Генетические исследования медоносной пчелы Apis mellifera L. в Томском государственном университете

Simple SummaryWe investigated whether honey bee colonies adjust the nutritional quality of royal jelly based on the pollen patties they are fed. Pollen patties made of oak or rapeseed bee pollen were given to young worker bees, and the harvested royal jelly was analyzed for its chemical composition, which is of nutritional importance. Surprisingly, the nutritional levels of the pollen patties did not significantly impact the overall composition of the royal jelly, except for the crude fat. Despite differences in the protein intensity, 10-HDA content, the key indicator of the royal jelly quality, remained consistent between the oak and rapeseed pollen patty treatments. The findings suggest that honey bees possess a mechanism to compensate for nutritional variations in pollen patties.Young workers, i.e., nurse honey bees, synthesize and secrete royal jelly to feed the brood and queen. Since royal jelly is a protein-rich substance, the quality of royal jelly may be influenced by the consumption of feed with varying protein content. We tested whether honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies compensates for the nutritional quality to produce royal jelly by feeding different pollen patties made of oak or rapeseed pollen. After harvesting royal jelly, we examined the chemical composition including proximate nutrients, amino acids, proteins, fatty acids, and minerals of royal jelly samples obtained from two treatments. The results revealed that pollen patties with different nutritional levels did not influence the nutritional composition except for the crude fat. The levels of 10-HDA, which serves as an indicator of the royal jelly quality, showed no significant difference between the oak and rapeseed treatments, with values of 1.9 and 2.1 g/100 g, respectively. However, we found some differences in the protein intensity, particularly the MRJP3 precursor, MRJP3-like, and glucose oxidase. This study suggests that honey bees may have mechanisms to compensate for nutritional standards to meet the brood’s and queen’s nutritional requirements during bee pollen collection, preserving bee bread and royal jelly secretion.

Honey bees are crucial for pollination services globally and produce important hive products including honey, royal jelly, pollen, and propolis that are being used commercially in food, cosmetics, and alternative medicinal purposes. Among the bee products, royal jelly (RJ) has long attracted scientists’ interest because of its importance in honey caste differentiation. The present research was carried out to determine the acceptance rate of queen cells, and RJ production between the hygienic and non-hygienic lines. Further, this study unveils the effect of pollen substitute diets on the queen cell acceptance rate and RJ yields between both bee stocks. Results showed that the uncapped brood cells and dead brood’s removal percentage was significantly more in hygienic bee colonies in comparison to non-hygienic bee colonies (p < 0.05). The average percentage of larval acceptance was statistically higher in hygienic lines (64.33 ± 2.91%) compared to non-hygienic lines (29.67 ± 1.20%). Similarly, the RJ mean weight per colony differed statistically between both bee stocks (p<0.001), which were 12.23 ± 0.52 g and 6.72 ± 0.33 g, respectively. Moreover, our results demonstrated that a significant difference was observed in larval acceptance rate, RJ yields (per colony and per cup) between both bee stocks those fed on various diets. However, no significant difference was recorded in RJ yields (per colony and per cup) between both bee stock that feeds on either commercially available pollen or pollen substitute. This study may provide future applications in helping bee breeders to choose the bees that carry a higher level of hygienic behavior with high RJ production traits.

Honey bees are crucial for pollination services globally and produce important hive products including honey, royal jelly, pollen, and propolis that are being used commercially in food, cosmetics, and alternative medicinal purposes. Among the bee products, royal jelly (RJ) has long attracted scientists' interest because of its importance in honey caste differentiation. The present research was carried out to determine the acceptance rate of queen cells, and RJ production between the hygienic and non-hygienic lines. Further, this study unveils the effect of pollen substitute diets on the queen cell acceptance rate and RJ yields between both bee stocks. Results showed that the uncapped brood cells and dead brood's removal percentage was significantly more in hygienic bee colonies in comparison to non-hygienic bee colonies (p < 0.05). The average percentage of larval acceptance was statistically higher in hygienic lines (64.33 ± 2.91%) compared to non-hygienic lines (29.67 ± 1.20%). Similarly, the RJ mean weight per colony differed statistically between both bee stocks (p<0.001), which were 12.23 ± 0.52 g and 6.72 ± 0.33 g, respectively. Moreover, our results demonstrated that a significant difference was observed in larval acceptance rate, RJ yields (per colony and per cup) between both bee stocks those fed on various diets. However, no significant difference was recorded in RJ yields (per colony and per cup) between both bee stock that feeds on either commercially available pollen or pollen substitute. This study may provide future applications in helping bee breeders to choose the bees that carry a higher level of hygienic behavior with high RJ production traits.

Ever since the seminal papers of Hamilton (1964), a common focus of sociobiology has been the genetic relationships among individuals of insect societies. At issue are agents that reduce the average relatedness among colony members since they are difficult to interpret in light of the evolution of sociality by kin selection. One such factor is polyandry or female multiple mating. Low levels of polyandry are common among the social Hymenoptera, occurring across a broad range of taxa and social systems (Page and Metcalf 1982; Page 1986; Crozier and Pamilo 1996). In spite of that, high mating frequencies (‚2 mates/ female) are relatively rare among the highly eusocial Hymenoptera, limited to only one or a few genera in each of the ants, bees, and wasps (Boomsma and Ratnieks 1996). These extraordinary levels of polyandry have been of particular interest among students of social insect research since their adaptive significance is still in question and highly debated (Kraus and Page 1998; Sherman et al. 1998). The genus Apis has been studied in depth for both queen reproductive behavior and mating frequency, facts that allow insight into the evolution of extreme polyandry in these species. The reproductive behavior of honey bee queens (Apis mellifera) occurs early in their lifetimes. Virgin queens initiate mating behavior when they are about 1 wk old by briefly exiting the colony and orienting to local landmarks (Ruttner 1956). After such orientation * To whom correspondence should be addressed; e-mail: drtarpy@

Worker honeybees (Apis mellifera) usually only lay eggs when their colony is queenless. However, an extremely rare 'anarchistic' phenotype occurs, in which workers develop functional ovaries and lay large numbers of haploid eggs which develop into adult drones despite the presence of the queen. Studies of such colonies can give important insights into the mechanisms by which worker sterility is maintained in normal colonies. Here we report on the results of a breeding programme which enhanced the frequency of the anarchistic phenotype. Colonies derived from queens inseminated only by worker-laid males showed up to 9% of workers with highly developed ovaries. In these colonies a large proportion of males arose from worker-laid eggs. Colonies headed by queens inseminated with 50% worker-laid drones and 50% queen-laid drones showed variable phenotypes. In most such colonies there was no worker reproduction. In some, many workers had highly developed ovaries, but no worker-laid eggs were reared. In one colony, many worker-laid eggs were reared to maturity. The results suggest that the anarchy phenotype results from a complex interaction of queen genotype, the worker genotype of subfamilies that successfully reproduce and of those that do not, and the external environment.

Royal jelly–induced asthma and anaphylaxis: Clinical characteristics and immunologic correlations

Honey bee colonies were exposed to pesticides used in agriculture or within bee hives by beekeepers: coumaphos; diazinon; amitraz or fluvalinate. Samples of bee workers, larvae and royal jelly were analysed using Gas Chromatography-Electron Capture Detection (GC-ECD). Amitraz was quantified using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and Gas Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) was used for quantification of diazinon. Sixth day after treatment, coumaphos was found in the royal jelly (250 ng/g) secreted by nurse workers and fluvalinate was found in both bee heads (105 ng/g, 8 days after treatment) and in larvae (110 ng/g, 4 days after treatment). Amitraz residues in all sampled material were below the level of detection of 10 ng/g. Diazinon was not detected in any of the analysed samples. The large quantities of fluvalinate found in bee heads and larvae, the coumaphos residues in royal jelly, and additional potential sub-lethal effects on individual honey bees or brood are discussed.

Honey bees are both important pollinators and model insects due to their highly developed sociality and colony management. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying honey bee colony management, it is important to investigate the expression of genes putatively involved in colony physiology. Although quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) can be used to quantify the relative expression of target genes, internal reference genes (which are stably expressed across different conditions) must first be identified to ensure accurate normalisation of target genes. To identify reliable reference genes in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies, therefore, we evaluated seven candidate genes (ACT, EIF, EF1, RPN2, RPS5, RPS18 and GAPDH) in samples collected from three honey bee tissue types (head, thorax and abdomen) across all four seasons using three analysis programmes (NormFinder, BestKeeper and geNorm). Subsequently, we validated various normalisation methods using each of the seven reference genes and a combination of multiple genes by calculating the expression of catalase (CAT). Although the genes ranked as the most stable gene were slightly different on conditions and analysis methods, our results suggest that RPS5, RPS18 and GAPDH represent optimal honey bee reference genes for target gene normalisation in qRT-PCR analysis of various honey bee tissue samples collected across seasons.

The practice of migratory beekeeping is based on moving honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies between different locations to intensify agricultural production through improved pollination services. However, due to stress caused by exposure of bee hives to different environments, migratory beekeeping activities can lead colonies to greater susceptibility of these insects to pathogens and pests, thus leading to population decline and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the health profile of apiaries that adopt two types of management (stationary and migratory), located in the central-eastern region of São Paulo state, Brazil, during two sampling periods, one in spring (October 2010), and one in autumn (May 2011). We collected 474 samples of honeycomb from the brood area, combs containing capped brood, adult bees that covered the brood area, and foraging bees, to evaluate the presence and prevalence of Paenibacillus larvae, Varroa destructor, Nosema apis and N. ceranae. Seasonality was identified as a determining factor in the health condition of Africanized A. mellifera colonies, causing a stronger effect on health than the type of management employed (stationary vs migratory beekeeping). The infection rates of N. ceranae were higher during the autumn in relation to the spring (387 ± 554 spores per bee in the spring and 1,167 ± 1,202 spores per bee in the autumn in stationary apiaries and 361 ± 687 spores per bee in the spring and 1,082 ± 1,277 spores per bee in the autumn in migratory apiaries). The same pattern was found for infestation rates of V. destructor (2.83 ± 1.97 in the spring and 9.48 ± 6.15 in the autumn in stationary apiaries and 3.25 ± 2.32 in the spring and 6.34 ± 6.58 in the autumn in migratory apiaries). These results demonstrate that the seasonality affects the health of A. mellifera colonies, but it does not depend on the type of management adopted (stationary or migratory).

The objective of this study was to measure the efficacy of two organic acid treatments, formic acid (FA) and oxalic acid (OA) for the spring control of Varroa destructor (Anderson and Trueman) in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies. Forty-eight varroa-infested colonies were randomly distributed amongst six experimental groups (n = 8 colonies per group): one control group (G1); two groups tested applications of different dosages of a 40 g OA/l sugar solution 1:1 trickled on bees (G2 and G3); three groups tested different applications of FA: 35 ml of 65% FA in an absorbent Dri-Loc(®) pad (G4); 35 ml of 65% FA poured directly on the hive bottom board (G5) and MiteAwayII™ (G6). The efficacy of treatments (varroa drop), colony development, honey yield and hive survival were monitored from May until September. Five honey bee queens died during this research, all of which were in the FA treated colonies (G4, G5 and G6). G6 colonies had significantly lower brood build-up during the beekeeping season. Brood populations at the end of summer were significantly higher in G2 colonies. Spring honey yield per colony was significantly lower in G6 and higher in G1. Summer honey flow was significantly lower in G6 and higher in G3 and G5. During the treatment period, there was an increase of mite drop in all the treated colonies. Varroa daily drop at the end of the beekeeping season (September) was significantly higher in G1 and significantly lower in G6. The average number of dead bees found in front of hives during treatment was significantly lower in G1, G2 and G3 versus G4, G5 and G6. Results suggest that varroa control is obtained from all spring treatment options. However, all groups treated with FA showed slower summer hive population build-up resulting in reduced honey flow and weaker hives at the end of summer. FA had an immediate toxic effect on bees that resulted in queen death in five colonies. The OA treatments that were tested have minimal toxic impacts on the honey bee colonies.

The aim of this study was to reveal differences in the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of royal jellies (RJs) produced by honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies fed with 3 different industrial sugars at 2 different locations. VOCs in the RJ samples were extracted via headspace-solid phase micro-extraction and analysed by gas chromatography‒mass spectrometry. In total, 46 compounds, including 3 esters, 14 alcohols, 5 acids, 1 aldehyde, 14 ketones, 3 lactones, 2 terpenes and 4 other compounds, were identified in the RJ samples obtained from honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies reared in Doğanşehir. A total of 45 compounds, including 3 esters, 14 alcohols, 5 acids, 1 aldehyde, 14 ketones, 4 lactones, 2 terpenes and 2 other compounds, were detected in the RJ samples obtained from honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies reared in the Uluköy location. It has been determined that different locations and different feeding conditions significantly affect the composition and amounts of volatile organic compounds in royal jelly.

Investigators have shown (Stanghellini et al. 2000; Spiewok and Newman 2006; Hoffman et al. 2008) that commercial bumble bee (Bombus impatiens Cresson, Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies can serve as potential alternative hosts for the small hive beetle (SHB, Aethina tumida Murray, Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), a honey bee pest (Lundie 1940; Neumann and Elzen 2004; Ellis and Hepburn 2006). Using olfactory choice tests, Graham et al. (2011) found that SHB attraction to bumble bee colonies is chemically mediated. Since SHBs are attracted to bumble bee and honey bee colonies, we expected the volatile profiles produced by bumble bee and honey bee colony components to be similar. To test this, airborne volatiles produced by bumble bee and honey bee adults, brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae), honey, stored pollen (= bee bread), and wax were collected and analyzed. In June 2007, two commercial bumble bee (B. impatiens) quads (= eight colonies; Koppert Biological Systems, Inc., Romulus, MI) were established at the University of Florida’s Bee Biology Unit in Gainesville, FL (37.629′′29° N, 21.405′′82° W). Both quads consisted of four bumble bee colonies containing a reproductive queen, 200–250 workers, brood, and nesting material. Eight queenright honey bee colonies were housed in typical Langstroth style equipment at the University of Florida’s Bee Biology Unit in Gainesville, FL. Volatiles were collected from colony components using methods modified from Suazo et al. (2003). The colony components (adult bees, brood, honey, pollen, and wax) were extracted from eight bumble bee and eight honey bee colonies. The samples were placed in glass volatile collection chambers (3.8 L) by component and colony at the USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE, Gainesville, FL). All volatile collections were conducted in a controlled environmental chamber maintained without light and at an ambient temperature of ∼33 °C. Charcoal-filtered and humidified air, controlled by carboloy flowmeters, was passed through the volatile collection chambers and into SuperQ filters at a rate of 0.5 L/min. All component volatiles were collected for 14 h with the exception of brood volatiles that were collected for 7 h. The abbreviated time frame for volatile collection of brood was intended to avoid stressing the unattended brood, recognizing the fact that brood may still be stressed in the absence of adult workers. Adult bees were provisioned with a cotton wick saturated with a 50 % sugar water solution and an autoclaved steel mesh platform on which the adults could crawl to minimize stress. Volatiles trapped on the SuperQ filters were extracted by eluting the filter with 500 μL of methylene chloride. These samples were pooled by component and bee type and stored in a −70 °C freezer (Revco Scientific, Inc., Asheville, NC) at CMAVE until use. volatile / Bombus impatiens / bumble bee / Apis mellifera / honey bee / olfaction

This paper reports on trials conducted to kill managed and feral honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies to eradicate unwanted honey bee pests. The effectiveness of Pestigas‐P™ (natural pyrethrum) for the destruction of managed colonies was assessed. Pestigas‐P™ was effective when applied as a single 15‐s spray into an empty three‐quarter‐depth super and across the top of the frames. This allowed the gas to filter throughout the hive. Piperonyl butoxide (wax = 42.28 mg/kg, honey = 0.34 mg/kg, propolis = 9.2 mg/kg, floor scrapings = 270.34 mg/kg) and pyrethrum (wax = 21.3 mg/kg, honey = 0.06 mg/ kg, propolis = 6.8 mg/kg, floor scrapings = 172.4 mg/kg) residues were found in the hive but after 4 weeks these had no detectable effect on newly introduced honey bee colonies. Combined analyses of attractiveness, toxicity, and lethal time trials identified Ascend® 200SC (a.i. fipronil) as effective for depopulating feral honey bee colonies in New Zealand using poisoned baits. Ascend® 200SC is a slow acting stomach toxin. The effect of Ascend® on feral honey bee colonies was assessed in Canterbury, New Zealand in 2003. Nucleus colonies were placed between bait stations set out in a 4km2 grid. The stations were pre‐baited with sugar syrup which was replaced with sugar syrup containing fipronil (0.05 ml/litre) once 300 bees were foraging from a single bait station. In the autumn trial all 20 colonies died within 13 days of poisoning. After 6 weeks the effect of poisoned hives on the survival of newly introduced colonies was assessed. Five colonies were placed next to 10 poisoned hives in the original eradication area, five colonies were placed with 10 poisoned hives at least 4km from the original area, and an additional 10 colonies were placed at least 4km from the original area and 4 km apart. Introduced colonies are likely to die if they consume the stored fipronil in poisoned colonies. This persistent poisoning action increases the likelihood of a honey bee eradication attempt being successful, as the colonies that are not killed in the first round of poisoning may be poisoned by robbing honey containing fipronil from a previously poisoned hive. Fipronil remained toxic in honey for at least 26 months when stored at 0°C, 5°C, and 25°C.

The honey bee Apis mellifera L. is the most studied insect due to its ecological and economic importance as a plant pollinator and producer of honey, beeswax, royal jelly and propolis. In recent ye...

Feral Apis mellifera colonies are widespread globally and cause ecological impacts as pollinators and competitors for food and nesting opportunities. The magnitude of impact depends on their population density, but knowledge of this density is poor. We document feral A. mellifera colonies at 69 per km2 in fragmented Eucalyptus woodlands in Australia, exceeding estimates from elsewhere in the world, and matched only by one other Australian study. We surveyed 52.5 ha of woodland patches with 357 nest boxes installed to provide nesting opportunities for threatened vertebrates. Our sites covered a region of more than 140 km across with repeated surveys over 3 to 6 years. We show that nest box use by feral A. mellifera colonies is influenced by box design (p = 0.042), with weak evidence for an interactive effect of type of vegetation at a site (woodland remnants vs. replanting) and woody cover within 500 m (p = 0.091). At 69 colonies per km2, this density is equivalent to the recommended stocking of hives for pollination of some crops and is therefore likely to influence pollination and lead to competition with other flower visitors. Apis mellifera is also likely to be competing for hollows with cavity dependent native fauna, especially in landscapes where there has been extensive tree removal.