scholarly journals Cooperative defence operates by social modulation of biogenic amine levels in the honey bee brain

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1871) ◽  
pp. 20172653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgane Nouvian ◽  
Souvik Mandal ◽  
Charlène Jamme ◽  
Charles Claudianos ◽  
Patrizia d'Ettorre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Alarm Pheromone ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Isoamyl Acetate ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Response Threshold ◽  
Defensive Behaviour ◽  
Personal Risk ◽  
Main Component

The defence of a society often requires that some specialized members coordinate to repel a threat at personal risk. This is especially true for honey bee guards, which defend the hive and may sacrifice their lives upon stinging. Central to this cooperative defensive response is the sting alarm pheromone, which has isoamyl acetate (IAA) as its main component. Although this defensive behaviour has been well described, the neural mechanisms triggered by IAA to coordinate stinging have long remained unknown. Here we show that IAA upregulates brain levels of serotonin and dopamine, thereby increasing the likelihood of an individual bee to attack and sting. Pharmacological enhancement of the levels of both amines induces higher defensive responsiveness, while decreasing them via antagonists decreases stinging. Our results thus uncover the neural mechanism by which an alarm pheromone recruits individuals to attack and repel a threat, and suggest that the alarm pheromone of honey bees acts on their response threshold rather than as a direct trigger.

scholarly journals Geosmin suppresses defensive behaviour and elicits unusual neural responses in honey bees.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florencia Scarano ◽  
Mukilan Deivarajan Suresh ◽  
Ettore Tiraboschi ◽  
Amélie Cabirol ◽  
Morgane Nouvian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Alarm Pheromone ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Isoamyl Acetate ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Neurons ◽  
Defensive Behaviour ◽  
Receptor Neurons

Geosmin is an odorant produced by bacteria in moist soil. It has been found to be extraordinarily relevant to some insects, but the reasons for this are not yet fully understood. Here we report the first tests of the effect of geosmin on honey bees. A stinging assay showed that the defensive behaviour elicited by the bee's alarm pheromone is strongly suppressed by geosmin. Surprisingly, the suppression is, however, only present at very low geosmin concentrations, and completely disappears at higher concentrations. We investigated the underlying mechanisms of the behavioural change at the level of the olfactory receptor neurons by means of electroantennography and at the level of the antennal lobe output via calcium imaging. Unusual effects were observed at both levels. The responses of the olfactory receptor neurons to mixtures of geosmin and the alarm pheromone component isoamyl acetate (IAA) were lower than to pure IAA, suggesting an interaction of both compounds at the olfactory receptor level. In the antennal lobe, the neuronal representation of geosmin showed a glomerular activation that decreased with increasing concentration, correlating well with the concentration dependence of the behaviour. Computational modelling of odour transduction and odour coding in the antennal lobe suggests that a broader than usual activation of different olfactory receptor types by geosmin in combination with lateral inhibition in the antennal lobe could lead to the observed non-monotonic increasing-decreasing responses to geosmin and thus underlie the specificity of the behavioural response to low geosmin concentrations.

scholarly journals Differential autogrooming response to the tracheal mite Acarapis woodi by the honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Sakamoto ◽  
T. Maeda ◽  
M. Yoshiyama ◽  
F. Konno ◽  
J. S. Pettis
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Behavioral Response ◽  
Apis Cerana ◽  
Response Threshold ◽  
Acarapis Woodi ◽  
Tracheal Mite ◽  
Apis Cerana Japonica ◽  
The Difference

AbstractThe infestation of honey bees by the endoparasitic tracheal mite Acarapis woodi was first discovered in Apis mellifera on the Isle of Wight, England, and the mite has since spread to all continents except Australia. Since 2010, this tracheal mite has spread rapidly in the Japanese honey bee, Apis cerana japonica, of mainland Japan, causing considerable colony mortality. In contrast, infestations by the mites in the imported and managed European honey bee, A. mellifera, have rarely been observed in Japan. A previous laboratory experiment revealed a difference in susceptibility by demonstrating that the tracheal mite more frequently enters tracheae of A. cerana than those of A. mellifera. In this study, we compared autogrooming responses of A. cerana and A. mellifera by depositing a mite on each honey bee’s mesoscutum, and we then assessed the efficacy of autogrooming to remove the mite. The bees that received mites more frequently showed an autogrooming response compared to unchallenged bees in both bee species. However, a significantly greater proportion of A. mellifera individuals autogroomed compared to A. cerana. In addition, when bees autogroomed, A. mellifera removed the tracheal mite more effectively than A. cerana. When considering all bees in the mite-deposited group, the proportion of mite removal in A. mellifera was almost twice as high as that in A. cerana. Thus, the difference in susceptibility to the tracheal mite between these two bee species is attributed to the difference in the behavioral response threshold to mites and the effectiveness of mite removal by grooming.

Survey of feral honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies for Nosema apis in Western Australia

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Manning ◽  
Kate Lancaster ◽  
April Rutkay ◽  
Linda Eaton
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Nosema Apis ◽  
The South ◽  
South West ◽  
Feral Populations ◽  
Significant Difference

The parasite, Nosema apis, was found to be widespread among feral populations of honey bees (Apis mellifera) in the south-west of Western Australia. The location, month of collection and whether the feral colony was enclosed in an object or exposed to the environment, all affected the presence and severity of infection. There was no significant difference in the probability of infection between managed and feral bees. However, when infected by N. apis, managed bees appeared to have a greater severity of the infection.

scholarly journals The Honey Bee: An Active Biosampler of Environmental Pollution and a Possible Warning Biomarker for Human Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6481
Author(s):  
Marianna Martinello ◽  
Chiara Manzinello ◽  
Nicoletta Dainese ◽  
Ilenia Giuliato ◽  
Albino Gallina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Close Correlation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Pesticide Pollution ◽  
Tandem Mass Spectrometric ◽  
Active Substances

Member states of the European Union are required to ensure the initiation of monitoring programs to verify honey bee exposure to pesticides, where and as appropriate. Based on 620 samples of dead honey bees—42 of pollen, 183 of honey and 32 of vegetables—we highlighted the presence, as analyzed by liquid and gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometric detection, of many active substances, mainly tau-fluvalinate, piperonyl butoxide, chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl, permethrin and imidacloprid. Among the active substances found in analyzed matrices linked to honey bee killing incidents, 38 belong to hazard classes I and II, as methiocarb, methomyl, chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin and permethrin, thus representing a potential risk for human health. We have shown that, at different times between 2015 and 2020, during implementation of the Italian national guidelines for managing reports of bee colony mortality or depopulation associated with pesticide use, pesticide pollution events occurred that could raise concern for human health. Competent authorities could, as part of a One Health approach, exploit the information provided by existing reporting programs on honey bees and their products, in view of the close correlation to human health, animal health and ecosystem health.

Relative reliability of four field assays to test defensive behaviour of honey bees (Apis mellifera)

2003 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 42-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernesto Guzmán-Novoa ◽  
Daniel Prieto-Merlos ◽  
José L Uribe-Rubio ◽  
Greg J Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Defensive Behaviour ◽  
Relative Reliability

scholarly journals Exploring Two Honey Bee Traits for Improving Resistance Against Varroa destructor: Development and Genetic Evaluation

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 216
Author(s):  
Matthieu Guichard ◽  
Benoît Droz ◽  
Evert W. Brascamp ◽  
Adrien von Virag ◽  
Markus Neuditschko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Varroa Destructor ◽  
Field Trial ◽  
Genetic Evaluation ◽  
Phenotypic Correlation ◽  
Apis Mellifera Mellifera ◽  
Novel Traits ◽  
Resistance Traits

For the development of novel selection traits in honey bees, applicability under field conditions is crucial. We thus evaluated two novel traits intended to provide resistance against the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor and to allow for their straightforward implementation in honey bee selection. These traits are new field estimates of already-described colony traits: brood recapping rate (‘Recapping’) and solidness (‘Solidness’). ‘Recapping’ refers to a specific worker characteristic wherein they reseal a capped and partly opened cell containing a pupa, whilst ‘Solidness’ assesses the percentage of capped brood in a predefined area. According to the literature and beekeepers’ experiences, a higher recapping rate and higher solidness could be related to resistance to V. destructor. During a four-year field trial in Switzerland, the two resistance traits were assessed in a total of 121 colonies of Apis mellifera mellifera. We estimated the repeatability and the heritability of the two traits and determined their phenotypic correlations with commonly applied selection traits, including other putative resistance traits. Both traits showed low repeatability between different measurements within each year. ‘Recapping’ had a low heritability (h2 = 0.04 to 0.05, depending on the selected model) and a negative phenotypic correlation to non-removal of pin-killed brood (r = −0.23). The heritability of ‘Solidness’ was moderate (h2 = 0.24 to 0.25) and did not significantly correlate with resistance traits. The two traits did not show an association with V. destructor infestation levels. Further research is needed to confirm the results, as only a small number of colonies was evaluated.

scholarly journals Comparing Survival of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus Infection among Stocks of U.S. Honey Bees

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Shilpi Bhatia ◽  
Saman S. Baral ◽  
Carlos Vega Melendez ◽  
Esmaeil Amiri ◽  
Olav Rueppell
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Virus Infections ◽  
Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus ◽  
Immune Genes ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Honey Bee Health ◽  
Survival Differences ◽  
Paralysis Virus

Among numerous viruses that infect honey bees (Apis mellifera), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) can be linked to severe honey bee health problems. Breeding for virus resistance may improve honey bee health. To evaluate the potential for this approach, we compared the survival of IAPV infection among stocks from the U.S. We complemented the survival analysis with a survey of existing viruses in these stocks and assessing constitutive and induced expression of immune genes. Worker offspring from selected queens in a common apiary were inoculated with IAPV by topical applications after emergence to assess subsequent survival. Differences among stocks were small compared to variation within stocks, indicating the potential for improving honey bee survival of virus infections in all stocks. A positive relation between worker survival and virus load among stocks further suggested that honey bees may be able to adapt to better cope with viruses, while our molecular studies indicate that toll-6 may be related to survival differences among virus-infected worker bees. Together, these findings highlight the importance of viruses in queen breeding operations and provide a promising starting point for the quest to improve honey bee health by selectively breeding stock to be better able to survive virus infections.

scholarly journals Identification of long noncoding RNAs reveals the effects of dinotefuran on the brain in Apis mellifera (Hymenopptera: Apidae)

BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minjie Huang ◽  
Jie Dong ◽  
Haikun Guo ◽  
Minghui Xiao ◽  
Deqian Wang
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Sublethal Effects ◽  
Inflammatory Responses ◽  
Noncoding Rnas ◽  
Enrichment Analysis ◽  
Long Noncoding Rnas ◽  
Gene Set Enrichment Analysis

Abstract Background Dinotefuran (CAS No. 165252–70-0), a neonicotinoid insecticide, has been used to protect various crops against invertebrate pests and has been associated with numerous negative sublethal effects on honey bees. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in mediating various biological and pathological processes, involving transcriptional and gene regulation. The effects of dinotefuran on lncRNA expression and lncRNA function in the honey bee brain are still obscure. Results Through RNA sequencing, a comprehensive analysis of lncRNAs and mRNAs was performed following exposure to 0.01 mg/L dinotefuran for 1, 5, and 10 d. In total, 312 lncRNAs and 1341 mRNAs, 347 lncRNAs and 1458 mRNAs, and 345 lncRNAs and 1155 mRNAs were found to be differentially expressed (DE) on days 1, 5 and 10, respectively. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) indicated that the dinotefuran-treated group showed enrichment in carbohydrate and protein metabolism and immune-inflammatory responses such as glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, pentose and glucuronate interconversion, and Hippo and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathways. Moreover, the DE lncRNA TCONS_00086519 was shown by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to be distributed mainly in the cytoplasm, suggesting that it may serve as a competing endogenous RNA and a regulatory factor in the immune response to dinotefuran. Conclusion This study characterized the expression profile of lncRNAs upon exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides in young adult honey bees and provided a framework for further study of the role of lncRNAs in honey bee growth and the immune response.

Are Non-Target Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Exposed to Dinotefuran From Spotted Lanternfly (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) Trap Trees?

2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (6) ◽  
pp. 2993-2996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Underwood ◽  
Brian Breeman ◽  
Joseph Benton ◽  
Jason Bielski ◽  
Julie Palkendo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Quechers Method ◽  
Significant Damage ◽  
Lycorma Delicatula ◽  
Bee Colonies ◽  
Worker Bee

Abstract The spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula, is an introduced plant hopper that causes significant damage to host plants in the United States. Because of its affinity for tree of heaven, Ailanthus altissima, control efforts have focused on the use of the systemic insecticide, dinotefuran, in designated trap trees. There is concern about exposure to this pesticide by non-target species, especially honey bees, Apis mellifera, via lanternfly honeydew. Therefore, honey bee colonies were established in areas of high densities of trap trees and samples of honey, bees, and beeswax were collected in May, July, and October of 2017 for analysis. Samples were extracted by the QuEChERS method and analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry to determine the presence and quantity of dinotefuran. Additionally, honeydew from lanternflies was analyzed for dinotefuran and informal observations of trap tree visitors were made. None of the worker bee, wax, or honey samples indicated detectable levels of dinotefuran; however, honeydew samples collected did contain dinotefuran above the detection limit with amounts ranging from 3 to 100 ng per sample. The lack of dinotefuran in honey bee products matches the general absence of honey bees at trap trees in informal observations.

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