ancestor. In addition, this interdisciplinary thesis reflects upon my empirical research by examining how key molecular biology techniques are developed. I conclude that the techniques are developed in a characteristic, staged process with easily-identified common elements. The techniques of molecular biology lead to immense scientific progress and my examination of their development provides a compelling case for the importance of basic research.
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Lindström, Malin. "Detection of Honey Bee Viruses in Apis mellifera and Apis cerana." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för medicinsk biokemi och mikrobiologi, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-154663.
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Two species of bees in the genus Apis, real honey bees, has long been of interest for man. These two are the European honey bee, Apis mellifera, and the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana. In Vietnam, beekeeping is of great importance, both with A.cerana and A.mellifera. The aim of this project was to investigate if the introduction of the European honey bee in Asia has affected the Asian honey bee, and whether different pathogens from A.mellifera have been transferred to A.cerana. Totally 40 samples, 20 from every species, were analysed for 8 different viruses. RNA was extracted and analysed with qRT-PCR. The results showed that 5 different viruses were present in the samples, DWV, CBPV, BQCV, SPV and SBV. SPV and SBV were only found occasionally while DWV, CBPV and BQCV were present in the majority of the samples. Differences in virus titres between the two bee species were significant for CBPV and BQCV, however the result for DWV titres was not considered significant. DWV therefore seem to be a ubiquitous virus in Vietnamese beekeeping irrespective of species. Further, the results cannot describe the influence or origin of the viruses but only confirm their presence. Additional investigations are needed in order to answer this question.
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Lin, Huarong. "Regulation of worker honey bee reproduction Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ51888.pdf.
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Cordoni, Guido. "Epidemiology and taxonomy of honey bee viruses in England and Wales." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.543915.
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Laughton, Alice Martha. "The ontogeny of immunity in the honey bee, Apis mellifera L." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2009. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/15107/.
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This thesis examines the ontogenetic development of the honey bee immune system in an ecological immunity context. I have optimised established immunological techniques to examine how aspects of the constitutive and induced innate immune response in the honey bee, Apis mellifera L., are affected by life-history and parasite infection. I have used three optimised immune assays to gain a measure of the timing and magnitude of specific immune effector systems in the honey bee, and explored the consequences of variation in immune efficacy throughout development and aging. The major findings of this thesis are: 1. Neither workers or drones employ phenoloxidase for immune defence in the pre-pupal stages 2. Sexual selection does not eliminate the need for an immune response in adult drones 3. In both sexes, there is an ontogenetic up-regulation in immune function with adult age 4. In the case of workers, this increase in immune response is not linked to age polyethism, but rather a continuous increase in investment beginning immediately after adult eclosion 5. Immune challenge results in a decrease in phenoloxidase activity, and an increase in antimicrobial peptide production in adults 6. The antimicrobial peptide immune response shows signs of senescence in immune challenged adult workers and drones 7. Colony investment in immune responses acts on a temporal scale and responds positively to an increased threat of parasitism 8. Parasitism produces variation in colony defence strategies 9. Rainfall is an important factor in the successful establishment of an infestation by the varroa mite, varroa destructor, in honey bees.
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Santo, James Talbot. "Environmental and Biological Stressors in Relation to Honey Bee Colony Collapse." Thesis, Washington State University, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10786928.
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Over the last several decades declines in pollinator populations, especially those of wild bees and other insects, have raised awareness of the economic impact pollination services have for crop production. This awareness and concern was heightened by an ongoing loss of millions of managed honey bee colonies since the early 1950s. Colonies are used predominantly for pollination services in fruit and vegetable crops. During 2007, an unusually large overwintering loss in colonies that was not characterized by the presence of dead bees was termed colony collapse disorder (CCD), a syndrome in which hives lacked sufficient worker caste bees to maintain the queen and brood. Potential factors hypothesized to be associated with CCD include parasite infestations (e.g., Varroa mite) and pathogen infections (Nosema spp. fungus and viruses), insecticide exposure (especially to the neonicotinoid class), and poor nutrition owing to a reduction in landscape areas containing high quality floral resources. Although no one stressor has been definitively associated with CCD, possible interactions among them have only recently been studied. Of particular interest are possible interactions of Nosema spp. with neonicotinoid insecticide exposure. The main objective of this dissertation was an examination of these potential interactions using a combination of literature analysis, empirical study of Nosema infection prevalence in adult bees, and simulation modeling of the combined effects of several stressors on worker population abundance. After the introduction, the dissertation is divided into four chapters addressing the following objectives: (1) Comparison of regulatory procedures for risk assessment of insecticides potentially impacting honey bees in the United States and in the European Union; (2) Analysis of published literature that document potential interactions between bee pathogens, parasites, and neonicotinoid insecticide residues; (3) Analysis of field-collected apiary bees for prevalence of Nosema spores in association with land uses and the presence of neonicotinoid residues; (4) Use of the honey bee colony model BEEHAVE to predict colony collapse in the presence of pathogens and insecticide-induced mortality. Results of the various analyses suggest a need for modifying risk assessment procedures to include the interaction of pesticide residues with parasite/pathogen stressors.
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Dong, Xiaofeng. "Molecular ecological characterization of a honey bee ectoparasitic mite, Tropilaelaps mercedesae." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2016. http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/2006508/.
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Tropilaelaps mercedesae (small mite) is one of two major honey bee ectoparasitic mite species responsible for the colony losses of Apis mellifera in Asia. Although T. mercedesae mites are still restricted in Asia (except Japan), they may diffuse all over the world due to the ever-increasing global trade of live honey bees (ex. Varroa destructor). Understanding the ecological characteristics of T. mercedesae at molecular level could potentially result in improving the management and control programs. However, molecular and genomic characterization of T. mercedesae remains poorly studied, and even no genes have been deposited in Genbank to date. Therefore, I conducted T. mercedesae genome and transcriptome sequencing. By comparing T. mercedesae genome with other arthropods, I have gained new insights into evolution of Parasitiformes and the evolutionary changes associated with specific habitats and life history of honey bee ectoparasitic mite that could potentially improve the control programs of T. mercedesae. Finally, characterization of T. mercedesae transient receptor potential channel, subfamily A, member 1 (TmTRPA1) would also help us to develop a novel control method for T. mercedesae.
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Foret, Sylvain, and sylvain foret@anu edu au. "Function and Evolution of Putative Odorant Carriers in the Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)." The Australian National University. Research School of Biological Sciences, 2007. http://thesis.anu.edu.au./public/adt-ANU20070613.144745.
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The remarkable olfactory power of insect species is thought to be generated by a combinatorial action of G-protein-coupled olfactory receptors (ORs) and olfactory carriers. Two such carrier gene families are found in insects: the odorant binding proteins (OBPs) and the chemosensory proteins (CSPs). In olfactory sensilla, OBPs and CSPs are believed to deliver hydrophobic air-borne molecules to ORs, but their expression in non-olfactory tissues suggests that they also may function as general carriers in other developmental and physiological processes.
¶
Bioinformatics and experimental approaches were used to characterise the OBP and CSP gene families in a highly social insect, the western honey bee (Apis mellifera). Comparison with other insects reveals that the honey bee has the smallest set of these genes, consisting of only 21 OBPs and 6 CSPs. These numbers stand in stark contrast to the 66 OBPs and 7 CSPs in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae and the 46 OBPs and 20 CSPs in the beetle Tribolium castaneum. The genes belonging to both families are often organised in clusters, and evolve by lineage specic expansions. Positive selection has been found to play a role in generating a greater sequence diversication in the OBP family in contrast to the CSP gene family that is more conserved, especially in the binding pocket. Expression proling under a wide range of conditions shows that, in the honey, bee only a minority of these genes are antenna-specic. The remaining genes are expressed either ubiquitously, or are tightly regulated in specialized tissues or during development. These findings support the view that OBPs and CSPs are not restricted to olfaction, and are likely to be involved in broader physiological functions.
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Finally, the detailed expression study and the functional characterization of a member of the CSP family, uth (unable-to-hatch), is reported. This gene is expressed in a maternal-zygotic fashion, and is restricted to the egg and embryo. Blocking the zygotic expression of uth with double-stranded RNA causes abnormalities in all body parts where this gene is highly expressed.
The treated embryos are `unable-to-hatch' and cannot progress to the larval stages. Our ndings reveal a novel, essential role for this gene family and suggest that uth is an ectodermal gene involved in embryonic cuticle formation.
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Lloyd, Gerry Trevor. "Ultrastructural development in the corpus allatum of the adult worker honey bee." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005480.
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The ultrastructure of the corpus allatum of the Cape worker honey bee has been examined in a systematic way during the first thirty days of adult life. Corpus allatum size in the Cape worker honey bee shows the age-dependent increase typical of the European worker honey bee, and in the Cape worker bee, the duration of increase is protracted. Analysis of ultrastructural development provides three indicators of metabolic status: mean mitochondrial size, "light and dark" cells, and extracted vacuoles. Significant fluctuations in mean mitochondrial size indicate a cyclical nature of cellular activity. New thought on the nature of "light and dark" cells proves that "dark" cells are almost certainly active in the process of JH biosynthesis, whilst "light" cells are definitely not active in JH biosynthesis. Extracted vacuoles found in corpus allatum cells during this study are thought to be remnants of lipid vacuoles, and the build up in number of these vacuoles is regarded as an indicator of reduced biosynthetic activity. Since the two indicators of decreased JH production ("light" cells and extracted vacuoles) co-exist with smaller mean mitochondrial size, larger mean mitochondrial size is taken as indicating increased levels of JH biosynthesis. Hence, fluctuations in mean mitochondrial size suggest cycles in the levels of JH production in individual corpora allata of the adult worker honey bee.
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PAPA, GIULIA. "Study of airborne particulate matter (PM) contaminating the honey bee Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 and bee products." Doctoral thesis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10280/94210.
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Apis mellifera Linnaeus (1758) è un insetto eusociale conosciuto in tutto il mondo sia per la produzione di miele sia per il suo ruolo di impollinatore, uno dei servizi ecosistemici fondamentali per la biodiversità del pianeta. Durante la sua attività di foraggiamento, l’ape è esposta agli inquinanti ambientali tra cui il particolato atmosferico aerodisperso (PM). Il particolato atmosferico può depositarsi sul corpo dell’insetto e infine contaminare anche i prodotti apistici come polline e miele. Il PM può avere diverse dimensioni (es. PM10, PM2.5, PM0.1), composizione chimica, morfologia e fonti di emissione (naturale o antropica).
Nel presente elaborato di tesi, tecniche di microscopia elettronica a scansione (SEM-EDX) sono state utilizzate per caratterizzare la contaminazione da PM di origine antropica del corpo dell’ape e dei suoi prodotti (Capitolo 2 e Capitolo 3) e analisi molecolari per studiare gli eventuali effetti sub-letali sul microbiota intestinale di api esposte ai PM per via orale (Capitolo 4).Apis mellifera Linnaeus (1758) order Hymenoptera family Apidae, is a eusocial insect widely known for its role in pollination, a fundamental ecosystem service for plant biodiversity and ultimately for the planet. During flight and foraging activity, the honey bee can collect airborne particulate matter (PM) on their own body, especially on the forewings, and can also contaminate bee products as pollen and honey. Particulate matter can originate from natural or anthropic sources, and is characterised by size (e.g., PM10, PM2.5, PM0.1), chemical composition, and morphology. In this thesis, honey bee, pollen and honey were used as bioindicator of PM – from coarse to ultrafine – in industrial areas of the Po Valley, Italy (Chapter 2 and Chapter 3). The (sub-lethal) effects of Titanium dioxide – a widespread airborne PM1 pollutant – on the honey bee through oral exposure was then investigated (Chapter 4). The technique used to analyse the PM contaminating bees and bee products is the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with X-ray spectrometer (EDX). EDX spectra allowed us to obtain chemical information from specimens, while backscattered-electron (BSE) imaging and elemental mapping provided both compositional and topographic information of PM.
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PAPA, GIULIA. "Study of airborne particulate matter (PM) contaminating the honey bee Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 and bee products." Doctoral thesis, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10280/94210.
Full textAbstract:
Apis mellifera Linnaeus (1758) è un insetto eusociale conosciuto in tutto il mondo sia per la produzione di miele sia per il suo ruolo di impollinatore, uno dei servizi ecosistemici fondamentali per la biodiversità del pianeta. Durante la sua attività di foraggiamento, l’ape è esposta agli inquinanti ambientali tra cui il particolato atmosferico aerodisperso (PM). Il particolato atmosferico può depositarsi sul corpo dell’insetto e infine contaminare anche i prodotti apistici come polline e miele. Il PM può avere diverse dimensioni (es. PM10, PM2.5, PM0.1), composizione chimica, morfologia e fonti di emissione (naturale o antropica).
Nel presente elaborato di tesi, tecniche di microscopia elettronica a scansione (SEM-EDX) sono state utilizzate per caratterizzare la contaminazione da PM di origine antropica del corpo dell’ape e dei suoi prodotti (Capitolo 2 e Capitolo 3) e analisi molecolari per studiare gli eventuali effetti sub-letali sul microbiota intestinale di api esposte ai PM per via orale (Capitolo 4).Apis mellifera Linnaeus (1758) order Hymenoptera family Apidae, is a eusocial insect widely known for its role in pollination, a fundamental ecosystem service for plant biodiversity and ultimately for the planet. During flight and foraging activity, the honey bee can collect airborne particulate matter (PM) on their own body, especially on the forewings, and can also contaminate bee products as pollen and honey. Particulate matter can originate from natural or anthropic sources, and is characterised by size (e.g., PM10, PM2.5, PM0.1), chemical composition, and morphology. In this thesis, honey bee, pollen and honey were used as bioindicator of PM – from coarse to ultrafine – in industrial areas of the Po Valley, Italy (Chapter 2 and Chapter 3). The (sub-lethal) effects of Titanium dioxide – a widespread airborne PM1 pollutant – on the honey bee through oral exposure was then investigated (Chapter 4). The technique used to analyse the PM contaminating bees and bee products is the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with X-ray spectrometer (EDX). EDX spectra allowed us to obtain chemical information from specimens, while backscattered-electron (BSE) imaging and elemental mapping provided both compositional and topographic information of PM.
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Anderson, Kirk, Andreas Johansson, Tim Sheehan, Brendon Mott, Vanessa Corby-Harris, Laurel Johnstone, Ryan Sprissler, and William Fitz. "Draft genome sequences of two Bifidobacterium sp. from the honey bee (Apis mellifera)." BioMed Central, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/610155.
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BACKGROUND:Widely considered probiotic organisms, Bifidobacteria are common inhabitants of the alimentary tract of animals including insects. Bifidobacteria identified from the honey bee are found in larval guts and throughout the alimentary tract, but attain their greatest abundance in the adult hind gut. To further understand the role of Bifidobacteria in honey bees, we sequenced two strains of Bifidobacterium cultured from different alimentary tract environments and life stages.RESULTS:Reflecting an oxygen-rich niche, both strains possessed catalase, peroxidase, superoxide-dismutase and respiratory chain enzymes indicative of oxidative metabolism. The strains show markedly different carbohydrate processing capabilities, with one possessing auxiliary and key enzymes of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway.CONCLUSIONS:As a result of long term co-evolution, honey bee associated Bifidobacterium may harbor considerable strain diversity reflecting adaptation to a variety of different honey bee microenvironments and hive-mediated vertical transmission between generations.
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Blenau, Wolfgang, Ricarda Scheiner, Stephanie Plückhahn, Bahar Oney, and Joachim Erber. "Behavioural pharmacology of octopamine, tyramine and dopamine in honey bees." Universität Potsdam, 2002. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/texte_eingeschraenkt_verlag/2010/4430/.
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In the honey bee, responsiveness to sucrose correlates with many behavioural parameters such as age of first foraging, foraging role and learning. Sucrose responsiveness can be measured using the proboscis extension response (PER) by applying sucrose solutions of increasing concentrations to the antenna of a bee. We tested whether the biogenic amines octopamine, tyramine and dopamine, and the dopamine receptor agonist 2-amino-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene (6,7-ADTN) can modulate sucrose responsiveness. The compounds were either injected into the thorax or fed in sucrose solution to compare different methods of application. Injection and feeding of tyramine or octopamine significantly increased sucrose responsiveness. Dopamine decreased sucrose responsiveness when injected into the thorax. Feeding of dopamine had no effect. Injection of 6,7-ADTN into the thorax and feeding of 6,7-ADTN reduced sucrose responsiveness significantly. These data demonstrate that sucrose responsiveness in honey bees can be modulated by biogenic amines, which has far reaching consequences for other types of behaviour in this insect. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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Pinto, Maria Alice. "Temporal genetic structure of feral honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in a coastal prairie habitat of southern Texas: impact of Africanization." Texas A&M University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/203.
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The goal of this study was to examine the impact of Africanization on the genetic structure of the Welder Wildlife Refuge feral honey bee population by scoring mtDNA and microsatellite polymorphisms. Adult honey bee workers, collected between 1991 and 2001, were screened for mtDNA using the cytochrome b/BglII, ls rRNA/EcoRI, and COI/HinfI PCR-based assays. The procedure allowed identification of four mitotypes: eastern European, western European, A. m. lamarckii, and A. m. scutellata. The relative frequencies of the four mitotypes changed radically during the 11-year period. Prior to immigration of Africanized honey bees, the resident population was essentially of eastern European maternal ancestry. The first colony of A. m. scutellata mitotype was detected in 1993. Between 1995 and 1996 there was a mitotype turnover in the population from predominantly eastern European to predominantly A. m. scutellata. From 1997 onward, most colonies (69 %) were of A. m. scutellata mitotype.
The temporal change in mtDNA was paralleled by nuclear DNA. The 12 microsatellite loci analyzed indicated (1) the mechanism of Africanization of the Welder population involved both maternal and paternal bi-directional gene flow (hybridization) between European and Africanized honey bees; and (2) the resident panmitic European population was replaced by panmitic asymmetrical admixtures of A. m. scutellata and European genes. The steepest increase in the proportion of introgressed A. m. scutellata nuclear alleles occurred between 1994 and 1997. The post-Africanization gene pool was composed of a diverse array of recombinant classes with a substantial European genetic contribution (mean proportion of European-derived alleles was 37 % as given by mR estimator or 25 % as given by mY estimator, for 1998-2001). If European genes continue to be retained at moderate frequencies, then the Africanized population is best viewed as a "hybrid swarm" instead of "pure African".
The most radical change in the genetic structure of the Welder Wildlife Refuge feral honey bee population (observed between 1995 and 1997) coincided with arrival of the parasitic Varroa mite. We suggest that Varroa likely hastened the demise of European honey bees and had a major role in restructuring the Welder Wildlife Refuge feral honey bee population.
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Ghosh, Ratan Chandra. "Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequencing of sacbrood virus of the honey bee." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.267850.
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Garbuzov, Mihail. "Helping the honey bee and other flower-visiting insects in urban areas." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2014. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/51671/.
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As is much of the world's biodiversity, bees and other flower-visiting insects are in global decline, largely due to human activities. The impacts of humans on wildlife can be ameliorated, at least to an extent, by wildlife-friendly management practices in both rural and urban areas. This thesis comprises two introductory chapters (Part 1), followed by a series of ten research chapters (Parts 2 - 5) aimed at informing management practices that encourage bees and other flower-visiting insects in urban areas, and ends with a concluding chapter (Part 6). The projects are grouped in four parts making contributions to four broad areas of research. Part 2 is concerned with evaluating the attractiveness of ornamental garden plants to insect flower-visitors. Individual projects examine the advice currently available to gardeners via recommended plant lists, and describe surveys of plant varieties grown in a public garden (Southover Grange garden, Lewes), a Plant Heritage national collection of asters (Picton Garden, Malvern), and the experimental gardens planted on campus of the University of Sussex, Brighton, as well as in towns of Plumpton and Magham Down. Part 3 evaluates the attractiveness to insects of urban wild flowers, including those growing in amenity grass areas in parks, and the effects on their abundance and diversity of the various mowing regimes, as well as the attractiveness of the common autumn flowering ivy. Part 4 uses waggle dance decoding to investigate honey bee foraging in the urban landscape of Brighton, with an additional particular focus on foraging on spring-blooming oilseed rape in the surrounding agricultural land. Part 5 examines an aspect of good practice in urban apiary set up, the use of lattice fence or hedge barriers, which should facilitate beekeeping in urban areas, including in private gardens and allotments.
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Jimenez, Desmond Rito. "Ultrastructure and function of the ventriculus of the honey bee, Apis mellifera." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/184266.
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The ventricular epithelia of adult worker honey bees were investigated biochemically and ultrastructurally. The midgut tissues were shown to produce an endoprotease with trypsin-like activity. Enzyme activity was highest in the midgut tissues and the ectoperitrophic space of free-flying honey bees and of caged bees fed pollen. Lower levels of activity occurred in caged bees restricted to sucrose or fed artificial diets. The trypsin-like activity declined as the protein intake of the bees decreased with age. Ultrastructural studies revealed columnar cells in the posterior midgut engaged in the synthesis and release of membrane-bound vesicles. The apical cytoplasm of the epithelial cells in this region contains numerous electron dense vesicles which are released into the ectoperitrophic space of the midgut lumen. The microvilli in the crypts of this region are short, branching, and microvesiculate. Throughout the remainder of the midgut, the microvilli are profuse and elongate. The presence of the endogenously produced endoprotease and the regional variation in cell ultrastructure suggest that the honey bee may rely on countercurrent flow to distribute enzymes and nutrients efficiently throughout the midgut. Ultrastructural cytochemistry localized acid phosphatase and nonspecific esterase activity in primary and secondary lysosomes dispersed throughout the midgut tissues. Alkaline phosphatase activity was localized within large electron lucent microbodies that are present in all midgut columnar cells. The peroxisomal marker enzymes, catalase and L-α-hydroxy acid oxidase, were also localized in the same microbodies which previously had been described as holocrine secretory granules involved in dietary mineral regulation. Morphological and cytochemical assays suggest that the holocrine secretory granule arises from a microperoxisomal compartment involved in intermediary metabolism in the midgut of adult honey bees.
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Loper, Gerald M. "Experimental Use of Beescent® to Influence Honey Bee Visitation to Watermelon." College of Agriculture, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/214525.
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A commercial product called Beescent® containing a mixture of chemicals including chemicals used by honey bees as pheromones, was applied to watermelons in early bloom on Aug. 15, 1991. Honey bee visitation to treated, 18-row plots, were significantly higher than to untreated for only 2 days, the day of treatment and the next day. Watermelon yields were not effected. The daily high temperatures reached 86-88 °F, so that most of the chemical had volatilized away by the end of the first day.
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Taylor, Kevin Stuart 1958. "Toxicity of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides to the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.)." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/276577.
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Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) were exposed to six pyrethroid insecticides using four application techniques. Toxicities of the insecticides were compared. Results of topical and contact tests placed the six pyrethroids in one of three categories based on their relative toxicity to honey bees; highly toxic (cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, and permethrin), moderately toxic (flucythrinate and fenvalerate), and non-toxic (fluvalinate). The residue tests, by contrast, simulated field conditions by using sprayed cotton leaves for exposure. This test showed that both compound and formulation played an important role in determining toxicity. The conditioning test combined some of the previously used techniques and refined them into a test for detecting behavioral changes to bees following sublethal exposure to pesticides. Insecticide-treated honey bees had a lower learning curve than their respective control group. This indicates that, although bees may survive poisoning from pesticides, certain physiological functions are affected.
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Peters, Lizette Alice. "Effect of pollen diet and honey bee (apis mellifera l.) primer pheromones on worker bee food producing glands." [College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-3167.
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Andrikopoulos, Corey J. "Comparative Pollination Efficacies of Bees on Raspberry and the Management of Osmia lignaria for Late Blooming Crops." DigitalCommons@USU, 2018. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7086.
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Unlike other rosaceous fruit crops such as apple and cherry, commercial raspberry cultivars are largely self-fertile and can set fruit in the absence of pollinators. However, their floral morphology often prevents complete self-pollaintion. Incomplete pollination yields unmarketable small or crumbly fruits. Insect visitation is therefore essential to maximizing raspberry yield. Honey bees are typically used to pollinate commercial raspberry; however, escalating prices for hive rentals coupled with increasing acreage encourage evaluation of other manageable pollinators. Bumble bees (Bombus spp.) and several mason bees (Osmia spp.) are promising raspberry pollinators. Five bee species were evaluated and compared for their single-visit pollination efficacies on raspberry. From this a pollinator effectiveness index was created and an estimation of the minimum number of visits required to maximize fruit set was calculated. This estimation was then experimentally verified. Finally, in an attempt to synchronize their brief activity period with raspberry bloom, winter management options aimed at delaying the emergence of the mason bee, O. lignaria, were investigated. All five bee species proved excellent pollinators of raspberry. None of the alternative manageable species greatly outperformed honey bees. For this reason honey bees remain the most economical and practical option for open-field raspberry pollination. The adoption of alternative manageable bees could still be justified in other production systems, such as high-tunnel or greenhouse grown raspberry, which hamper honey bees’ ability to forage effectively. The pollinator effectiveness score for honey bees suggested that as few as two visits can achieve maximum fruit set. This estimate was confirmed through experimentation on three different red raspberry cultivars. For two of these cultivars, just one visit yielded drupelet counts similar to openly-pollinated flowers. This information can be used to help refine stocking density estimates for honey bees on raspberry. Wintering bees at 0° or -3° C rather than 4° C effectively delayed emergence of O. lignaria by more than a month without any impact on post-winter performance. These results suggest winter storage at near freezing temperatures is a viable management option for the use of O. lignaria with later-blooming crops.