Honey bees, Apis mellifera, have for millennia been managed and exploited by humans and introduced into most suitable regions worldwide. However, given the lack of records for many introduction events, treating A. mellifera populations as native would predictably bias genetic studies regarding origin and evolution. Here, we used the Dongbei bee, a well-documented population, introduced…
Background: Over the last two decades, honey bees (Apis mellifera) have suffered high rates of colony losses that have been attributed to a variety of factors, chief among which are viral pathogens, such as deformed wing virus (DWV), whose virulence has increased because of vector-based transmission by the invasive, ectoparasitic varroa mite (Varroa destructor). A…
The parasitic mite Varroa destructor is a major threat to the health and productivity of Apis mellifera hives and induces its effect by feeding on the fat body of larvae/pupae and transmitting viruses. The effect of the anti-Varroa formic acid containing – Mite Away Quick (MAQ) strips on the proteome of A. mellifera was assessed.…
Members of COLOSS have recently been reporting that the Tropilaelaps mite, which has previously been confined to eastern parts of Asia, has been spreading on Apis mellifera towards the west, and has been detected in Uzbekistan, south -western parts of Russia and possibly Iran. In view of this threat, we feel that there is an…
Apis mellifera workers display two stages; short lived summer bees that engage in nursing, hive maintenance and foraging, and long lived winter bees (diutinus bees) which remain within the hive and are essential for thermoregulation and rearing the next generation of bees in spring before dying. Label free quantitative proteomic analysis was conducted on A.…
About 40% of Apis mellifera subspecies live in the Mediterranean area. Medibees – a project supported by PRIMA – aims to study and compare the subspecies of this region and develop sustainable management techniques for Mediterranean conditions. A main area of research is the resilience against climate change. In this event, open for the general…
Honey bees are essential for crop and wild plant pollination. However, many countries have reported high annual colony losses caused by multiple possible stressors. Diseases, particularly those caused by viruses, are a major cause of colony losses. However, little is known about the prevalence of honey bee pathogens, particularly virus prevalence, in Egyptian honey bees.…
With an almost global distribution, Varroa destuctor is the leading cause of weakening and loss of honey bee colonies. New substances are constantly being tested in order to find those that will exhibit high anti-Varroa efficacy at low doses/concentrations, without unwanted effects on bees. Lithium (Li) salts stood out as candidates based on previous research.…
In a cage experiment, lithium chloride (LiCl) and lithium citrate hydrate (Li-cit) were tested for varroacidal efficacy and impact on bees. Treatment with Li-cit (4, 7.5, 10, and 25 mM) resulted in 100% varroacidal efficacy and 100% bee survival. Due to better results in the cage experiment, Li-cit was further tested in field experiments on full-sized…
In the European honey bee (Apis mellifera), the olfactory system is essential for foraging and intraspecific communication via pheromones. Honey bees are equipped with a large repertoire of olfactory receptors belonging to the insect odorant receptor (OR) family. Previous studies have indicated that the transcription level of a few OR types including OR11, a receptor…