The role of queen mandibular pheromone and colony congestion in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) reproductive swarming (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

The roles of honey bee queen mandibular pheromone and colony congestion in the inhibition of swarming were investigated. Two colony siz.es were used: small, congested colonies and large, uncongested colonies. Both groups of colonies were treated with various dosages of the five-component, synthetic queen mandibular pheromone in the spring, and the extent and timing of swarming were followed. Most treatment groups received pheromone or a solvent blank (control) on a stationary slide; one group of the congested colonies received a pheromone treatment via an aerosol spray. The pheromone was not effective at delaying swarming in the congested colonies at any dosage applied on slides, but the aerosol spray-treated colonies swarmed significantly later in the season than the control colonies. The uncongested, pheromone-treated colonies exhibited a dose-dependent delay in swarming, with the highest dosage colonies swarming almost four weeks later than the control colonies. These results indicate an interaction between congestion and pheromone in the control of honey bee reproduction. While congestion may in itself be a factor stimulating swarming, these results are consistent with the interpretation that colony congestion reduces the transmission of queen pheromone within the nest, thereby removing the queen 's pheromone-based inhibition of queen rearing and subsequent swarming by workers.     

Movement of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) queen mandibular gland pheromone in populous and unpopulous colonies

The mode of intranest transfer of the honey bee queen mandibular gland pheromone complex (QMP) was investigated in unpopulous and populous, slightly congested colonies, using synthetic QMP containing tritiated 9-keto-2(E)-decenoic acid, one of the QMP components. Radiolabel was rapidly transported from the center to the peripheral regions of the nest, and in a manner consistent with worker to worker transport. Population size and congestion had no effect on the relative rates of movement from the center to the periphery of the nest or on the mean amounts of radiolabel on individual bees. However, a significantly smaller proportion of the workers in the populous colonies received detectable amounts of radiolabel than in the uncongested colonies, and workers carrying especially large amounts of radiolabel were less numerous in the crowded colonies. It is suggested that, at the stage of colony development that the colonies were in, population size has more of an effect on intranest pheromone transmission than does crowding. Interference with pheromone transfer may occur only at higher levels of congestion than were created, and nearer to the reproductive phase of colony development. An alternative hypothesis is that colony crowding does not significantly affect QMP transport and that the onset of reproductive queen rearing may be associated more with changes in worker thresholds of response to QMP.     

Absence of nepotism toward imprisoned young queens during swarming in the honey bee

Nepotism is an important potential conflict in animal societies.However, clear evidence of nepotism in the rearing of queensin social insects is limited and controversial. In the honeybee, Apis mellifera, multiple mating by queens leads to thepresence of many patrilines within each colony. When the coloniesreproduce through swarming, workers rear a number of new queens,only a few of which will ultimately head a colony. Workers canpotentially increase their inclusive fitness by nepotisticallyfavoring full-sister over half-sister queens during the queenrearing and elimination process. Most studies have focused oninteractions between workers and immature queens (eggs and larvae)or adult queens who have exited their queen cells. However,adult queens often remain in their queen cells for up to 1 weekafter emerging from their pupa. In this situation, workers preventthe queens from emerging, feed them, and protect them from otheremerged queens. This stage in queen rearing is therefore onein which nepotism could occur. The current study is the firstto investigate the kinship between workers and adult queenswho have not emerged from their queen cells. We observed thefull suite of behaviors expected during this phase of colonyreproduction. Although there was no evidence for nepotism inthe worker–queen interactions, there was a nonrandom distributionacross patrilines of the workers interacting with the queencells. In addition, in one colony we found differential treatmentof fostered (nonkin)-queen cells.     

Variation in worker response to honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) queen mandibular pheromone (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Genetic and environmental influences on the worker honey bee retinue response to queen mandibular gland pheromone (QMP) were investigated. Worker progeny were reared from queens originating from four sources: Australia, New Zealand, and two locations in British Columbia, Canada (Simon Fraser University and Vancouver Island). Progeny from New Zealand queens responded significantly higher (P < 0.05) than progeny from Australia in a QMP retinue bioassay. Retinue response was not related to queen production of pheromone or colony environment, and the strain-dependent differences in retinue bioassay responses were maintained over a wide range of dosages. Selected high- and low-responding colonies were bioassayed over the course of 1 year. High-responding colonies contacted QMP lures more frequently than low-responding colonies (P < 0.05) throughout the year except in late summer. We conclude that there is a strong genetic component to QMP response by worker honey bees, as well as a seasonal effect on response.     

蜜蜂全基因组出笼前后

在2006年10月26日,期待已久的蜜蜂的基因组序列在英国杂志《自然》上发表了。这一事件对于全世界蜜蜂生物学家来说,标志着蜜蜂研究“后基因组时代”的开始。这一重大项目由倍乐医学院完成,耗资800万美元,历时2年。而实际上对于基因组的注释又经过近2年的时间,由代表15个国家、来自64个实验室的170名科学家完成。这一等待是值得的基因组序列最终发表后,生物学家通过互联网能做他们自己的“数据采掘”,用这一可得的公共资源验证自己的假说。事实上,在蜜蜂基因组文章在《自然》上发表的当周,其姊妹刊上发表的约50篇相关论文中,有一半以上是基于生物信息学的研究,这些刊物包括《科学》、《基因组研究》、《美国国家科学院院报》及《昆虫分子生物学》。蜜蜂与人类享有一些共性劳动分工,复杂的通信系统包括语言,发达的保卫和防御系统,精妙的建筑以及为了共同利益自我牺牲的特点。由于有这些共性,蜜蜂基因组的发表将使科学家不仅能够深入研究蜜蜂生物学,而且能深入了解我们人类自身的生物学。     

Preliminary report of some hydrolytic-enzyme activities of honey bee semen

Semen, collected from active honey bee drones, was centrifuged to separate spermatozoa from seminal plasma. Enzymes were then extracted from spermatozoa with detergent buffer mixture at 37°C for 1 h. The following hydrolytic-enzyme activities were detected in seminal plasma and/or detergent extracts of sperm: protease (azocoll hydrolysis), hexosaminidase (N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase), hyaluronidase, aryl sulfatase A and B.     

Pollination of strawberry by the stingless bee,Trigona minangkabau,and the honey bee,Apis mellifera: An experimental study of fertilization efficiency

To know basic information about the stingless bee, Trigona minangkabau, and the European honey bee, Apis mellifera, as pollinator of strawberry, we set three greenhouse areas: the honey bee introduced area, the stingless bee introduced area and the control area. Foraging and pollination efficiencies of the two bee species were studied comparatively. During the experimental period (10 days), the stingless bee foraged well and the nest weight did not change, though the honey bee often foraged inefficiently and the nest weight decreased by 2 kg. The average nectar volume of a flower was lower in the honey bee area (0.02 μl) and nearly the same in the other two areas (0.1 μl). We make a numerical model to describe pollination and fertilization process. This model shows that one visit of the honey bee pollinated 11% of achenes and one visit of the stingless bee did 4.7% on average and that 11 visits of the honey bee or 30 visits of the stingless bee are required per flower to attain normal berry (fertilization rate, 87%). In this study, the rate of deformed berries in the stingless bee area (73%) was lower than that of the control area (90%), but higher than that of the honey bee area (51%). From our numerical model, we conclude the stingless bee could pollinate strawberry as well as the honey bee if we introduced 1.8 times of bees used in this experiment.     

Brood Pheromone Modulation of Pollen Forager Turnaround Time in the Honey Bee (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Apis mellifera</Emphasis> L.)

Foraging for pollen is an important behavior of the honey bee because pollen is their sole source of protein. Through nurse bees, larvae are the principal consumers of pollen. Fatty acid esters extractable from the surface of larvae, called brood pheromone, release multiple colony-level and individual foraging behaviors increasing pollen intake. In this study pollen forager turnaround time was measured in observation hives supplemented with brood pheromone versus a blank control treatment. Treatment with brood pheromone significantly decreased pollen forager turnaround time in the hive between foraging bouts by approximately 72%. Concurrently, brood pheromone increased the ratio of pollen to non-pollen foragers entering colonies. Brood pheromone has been shown to release most of the mechanisms known to increase pollen intake by colonies acting as an important regulator of colony foraging decisions and growth.     

感染囊幼病的工蜂咽下腺细胞的超微结构的变化

前言 中华蜜蜂囊幼病是我国养蜂业的一种重要病毒病,发病率很高,有的地区造成大量的幼虫死亡,给我国养蜂生产带来一定的危害,为了对防治病害提供科学的依据,我们首先对该病病原进行了分离、提纯及电子显微镜的研究等工作。发现该病毒对幼虫和成蜂,尤其对工蜂体内各个器官都有程度不同的影响。在幼虫发病期症状特别明显,病幼虫身体松软多水,其表皮容易破裂,当悬挂幼虫时其幼虫末端积聚有透明的液滴,在巢房内幼虫头部尖并变成黑色,头部稍微向上抬起呈船形。死后的幼虫干涸变为褐色的外壳留于巢房内,当感染的幼虫全部封盖后,巢房盖的中央有一小孔,这些异常的变化都是囊幼病的典型症状。幼虫症状虽很明显,但工蜂感染病毒后在外部形态上却没有明显     

Social influence on age and reproduction: reduced lifespan and fecundity in multi-queen ant colonies

Evolutionary theories of ageing predict that life span increases with decreasing extrinsic mortality, and life span variation among queens in ant species seems to corroborate this prediction: queens, which are the only reproductive in a colony, live much longer than queens in multi-queen colonies. The latter often inhabit ephemeral nest sites and accordingly are assumed to experience a higher mortality risk. Yet, all prior studies compared queens from different single- and multi-queen species. Here, we demonstrate an effect of queen number on longevity and fecundity within a single, socially plastic species, where queens experience the similar level of extrinsic mortality. Queens from single- and two-queen colonies had significantly longer lifespan and higher fecundity than queens living in associations of eight queens. As queens also differ neither in morphology nor the mode of colony foundation, our study shows that the social environment itself strongly affects ageing rate.     

A strain of Melissococcus pluton cultivable on chemically defined media

Abstract A Brazilian strain of Melissococcus pluton multiplied well under anaerobic conditions on chemically defined media buffered with potassium phosphate. Thymine, xanthine, pyridoxal and one or more other vitamins, CO₂, glucose, methionine and possibly other amino acids, were essential. Other strains multiplied only slightly and could not be subcultivated on the media. The Brazil strain is the least related serologically to all known strains of M. pluton and is the least fastiduous when cultivated on other media. It has a DNA base composition of 31.4 G + C mol%, whereas others tested have been 29.0 and 30.2 G + C mol%.