A considerable part of the knowledge about the honey bee parasite Varroa destructor emerged from rearing protocols in semi-natural or laboratory conditions, yet a durable protocol over several generations of mites is still lacking. The development of such multigenerational rearing relies on the emergence of a sufficient number of new fertile females in the first generation of V. destructor. The optimization

Monolecty in bees was defined a century ago for those species that consistently collect pollen only from the same single species of floral host. Even at the time, the term was considered “a curiosity” with little biological meaning. Here, I review its multiple problems and suggest that its utility would improve if we apply the term monolecty to those bees species that use a single genus (not species)

For bees to reach isolated islands, they need to be able to cross large water barriers. However, functional traits such as nesting behavior, flight range, and body size can limit their dispersal. In this study, the bee faunas of seven different islands or island groups (Anholt, Canary Islands, Fiji Islands, Hawaiian Islands, Madeira, Malta, and Sri Lanka) were analyzed by comparing them to the mainland

Modern techniques of selective breeding show high potential to improve economically important traits of honey bees. However, breeding may neglect fundamental rules of natural selection. The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of selection and local adaptation on some relevant breeding traits of Apis mellifera carnica. We compared open mated queens from three different origins: local

Two-day-old honeybee workers (± 6 h) were placed in cages and supplied with sucrose solution (1 mol/dm3) ad libitum. Subsequently, the cages with bees were placed in an electric field (E-field) exposure system with field intensities of 5.0 kV/m, 11.5 kV/m, 23 kV/m, and 34.5 kV/m. The duration of exposure was 1 h, 3 h, and 6 h. The biochemical parameters SOD (superoxide dismutase), CAT (catalase), FRAP

We measured abundance, diversity, and richness of Euglossa bees (Euglossini, Apidae) in lowland semi-deciduous forest in Darién National Park, Panamá, during the wet and dry seasons in the canopy and understory for five consecutive years (2013 to 2017) using McPhail traps baited with eucalyptus oil. We found a precipitous decline in abundance and richness throughout the 5 years of our study. Alpha

Thermotolerance has often been linked to species distribution for a diverse range of organisms. In the context of climate change, assessing heat resistance ability is useful for understanding potential future range shifts and the physiological response of populations. As bumblebee (Bombus) populations have been declining for several decades with several documented range shifts, an assessment of the

The present study was conducted to quantify at the individual level the grooming behavior of bees from resistant colonies and susceptible colonies. Experienced and naive bees from resistant colonies were compared to experienced and naive bees from susceptible colonies at the age of 4, 7, 15 and 21 days. In a total of 480 assays, resistant bees successfully groomed off 10 times more mites placed than

In vitro rearing of honey bees is becoming a widely employed procedure. Nevertheless, few studies have assessed its impact on brood development considering nutritional and social differences between both in vitro and in-hive rearing contexts. We compared developmental parameters between these two contexts using an intra-frame grafting procedure. We confirmed a grafting effect on development. However

Orchid bees are important long-distance pollinators in Neotropical rainforests. Despite their great flight capacity, some species avoid leaving the forest and might be then more vulnerable to the negative effects of habitat fragmentation. Here, we sampled the euglossine fauna from a forest fragment in an urban zone and compared the data to two surveys conducted in the same area 28 and 20 years before

Like Apis mellifera queens and different from all other bees, drones also have an exaggerated gonad phenotype, with over 150 serial units in each gonad. Yet, compared with the ovaries of the female castes, little is known about the development of the honey bee testis. Here we present a histological atlas on postembryonic testis development and spermatogenesis. Already in the first instar larvae, the

Adult honeybee queens and workers drastically differ in ovary state and ovary size. However, this reproductive bias is only partially understood from the view of a single RNA type. In this study, we predicted 10,271 mRNAs, 7235 lncRNAs, 11,794 circRNAs, and 164 miRNAs in the ovary of honeybee workers through bioinformatics. Combining RNA sequencing data of honeybee virgin queens, 4385 mRNAs, 2390 lncRNAs

We evaluated the microalga Arthrospira platensis (commonly called spirulina), as a pollen substitute for honey bees. Nutritional analyses indicated that spirulina is rich in essential amino acids and a wide variety of functional lipids (i.e., phospholipids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and sterols) common in pollen. Feeding bioassays were used to compare dry and fresh laboratory-grown spirulina with

Grooming behavior confers resistance to honey bees against the mite Varroa destructor and thus is a mechanism of interest for studies of social immunity and breeding purposes. However, mites are not always available to conduct grooming assays and can introduce variability to the evaluations. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the use of wheat flour as an irritant in a laboratory

The populations of wild honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in the USA were decimated after the arrival of a parasitic mite Varroa destructor in the 1980s. However, in some places, wild honey bee colonies survived. In this 3-year study, we analyzed 32 wild and 11 managed colonies in Southwestern Pennsylvania for their maternal genetic ancestries and their levels of Nosema spp. infection. We detected

Tetrapedia diversipes is an oil-collecting solitary species widely distributed in the Neotropical region. The high incidence of this species in trap nests makes it potentially a model species for ecological, genetic, evolutionary, and physiological studies. Here, we performed a population genetic study by using mitochondrial and microsatellite markers. This study aimed to investigate the genetic diversity

Sterols are essential nutrients for bees which are thought to obtain them exclusively from pollen. It is possible that variability in pollen sterol content shapes pollinator-flower relationships, as bee species require the physiological capacity or behavioral adaptations to cope with unfavorable sterolic composition of pollen. One behavioral adaptation used by generalist bees to avoid deficiencies

We studied phototaxis, the directional movement relative to light, in the bumble bee Bombus terrestris. We first developed and validated a MATLAB-based system enabling reliable high-resolution tracking of a bee and a measurement of her distance relative to a changing LED light source. Using this system, we found in all our experiments that workers show positive phototaxis. The strength of the phototactic

Successful honey bee breeding programmes require traits that can be genetically improved by selection. Heritabilities for production, behaviour, and health traits, as well as their phenotypic correlations, were estimated in two distinct Swiss Apis mellifera mellifera and Apis mellifera carnica populations based on 9 years of performance records and more than two decades of pedigree information. Breeding

Bees (Apoidea) are the main pollinator group in Mediterranean ecosystems, having a dominant role as connectors of modules (groups of species tightly linked in pollination networks), but little is known about the role of particular species. Here, we analyse data from four Iberian networks, and we pay special attention to the role played by the solitary snail-shell bee Rhodanthidium sticticum (Fabricius

Repetitive DNA sequences have been related to the maintenance of heterochromatin, evolution, and speciation, mainly due to the variations to which they are subject. Bees of the Meliponini tribe generally possess large amounts of heterochromatin that occupy the long arm of the chromosomes or even almost the entire chromosome. Although widely studied by conventional methods, little is known about the

Bee pollen gathering from a few related plant species is a specialisation known as oligolecty. Although it is an extended phenomenon, it has been scarcely explored in oil-collecting bees. At the geographic level, there is little information about oligolecty persistence and also about phenotypic variation of bees related with abiotic factors. We studied the pollen collection specialisation of the oil-collecting

Viral infections are commonly associated with honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony mortality. Using metagenomics, we previously identified 8 viruses from populations of honey bees and 11 other bee species around the world. These viruses had not been previously been described as bee-infecting viruses, and belong to viral families that are not commonly described in bees. To provide a fine-scale characterization

Bees are vital pollinators, but are faced with numerous threats that include loss of floral resources and emerging parasites amongst others. Urbanisation is a rapidly expanding driver of land-use change that may interact with these two major threats to bees. Here we investigated effects of urbanisation on food store quality and colony health in honeybees (Apis mellifera) by sampling 51 hives in four

The species-specific responses to climate change can result in discordant range shifts, leading to changes in associations among species. In this study, we tested whether climate change can affect the spatial association between the plant Mimosa scabrella and the stingless bees Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides and M. quadrifasciata quadrifasciata. Ecological niche models were used to predict current

Air pollutants and agricultural pesticides can be environmental stressors to pollinators. In this study, to investigate the expression of detoxification-related genes and heavy metal concentrations in honey bees and honey possibly exposed to environmental stresses, we collected samples from apiaries located in mountainous, agricultural, and urban areas. Compared with the mountainous and agricultural

The mite Varroa destructor is an important honey bee parasite that causes substantial losses of honey bee colonies worldwide. Evolutionary theory suggests that the high densities at which honey bees are managed in large-scale beekeeping settings will likely select for mites with greater growth and virulence, thereby potentially explaining the major damage done by these mites. We tested this hypothesis

Bumblebees are important pollinating insects, but many species have suffered declines over the last century. Long-tongued bumblebees have been identified as particularly at risk, partly due to their more selective diet. Attempts to study these species in captivity have been impeded by stress-induced behaviours which cause queens to kill or abandon their brood. Here, we attempt to further develop techniques

Recent concerns regarding potential effects of pesticides on pollinators have prompted regulatory agencies to estimate dietary ingestion rates for honey bees (Apis mellifera). The task is difficult because of the complex caste and food storage systems in honey bee colonies. Considerable data on the nutrition and energetics of honey bees have recently been collated. These data were used to parameterize

Heriades truncorum (Megachilidae) is a specialist bee that forages on Asteraceae and collects pollen by tapping its abdomen on pollen-presenting florets which places the grains directly in the ventral scopa. We tracked pollen transfer by female H. truncorum between conspecific inflorescences of Inula ensifolia and Pulicaria dysenterica by labelling pollen with quantum dots. On average, bees transferred

The aim of this study was to assess potential harmful lethal and sublethal effects of commercial plant protection product containing Bacillus amyloliquefaciens QST 713 (formerly subtilis) spores on winter adult honeybees according to OECD 245 (2017). Caged winter honeybees fed 10 days with a sucrose solution (50% w/w) ad libitum spiked with a maximum application field rate of 1/1 and its 1/10 showed

The mechanisms by which pollen is digested by honey bees are incompletely understood. Potential methods are thought to include pseudogermination, mechanical disruption, enzymatic breakdown, or osmotic shock. Understanding the role of pseudogermination in this process has been hampered by a lack of tools demonstrating retention of metabolic activity in pollen collected by honey bees. Here, we show that

This study was conducted to evaluate the Indiana “mite-biter” honey bee stock, which has been selected for increased mutilation of Varroa destructor mites (“mite biting” behavior). A comparison between colonies of the selected stock and colonies of unselected Italian bees showed that the proportion of mutilated mites, the severity of mutilations, and winter colony survival were higher in Indiana mite-biter

Exposure to pesticides is a potential concern for pollinators that may forage on plants containing residues. A key element of estimating dietary risk to pollinators is to determine the nature and amount of food consumed by individuals. Recent efforts have focused on honey bees (Apis mellifera), of which nectar foragers are thought to be at greatest risk of dietary exposure due to their foraging behavior

Determining bee flight capacity is crucial for developing management strategies for bee conservation and/or crop pollination and purposes. In this study, we determined the flight distance of the stingless bee Melipona fasciculata using the radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology. For this, we conducted two translocation experiments using workers equipped with RFID microsensors: (1) release

Brood parasites need to overcome host detection in order to exploit their target resource. Nest invasion by brood parasites is possibly enabled either by chemical mimicry (innate odour match with host), camouflage (acquired odour match with host) and/or chemical insignificance (odour reduction). We analysed which of these strategies may be used by the cuckoo bees Sphecodes monilicornis and S. puncticeps

Euglossini is an important tribe of Neotropical bees found primarily in wet forest environments, although their distribution extends to seasonal tropical forests and mountainous grassland habitats. However, little is known about the geography and diversity of euglossine bees in mountain regions, particularly in the Brazilian semi-arid Cerrado vegetation. We evaluated the distribution of euglossine

Emergent properties of eusocial insect colonies (e.g., nest architecture and defense) highlight benefits of group living. Such emergent properties, however, may only function as a benefit if the group is large enough. We tested the effect of group size on colony-level fever in honey bees. When a colony is infected with Ascosphaera apis, a heat-sensitive brood pathogen, adult bees raise the temperature

The fertility and fecundity of the queen are vital to the success of a honey bee colony (Apis mellifera L.). Young mated queens are shipped worldwide to meet the demand of the beekeeping industry. Since little is known about the conditions experienced by queens in transit from breeders to beekeepers and the importance of these conditions on the queens’ reproductive potential, we conducted a two-part

We studied the realized niche of two distant allopatric wool-carder bee populations (bee-plant interaction and reproductive biology in weather variability). In one population, we analyzed the direct and indirect effects of weather on bee-resource interactions. The two populations shared several niche characteristics but showed some differences. Anthidium vigintipunctatum is a specialist species, with

Abstract This study examined shifts over a 35-year period in the phenology of the four most important bumblebee species (Bombus terrestris, B. lapidarius, B. pascuorum and B. hortorum) in Central Europe. The species showed similar temporal trends, significantly advancing components of their main flight period in association with rising temperatures such that, for example, mid-dates of the main flight

Abstract The absence of a full pedigree can hinder selective breeding efforts. In honeybees, definitive maternity and especially paternity of queens is difficult to determine, even under managed mating schemes (e.g. using artificial insemination) due to the negative effects of single-drone mating on colony fitness. Here we genotyped 388 living queens from two beekeeping operations using Genotyping-by-Sequencing

Abstract Honey bee abdominal pigmentation is one of the most recognisable traits and it is often used by beekeepers as an indicator of M-lineage subspecies purity. However, this approach may negatively impact population diversity and is futile if there is no association between tergite colour patterns and the genetic background. To assess whether this trait can be used as a proxy for introgression

Abstract Imidacloprid (IMD) may affect proteolysis, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and global DNA methylation in honeybees. Queens, drones, and workers aged 1 or 20 days were exposed (free-flying colonies) to IMD (5 ppb and 200 ppb) in their diet. As a result, the colony depopulation did not occurred. IMD disturbed hemolymph/cuticle proteolysis;

Abstract The waggle dances of honey bees provide information about the location of food sources and their quality. This study aimed to investigate how the quality of food sources affects different components of the dance. For the first time, we analysed in detail both the waggle phase and the return phase of the dance using a high-speed camera. The frequency of wing beats in the waggle phase and the

Abstract The eastern honey bee (Apis cerana) is an important managed pollinator adapted to forest landscapes in China and other Asian countries adjacent to China. Eastern honey bee is thought to be threatened by forage deficiency due to deforestation; however, limited research is available to support this assumption. Our study will determine whether varying subtropical forests, the major shelter of

Abstract Various reports recently informed about the effects of contaminated or adulterated wax foundations as a main cause of poor brood and colony development. Beekeepers reported that affected colonies were showing a holey brood pattern and a decline in population size. Twenty-five samples of wax foundations were collected from different sources in Germany. Samples were analyzed using a multi-residue

Abstract Food shortage, along with biotic stressors, contributes to winter honey bee colony losses. In autumn, to support honey bee colonies and prepare them for the winter season, beekeepers can supply homemade syrups which could contain compounds with possible negative side effects. In this study, we investigated the toxicity of one of those compounds (e.g., hydroxymethylfurfural, HMF) at doses consistent

Abstract Phoretic mites associated with bumblebees are considered commensals that represent little or no risk for their hosts. The aim of the present study was to assess the potential role of the phoretic mites Pneumolaelaps longanalis and Parasitellus fucorum, as carriers of parasites that are known to affect bees. Mites were extracted from bumblebees dating between 1945 and 1981 which belong to museum

Abstract The body mass of honey bee (Apis mellifera) drones was investigated during a post-capping development under four temperature regimes: constant low temperature (32 °C), constant high temperature (35 °C), low temperature in the early stage followed by high temperature in the later stage, and high temperature in the early stage followed by low temperature in the later stage. The temperature regimes

Abstract Honeybees are very sensitive to their breeding temperature. Even slightly lower temperatures during larval development can significantly affect adult behavior. Several devices which are employed for killing the honeybee ectoparasite Varroa destructor rely on short-term hyperthermia in the honeybee hive. The device used here applies 43.7 °C for 2 h, which is highly effective in killing the

Abstract Sex determination is one of the major developmental events in higher metazoans, where complex molecular mechanisms define two physiologically and behaviorally distinct organisms still genetically compatible. In honey bees, the sex determination cascade is initiated by the allelic composition of complementary sex determiner (csd) gene: males develop from hemi or homozygous embryos, whereas

Abstract Nosema ceranae is a microsporidian parasite that is pathogenic to honey bees, causing disease at the individual and colony level. N. ceranae infection can be controlled by treatment with Fumagillin, but as this the future of this drug is uncertain, alternative treatment strategies are critical. Genomic examination of proteostasis pathways in N. ceranae and its host, Apis mellifera, has revealed

Abstract The analysis of mitochondrial DNA polymorphism has been applied in multiple organisms to obtain information about species biology, ecology, population dynamics, and evolution. In this manuscript, the complete sequencing and characterization of the mitochondrial genome (mtGenome) of Tetrapedia diversipes are reported and discussed from comparative and evolutionary perspectives among all mtGenomes

Abstract Over the past decade, the importance of the beekeeping activities has been emphasized in the field of biodiversity, ecosystems, agriculture, and human health. Thus, deciding correct beekeeping activities seems essential to maintain and improve productivity and efficiency. Due to this importance, considering the economic contributions of beekeeping to the rural area, the need for suitability

Abstract Euglossine bees are an ecologically important group, which due to their diverse resource needs act as pollinators of many neotropical plants. Male euglossines collect fragrant compounds used in mating displays from diverse sources, including the flowers of orchids and other plants. This aspect of euglossine biology has proven exceptionally useful for studies of euglossine bee populations,

Abstract Despite growing concerns over the impacts of agricultural pesticides on honey bee health, miticides (a group of pesticides used within hives to kill bee parasites) have received little attention. We know very little about how miticides might affect bee cognition, particularly in interaction with other known stressors, such as crop insecticides. Visual learning is essential for foraging bees

Most temperate wild bees overwinter in the larval or imaginal stage inside their nests after the entire larval food provisions have been consumed. Here, we report on the finding that Colletes hederae (Colletidae), a late-flying European bee species active in September and October, passes the winter as half-grown larva inside the brood cell that still contains considerable amounts of stored food. We

The need for basic information on tropical crop pollinators remains a key priority. Here, we used a dataset on Brazilian bee-crop interactions to determine important bee species for crop pollination and discuss their management in Brazilian croplands. We developed an analytical approach to select key bee species and genera from datasets based on different criteria, selecting only interactions reported

The Cape honey bee (Capensis) is unusual in that workers can produce viable female offspring via thelytokous parthenogenesis. In contrast, mated queens never reproduce thelytokously, even though they could benefit from doing so when generating daughter queens. Nonetheless, virgin Capensis queens induced to lay without mating by CO2 narcosis produce a high proportion of thelytokous eggs, and instrumentally