Analysis of the effects of colony population size and feeding supplementation on bee pollen production

The flora of mountain formations in the Caatinga biome is composed predominantly by semi-deciduous species with representatives of both Atlantic and Amazon forest. Information on the potential for bee pollen production of these species is limited. In this study we evaluated the potential of production, the temporal variation, the botanical origin and the nutritional value of bee pollen produced in a seasonal semideciduous forest in northeastern Brazil. We identified a total of 252 flowering plant species throughout the year. The diet of Apis mellifera consisted of 74 pollen types distributed in 58 genera and 27 families. We identified two production peaks of bee pollen, the highest occurring in the rainy season. Nutritional value considering crude protein, carbohydrates, lipids and mineral matter changed over the study period, with influence of rainfall on the dry matter level. Some taxonomic groups of plants showed a strong relationship with nutrients, suggesting that although the diet of A. mellifera is broadly diversified, this species devoted most of its pollen foraging effort on the genus Mimosa and the palm tree species of Attalea speciosa. The results show that the seasonal semideciduous forest of the mountain range in the Northeast Brazil presents plant species: Mimosa caesalpiniifolia, Baccharis trinervis, Mimosa tenuiflora Myracrodruom urundeuva, Cecropia pachystachya, Attalea speciosa, with high nutritional level and potential for the pollen production.

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Effect of Different Beehives Size and Daily Activity of Stingless Bee Tetragonula Laeviceps on Bee-Pollen Production

Buletin Peternakan ◽

10.21059/buletinpeternak.v43i4.47865 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 43 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Ali Agus ◽

Agussalim Agussalim ◽

Nafiatul Umami ◽

I Gede Suparta Budisatria

Keyword(s):

Daily Activity ◽

Stingless Bees ◽

Stingless Bee ◽

The Other ◽

Daily Activities ◽

Tropical Region ◽

Pollen Production ◽

Bee Pollen ◽

Group Member

Bee activities and colony may affect the production of bee products. Bee-pollen is one of the important products of honeybees, besides of honey. Tetragonula laeviceps is a group member of stingless bees found in tropical region. In Indonesia, Tetragonula laeviceps mostly create a nest in bamboos that make unfortunately difficult for harvesting of its products. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different beehives size and the daily activity (morning vs. afternoon) of stingless bee Tetragonula laeviceps on bee-pollen production. This study was conducted in Ngrandu, Katongan Village, Sub-district of Nglipar, Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta. Forty colonies of Tetragonula laeviceps were obtained from bamboos (similar in diameter and length) were transferred into four different group of beehives size (BS) made from dried wood, respectively: 35x17.5x13.5 (BS1); 35x20x17.5 (BS2); 37.5x20x20 (BS3) and 40x20x20 cm (BS4). Each group of beehives size had ten colonies/beehives as replicates. The colonies consisted of a queen bee, eggs, worker bees, and drones were transferred into wood beehives, and they were kept for two months for the study. The bee-pollen was harvested from beehives, separated from the propolis then weighed. The production of bee-pollen in the four different beehives size (BS1: 2.34±2.48 g/colony; BS2: 4.56±3.94 g/colony; BS3: 1.30±1.22 g/colony, BS4: 1.02±0.63 g/colony) was not different (ns) among the groups. The daily activity of bee bring the pollen to the nest in the morning (07.00 to 11.00) was significantly different (P<0.05) among the groups, but not significant (ns) different in the afternoon (14.00 to 17.00). The frequency of bringing in pollen into the hives at the morning is higher than at the afternoon (21.75 vs. 12.43 times/5 minutes). It could be concluded that the colony in beehive size of BS2 (35x20x17.5 cm) has higher daily activities and thus higher bee-pollen production, compared to the other beehives groups.

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Differential performance of honey bee colonies selected for bee-pollen production through instrumental insemination and free-mating technique

Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia ◽

10.1590/1678-4162-8875 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 68 (5) ◽

pp. 1369-1373

Author(s):

I.M. de Mattos ◽

J. Souza ◽

A.E.E. Soares

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Nutritional Supplement ◽

Breeding Systems ◽

Pollen Production ◽

Bee Pollen ◽

Instrumental Insemination ◽

Differential Performance ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Bee Colonies ◽

F1 Generation

ABSTRACT The use of bee-pollen as a nutritional supplement or as a production-enhancing agent in livestock has increased the demand for this product worldwide. Despite the current importance of this niche within the apiculture industry, few studies have addressed the pollen production. We tested the performance of free-mated (FM) and instrumentally inseminated queens (IQ) in order to establish the effect of different breeding systems on pollen production. The F1 generation of IQ queens produced 153.95±42.83g/day, showing a significant improvement on the pollen production (2.74 times) when compared to the parental generation (51.83±7.84g/day). The F1 generation of free-mated queens produced 100.07±8.23 g/day, which increased by 1.78 times when compared to the parental generation. Furthermore, we observed a statistically significant difference between the pollen production between colonies from the IQ and FM treatments. This study suggests that inseminated queens should be considered by beekeepers that aim to increase pollen production.

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Reduction of spermatogonia and testosterone in rat testes flown on space lab-3

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100142864 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 44 ◽

pp. 248-249

Author(s):

Delbert E. Philpott ◽

W. Sapp ◽

C. Williams ◽

T. Fast ◽

J. Stevenson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Interaction ◽

Social Status ◽

Population Size ◽

Physiological Response ◽

Social Rank ◽

Reproductive Function ◽

Testicular Development ◽

Organ Weights ◽

Reproductive Maturation ◽

Metabolic Activities

Space Lab 3 (SL-3) was flown on Shuttle Challenger providing an opportunity to measure the effect of spaceflight on rat testes. Cannon developed the idea that organisms react to unfavorable conditions with highly integrated metabolic activities. Selye summarized the manifestations of physiological response to nonspecific stress and he pointed out that atrophy of the gonads always occurred. Many papers have been published showing the effects of social interaction, crowding, peck order and confinement. Flickinger showed delayed testicular development in subordinate roosters influenced by group numbers, social rank and social status. Christian reported increasing population size in mice resulted in adrenal hypertrophy, inhibition of reproductive maturation and loss of reproductive function in adults. Sex organ weights also declined. Two male dogs were flown on Cosmos 110 for 22 days. Fedorova reported an increase of 30 to 70% atypical spermatozoa consisting of tail curling and/or the absence of a tail.

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