Prevalence of pathogenic bee viruses in Hungarian apiaries: situation before joining the European Union

A survey on the occurrence of six honeybee-pathogenic viruses was carried out using one-step RT-PCR assays. Samples were collected between 1999 and 2004 in 52 Hungarian apiaries located in different regions of the country. The results of the assays on samples of adult honeybees and Varroa destructor mites were compared to similar surveys from France and Austria. The study demonstrates geographical differences in the prevalence of honeybee viruses between Hungary and the older EU member states. The results could serve as a basis for monitoring further changes in the distribution of honeybee viruses in Europe.     

Does fumagillin control the recently detected invasive parasite Nosema ceranae in western honey bees (Apis mellifera)?

Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in Nova Scotia, Canada were sampled in spring and late summer 2007 to evaluate efficacy of fumagillin dicyclohexylammonium (hereafter, fumagillin) against Nosema ceranae. Colonies treated with fumagillin in September 2006 (n = 94) had significantly lower Nosema intensity in spring 2007 than did colonies that received no treatment (n = 51), but by late summer 2007 no difference existed between groups. Molecular sequencing of 15 infected colonies identified N. ceranae in 93.3% of cases, suggesting that fumagillin is successful at temporarily reducing this recent invasive parasite in western honey bees.     

Thermal energy conduction in a honey bee comb due to cell-heating bees

Theoretical analysis and numerical calculations are performed to characterize the unsteady two-dimensional conduction of thermal energy in an idealized honey bee comb. The situation explored corresponds to a comb containing a number of brood cells occupied by pupae. These cells are surrounded by other cells containing pollen which, in turn, are surrounded (above) by cells containing honey and (below) by vacant cells containing air. Up to five vacant cells in the brood region can be occupied by cell-heating bees which, through the isometrical contraction of their flight muscles, can generate sufficient energy to raise their body temperatures by a few degrees. In this way, the cell-heating bees alter the heat flux and temperature distributions in the brood region so as to maintain conditions that benefit the pupae. The calculations show that the number of cell-heating bees significantly affects the magnitude, time rate of change, and spatial distribution of temperature throughout the comb. They also reveal a vertically aligned asymmetry in the spatial distribution of temperature that is due to the large heat capacity and thermal conductivity of honey relative to air, whereby air-filled cells experience larger temperature increases than honey-filled cells. Analysis shows that convection and radiation represent negligible modes of thermal energy transfer at all levels in the problem considered. Also, because of its small thickness, the wax wall of a comb cell simultaneously presents negligible resistance to conduction heat transfer normal to it and very large resistance along it. As a consequence the walls of a cell play no thermal role, but simply serve as mechanical supports for the materials they contain.     

Microsatellite loci for Dawson's burrowing bee (Amegilla dawsoni) and their cross‐utility in other Amegilla species

Microsatellite loci were isolated from Dawson's burrowing bee, Amegilla dawsoni, a species endemic to Western Australia. Twelve polymorphic loci were found with an observed number of alleles ranging from two to 24 and observed heterozygosities between 0.17 and 0.85. These 12 loci were tested for amplification in three additional species of Amegilla. The loci will be used for sex determination and the examination of mating frequency in this species.     

Antennal sucrose perception in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.): behaviour and electrophysiology

Physiological mechanisms of antennal sucrose perception in the honey bee were analysed using behavioural and electrophysiological methods. Following sucrose stimulation of the tip of a freely moving antenna, the latency of proboscis extension was 320–340 ms, 80–100 ms after the first activity in muscle M17 controlling this response. When bees were allowed to actively touch a sucrose droplet with one antenna, contacts with the solution were frequent with durations of 10–20 ms and average intervals between contacts of approximately 40 ms. High sucrose concentrations led to short and frequent contacts. The proboscis response and M17 activity were largely independent of stimulus duration and temporal pattern. Taste hairs of the antennal tip displayed spike responses to sucrose concentrations down to at least 0.1%. The first 25 ms of the response were suitable for discrimination of sucrose concentrations. This time interval corresponds to the duration of naturally occurring gustatory stimuli. Sucrose responses between different hairs on the same antenna showed a high degree of variability, ranging from less than five to over 40 spikes per 0.5 s for a stimulus of 0.1% sucrose. This variability of receptor responses extends the dynamic range of sucrose perception over a large range of concentrations.     

Confinement Behavior of Cape Honey Bees (Apis mellifera capensis Esch.) in Relation to Population Densities of Small Hive Beetles (Aethina tumida Murray)

We quantified the effects of increasing small hive beetle (Aethina tumida Murray) populations on guarding behavior of Cape honey bees (Apis mellifera capensis, an African subspecies). We found more confinement sites (prisons) at the higher (50 beetles per colony) rather than lower (25 beetles per colony) beetle density. The number of beetles per prison did not change with beetle density. There were more guard bees per beetle during evening than morning. Neither guard bee nor beetle behavior varied with beetle density or over time. Forty-six percent of all beetles were found among the combs at the low beetle density and this increased to 58% at the higher one. In neither instance were beetles causing depredation to host colonies. Within the limits of the experiment, guarding behavior of Cape honey bees is relatively unaffected by increasing beetle density (even if significant proportions of beetles reach the combs).     

Effectiveness of honey bees in delivering the biocontrol agent Bacillus subtilis to blueberry flowers to suppress mummy berry disease

Honey bees are important pollinators of commercial blueberries in the southeastern United States, and blueberry producers often use supplemental bees to achieve adequate fruit set. However, honey bees also vector the plant pathogenic fungus Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi which infects open blueberry flowers through the gynoecial pathway causing mummy berry disease. Here, we report the results of a 3-year field study to test the hypothesis that using bee hives equipped with dispensers containing the biocontrol product Serenade, a commercial formulation of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis which has shown activity against flower infection by M. vaccinii-corymbosi in laboratory experiments, can reduce mummy berry disease incidence when honey bees are used as pollinators in blueberries. Individual honey bees carried 5.1–6.4 × 10⁵ colony-forming units (CFU) of B. subtilis when exiting hive-mounted dispensers with Serenade. On caged rabbiteye blueberry bushes in the field, population densities of B. subtilis vectored by honey bees reached a carrying capacity of <10³ CFU per flower stigma within 2 days of exposure, and there was a highly significant non-linear relationship between B. subtilis populations per stigma and bee activity, expressed as number of legitimate flower visits per time interval per cage (R = 0.6928, P < 0.0001, n = 32). Honey bee density (1600 or 6400 individuals per 5.8-m³ cage) and Serenade treatment (presence or absence of the product in hive-mounted dispensers) significantly (P < 0.05) affected the incidence of fruit mummification on caged bushes, whereby increasing bee density increased disease incidence and application of Serenade reduced disease levels. Taken together, results of this study suggest that use of a hive-dispersed biocontrol product such as Serenade as a supplement during pollination can reduce the risk of mummy berry disease. This may be a prudent practice that optimizes the benefits to pollination of high bee densities while reducing the associated disease-vectoring risk.     

Effects of resource availability and social parasite invasion on field colonies of Bombus terrestris

Abstract.  1. The survival, growth and fecundity of bumblebee colonies are affected by the availability of food resources and presence of natural enemies. Social parasites (cuckoo bumblebees and other bumblebees) can invade colonies and reduce or halt successful reproduction; however, little is known about the frequency of invasion or what environmental factors determine their success in the field.
2. We used 48 experimental colonies of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris , and manipulated both resource availability at the landscape scale and date of colony founding, to explore invasion rates of social parasites and their effect on the performance of host colonies.
3. Proximity to abundant forage resources (fields of flowering oilseed rape) and early colony founding significantly increased the probability of parasite invasion and thus offset the potential positive effects of these factors on bumblebee colony performance.
4. The study concludes that optimal colony location may be among intermediate levels of resources and supports schemes designed to increase the heterogeneity of forage resources for bumblebees across agricultural landscapes.     

The repellent effect of two pyrethroid insecticides on the honey bee*

ABSTRACT. . An improved model for the repellent effect of pyrethroid insecticides on insects was developed using small colonies of honey bees, Apis mellifera L., in flight cages. Conditioning to scented feeders allowed the separation of foraging bees from a single colony into paired treatment and control groups. The repellent response was characterized as a sublethal toxic effect resulting in transitory inhibition of activity. Permethrin and cypermethrin were shown to be contact repellents to honey bees; exposure was primarily to the tarsi and abdominal venter. Repellency was fully reversible within 24 h. No permanent effects on either memory function or foraging efficiency were observed following acute exposure.