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SNPs outperform randomly selected microsatellite loci for delineating genetic identification

Abstract The honeybee (Apis mellifera) has been threatened by multiple factors including pests and pathogens, pesticides and loss of locally adapted gene complexes due to replacement and introgression. In western Europe, the genetic integrity of the native A. m. mellifera (M-lineage) is endangered due to trading and intensive queen breeding with commercial subspecies of eastern…

Modelling seasonal effects of temperature and precipitation on honey bee winter mortality

Abstract Insect pollinators are essential to global food production. For this reason, it is alarming that honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations across the world have recently seen increased rates of mortality. These changes in colony mortality are often ascribed to one or more factors including parasites, diseases, pesticides, nutrition, habitat dynamics, weather and/or climate. However,…

Preliminary analysis of loss rates of honey bee colonies during winter 2015/16 from COLOSS survey

Abstract In this short note we present comparable loss rates of honey bee colonies during winter 2015/16 from 29 countries, obtained with the COLOSS questionnaire. Altogether, we received valid answers from 19,952 beekeepers. These beekeepers collectively wintered 421,238 colonies, and reported 18,587 colonies with unsolvable queen problems and 32,048 dead colonies after winter. This gives…

Two novel viruses associated with the Apis mellifera pathogenic mite Varroa destructor

Abstract Authors: Sofia Levin1,2, Noa Sela3 & Nor Chejanovsky1 1 Department of Entomology, Institute of Plant Protection, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Rishon LeZion, 7528809, Israel. 2 Institute of Agroecology and Plant Health, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel. 3 Department of Plant Pathology and Weed Research, Institute of Plant Protection,…

Chemical characterization and antioxidant properties of Canadian propolis

Abstract Propolis is a multifunctional material collected and used by honey bees in the construction and maintenance of their hives. It has been used in folk medicine for centuries. Concentrations of major constituents and antioxidant characteristicsof ethanolic extracts of three samples of propolis (EEPs) collected from different geographical locations in Canada (Saskatchewan, Ontario and British…

Food to some, poison to others – honeybee royal jelly & its growth inhibiting effect on EU Foulbrood

Abstract Honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera) serve as attractive hosts for a variety of pathogens providing optimal temperatures, humidity, and an abundance of food. Thus, honeybees have to deal with pathogens throughout their lives and, even as larvae they are affected by severe brood diseases like the European Foulbrood caused by Melissococcus plutonius. Accordingly, it is highly…

Royalactin is not a royal making of a queen

Abstract Honeybee (Apis mellifera) females occur in two castes: workers and one reproductive queen. Caste is nutritionally regulated and only larvae exclusively fed on royal jelly (RJ) develop into queens. Decades of search for a queen ‘determinator’ in RJ found no specific compound, concluding that the discrete feeding regime throughout larval development controlled caste fate.…