Large Numbers Of Bees Research Articles

Massive Envenomation by Bees Sting in a Child in Togo

Attacks by swarm of bees realize arrays of mass poisoning. We report the case of a 9 years old boy whoes severity was related to the large number of bees which was about 400 and their locations spread throughout the skin surface with a preponderance to the cephalic end. Complications were hemolytic anemia, kidney failure and convulsions. The outcome was favorable with symptomatic care and hemodialysis.

Rearing honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) in vitro: effects of feeding intervals on survival and development

SummaryA new and simple technique was developed to rear honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) in vitro. One day old larvae were grafted into Petri dishes and fed a basic diet at six different time intervals. There were no differences in the larval weights, survival rates or ovariole numbers of the bees among the groups that were fed at different intervals, but they were heavier and had larger ovaries than hive reared bees. It was shown that honey bees can be reared in vitro without replenishing their food daily. This simple mass provisioning technique reduces the labour involved, and enables the researcher to raise large number of bees in vitro.

Collective foraging in a stingless bee: dependence on food profitability and sequence of discovery

We examined the ability of Trigona recursa , a scent trail-laying stingless bee, to allocate foragers to the more profitable of two food sources. Imbibing time and imbibed volume of individuals were the same at feeders containing 20% or 40% w/w (weight in weight) sugar solution. However, sugar intake rate and sugar per crop load were significantly higher for the 40% solution, which was therefore more profitable. Collective foraging of two colonies was observed without interference with the recruitment process. One bee was trained to a 20% food source and another at the same time to a 40% source. Recruitment to both food sources started simultaneously. In all trials the majority of recruits landed at the 40% food source. This cannot be the result of bees comparing the two sugar concentrations because less than 1% of the recruits landed at both feeders. When we offered the 20% food source 90 min before the 40% source, the newcomers at the 40% food source never outnumbered the newcomers at the 20% source. Significantly more recruits landed at the less profitable food source. This is likely to be caused by a positive feedback resulting from the large number of bees that had already exploited the poor source and reinforced the scent trail. New recruits presumably selected the more intensively marked trail, neglecting the new and weakly marked one that would lead them to the richer food.

Worker piping triggers hissing for coordinated colony defence in the dwarf honeybee Apis florea

Defending a large social insect colony containing several thousands of workers requires the simultaneous action of many individuals. Ideally this action involves communication between the workers, enabling coordinated action and a fast response. The Asian dwarf honeybee, Apis florea, is a small honeybee with an open nesting habit and a comparatively small colony size, features that leave them particularly exposed to predators. We describe here a novel defence response of these bees in which the emission of an initial warning signal from one individual ("piping") is followed 0.3 to 0.7 seconds later by a general response from a large number of bees ("hissing"). Piping is audible to the human ear, with a fundamental frequency of 384 +/- 31Hz and lasting for 0.82 +/- 0.35 seconds. Hissing is a broad band, noisy signal, clearly audible to the human observer and produced by slight but visible movements of the bees' wings. Hissing begins in individuals close to the piping bee, spreads rapidly to neighbours and results in an impressive coordinated crescendo occasionally involving the entire colony. Piping and hissing are accompanied by a marked decrease, or even cessation, of worker activities such as forager dancing and departures from the colony. We show that whereas hissing of the colony can be elicited without piping, the sequential and correlated piping and hissing response is specific to the presence of potential predators close to the colony. We suggest that the combined audio-visual effect of the hissing might deter small predators, while the cessation of flight activity could decrease the risk of predation by birds and insects which prey selectively on flying bees.

Resin-collecting bees (Apidae) on Clusia palmicida (Clusiaceae) in a riparian forest in Brazil

Primary flower resources to bees, i.e. those that satisfy basic needs, such as feeding and reproduction (Faegri & van der Pijl 1979), include pollen, nectar, oil, resin and gums. Resins are used in nest construction as a waterproof and structural material (Simpson & Neff 1981). It is also excellent antimicrobial compound, and a sticky defence against ant attacks (Armbruster 1984, Dressler 1982, Lokvam & Braddock 1999, Michener 1990, Roubik 1989, Sakagami et al. 1989). Plant species with flowers which produce terpenoid resins are rare (Armbruster & Webster 1979). Clusia L. (Clusiaceae), Clusiella Planch. & Triana (Clusiaceae), and Dalechampia L. (Euphorbiaceae) are the only known plants that secrete resins from floral structures (Armbruster 1984, Armbruster & Webster 1979, Bittrich & Amaral 1996). Although resin-producing plants provide an essential resource for a large number of bees in tropical communities, there are few studies about resin-collecting bees on Clusia spp. Skutch (1971) was the first to report visits on Clusia by stingless bees to collect floral resin. Other reports include observations on C. odorata Seem. (Croat 1978, Ramirez & Gomez 1978), C. alata Pl. & Tr. (Ramirez & Gomez 1978), and C. nemorosa G. F. W. Meyer (Armbruster 1984, Bittrich & Amaral 1996, Lopes & Machado 1998, Mesquita & Fransciscon 1995). Recently, Bittrich & Amaral (1996, 1997) have described the flower morphology and pollination biology of other Clusia species from Central America and Venezuela.

Neutralization of bee venom lethality by immune serum antibodies.

The lethal effects of Africanized honey bee venom depend on the absorption of venom delivered during simultaneous sting attacks by large numbers of bees. The hypothesis that antibodies to whole bee venom and bee venom components could neutralize the lethal effect of bee venom was tested. Antibodies from beekeepers and immunized rabbits were incubated with bee venom and neutralization was studied by survival of intravenously injected mice. Beekeeper serum antibodies were found effective in protecting mice challenged with whole venom, and serum from rabbits immunized with phospholipase A2 (PLA2) was effective in protection against lethal effects of PLA2. Serum antibodies from rabbits immunized with whole venom or melittin were ineffective in neutralizing whole venom in vivo and had low titers in a venom enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results suggest the need for development of more effective methods for raising antitoxic antibodies to bee venom components in other animals as a means of developing an antiserum that would be effective for treatment of human victims of multiple bee stings.

EFFECT OF A STICKER ON THE TOXICITY OF PENNCAP-M® AND FURADAN® TO HONEY BEES1 WHEN THESE INSECTICIDES WERE SPRAYED ON FLOWERING ALFALFA23

Adding an experimental sticker did not markedly reduce the toxicity of either Furadan® (carbofuran) or Penncap-M® (a microencapsulated formulation of methyl parathion) to honey bees. When sprayed on flowering alfalfa, these insecticidal formulations killed large numbers of bees in colonies located on the borders of the sprayed fields. In a related study, Penncap-M, without the sticker, killed colonies placed adjacent to the treated field 5 hr after this spray was applied. In contrast, colonies placed next to a field 5 hr after it was sprayed with a combination of both the experimental sticker and Penncap-M lost only 11% as many bees as the colonies placed next to the field that was sprayed with only Penncap-M. In the Furadan-treated fields, the alfalfa foliage had 873 times more carbofuran residue per gram than the honey samples. Freshly collected pollen from pollen traps had 15 times more carbofuran, and dead bees had 6 times more carbofuran than the honey samples. In the Penncap-M-treated fields, the alfalfa foliage had 356 times more methyl parathion than the dead bee samples. Pollen contained 21 times more parathion per gram than the dead bees. Honey from the Penncap-M-treated fields was not analyzed.

A Technique for Laboratory Rearing Immature Alfalfa Leafcutter Bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)1,2

A rearing method was devised to observe the development of all immature stages of the alfalfa leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata (F.). A nesting block made of ¾- in. chipboard (Fig. 1) was used in which holes 1 cm deep were made with a ¼-in. steel drill. Paper soda straws (Sweetheart® no. 302, Coast Maid Paper Products Co., Los Angeles, Calif.) 7/32 in. ID cut into 1-cm lengths were inserted into the chipboard holes. These shallow nesting blocks were placed beside conventional nest blocks where large numbers of bees were actively constructing cells.

Efeito da exclusão dos insetos polinizadores na produção do café Bourbon

O presente ensaio, realizado com a var. bourbon de Coffea arabica, além de dar informações sôbre a produção dos cafeeiros protegidos dos insetos polinizadores, permitiu também averiguar o comportamento de várias espécies de abelhas e obter outras informações correlatas. Constatou-se, assim, que o néctar da flor é ainda abundante mesmo 24 horas após a antese e que o teor de açúcar do néctar é elevado, da ordem de 38%, em média. Apis mellifera foi a espécie mais freqüentemente encontrada coletando o néctar e o pólen. Em dias chuvosos, muitas das abelhas dessa espécie apenas coletam o pólen. Das abelhas indígenas, somente Plebéia sp. e Nannotrigona (Na.) testaceicomis e Melipona quadrifasciata foram encontradas colhendo o pólen. Com tempo bom, as abelhas visitam as flôres do café em grande número, tendo-se notado que A. mellifera ocorre com maior freqüência em horas próximas do meio dia, à temperatura de 30 a 32°C. As abelhas Plebeia sp. e N. (Na.) testaceicomis iniciam o vôo mais tarde que a A. mellifera. Em observações realizadas no decurso de 24 horas verificou-se que uma abelha européia trabalhou num território de 13m x 6m, enquanto outras abelhas marcadas não foram vistas novamente. As observações feitas indicaram também que as abelhas grandes, como A. mellifera e Melipona quadrifasciata, são mais eficientes do que as pequenas como polinizadoras do cafeeiro. Em flores mais velhas, com a base da corola já desprendida, encontraram-se as abelhas menores, lambendo diretamente os nectários. As espécies de meliponíneos Plebeia sp., Tetragona (Tetragonisca) jaty, N. (Na.) testaceicomis e Trigona (Trigona) ruficrus, foram vistas muitas vêzes alcançando os nectários através de cortes feitos na base das corolas por Trigona (Trigona) hyalinata. Observações adicionais mostraram que as abelhas M. quadrifasciata e Cephalotrigona capitata, bem como A. mellifera, dão preferência as flôres de exemplares oriundos de Coffea Dewevrei, que são maiores do que as do café Bourbon e têm perfume mais intenso. Apesar da ocorrência dos insetos colhendo néctar e pólen, os dados de produção de café cereja não mostraram diferenças significativas entre as plantas protegidas e sem proteção. Notou-se apenas uma tendência, em cinco dos seis anos analisados, de serem maiores as produções das plantas sem proteção e, portanto, visitadas por insetos. Os dados de frutificação obtidos indicaram, também, melhor pegamento dos frutos nas plantas sem proteção. Nestes cafeeiros as porcentagens de sementes moca mostraram-se significativamente maiores, enquanto as porcentagens de sementes concha, embora também maiores, não se mostraram significativas. A quantidade de frutos com lojas sem sementes e o tamanho das sementes não diferiram nos dois tratamentos. A influência das abelhas na polinização do cafeeiro deve, pois, ser pràticamente limitada às espécies autoestéreis de Coffea. Os dados aqui obtidos indicam que o papel desempenhado pelos insetos em promover maior polinização e aumento de produção dos cafeeiros da var. bourbon, é de importância secundária.

A Technique for Mass-Marking Honeybees

The study of honeybee behaviour and activity requires, among other things, some means of positively identifying both individuals and groups of honeybees. Research workers have for years applied quick during paints to the thorax or abdomen of the honeybee for this purpose. However, where large numbers of bees must be marked, the hand application of paints is a rather slow and tedious procedure and at its best allows for the marking of a comparatively small number of insects.