scholarly journals Remembrances of a Honey Bee Biologist

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas D. Seeley
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Collective Intelligence ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Decision Making Unit ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Honey Bee Colony

Thomas Seeley's research has focused on analyzing the collective intelligence and natural lives of honey bees. This account describes how the author encountered honey bees as a boy and became a beekeeper; how he switched his career path from medicine to biology to study the behavior and social life of honey bees; and how he focuses on understanding how a honey bee colony functions when it lives in the wild, rather than in a beekeeper's hive. He has shown how a honey bee colony works as a single decision-making unit to adaptively allocate its foragers among flower patches and to choose its nesting site in a hollow tree. These findings buttress the view that, in some social insect species, the colony is a group-level vehicle of gene survival. Beyond his research, he has written three books to synthesize these findings for biologists and share these discoveries with beekeepers. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Entomology, Volume 67 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals The foraging behaviour of honey bees, Apis mellifera: a review

2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
HF Abou-Shaara
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Ambient Environment ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Foraging Preference ◽  
Honey Bee Colony

Foraging behaviour is one of the distinctive behaviours of honey bees, Apis mellifera. This behaviour is the link between the honey bee colony and the ambient environment. Therefore, various in-colony and out-colony factors have an impact on this behaviour, and many studies have been employed to investigate these factors. Foraging behaviour is not advantageous only for the colony and for plant pollination but also has other benefits. In contrast, some disadvantages have also been discovered to be linked with foraging activity. Practically speaking, the control over this behaviour is very important to maximize colony products as well as to increase other agricultural benefits. This paper presents a review on foraging activity including; the regulation of foraging tasks, factors impacting this behaviour, foraging preference, variations between subspecies, monitoring methods as well as the possible methods for controlling this behaviour. As concluded from this review, more work needs to be performed in order to elucidate certain aspects of foraging behaviour.  

scholarly journals Imidacloprid Decreases Honey Bee Survival Rates but Does Not Affect the Gut Microbiome

2018 ◽  
Vol 84 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasie Raymann ◽  
Erick V. S. Motta ◽  
Catherine Girard ◽  
Ian M. Riddington ◽  
Jordan A. Dinser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Gut Microbiome ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Microbiome Composition ◽  
Susceptibility To Infection ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Colony Loss ◽  
Honey Bee Colony ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Accumulating evidence suggests that pesticides have played a role in the increased rate of honey bee colony loss. One of the most commonly used pesticides in the United States is the neonicotinoid imidacloprid. Although the primary mode of action of imidacloprid is on the insect nervous system, it has also been shown to cause changes in insects' digestive physiology and alter the microbiota of Drosophila melanogaster larvae. The honey bee gut microbiome plays a major role in bee health. Although many studies have shown that imidacloprid affects honey bee behavior, its impact on the microbiome has not been fully elucidated. Here, we investigated the impact of imidacloprid on the gut microbiome composition, survivorship, and susceptibility to pathogens of honey bees. Consistent with other studies, we show that imidacloprid exposure results in an elevated mortality of honey bees in the hive and increases the susceptibility to infection by pathogens. However, we did not find evidence that imidacloprid affects the gut bacterial community of honey bees. Our in vitro experiments demonstrated that honey bee gut bacteria can grow in the presence of imidacloprid, and we found some evidence that imidacloprid can be metabolized in the bee gut environment. However, none of the individual bee gut bacterial species tested could metabolize imidacloprid, suggesting that the observed metabolism of imidacloprid within in vitro bee gut cultures is not caused by the gut bacteria. Overall, our results indicate that imidacloprid causes increased mortality in honey bees, but this mortality does not appear to be linked to the microbiome. IMPORTANCE Growing evidence suggests that the extensive use of pesticides has played a large role in the increased rate of honey bee colony loss. Despite extensive research on the effects of imidacloprid on honey bees, it is still unknown whether it impacts the community structure of the gut microbiome. Here, we investigated the impact of imidacloprid on the gut microbiome composition, survivorship, and susceptibility to pathogens of honey bees. We found that the exposure to imidacloprid resulted in an elevated mortality of honey bees and increased the susceptibility to infection by opportunistic pathogens. However, we did not find evidence that imidacloprid affects the gut microbiome of honey bees. We found some evidence that imidacloprid can be metabolized in the bee gut environment in vitro , but because it is quickly eliminated from the bee, it is unlikely that this metabolism occurs in nature. Thus, imidacloprid causes increased mortality in honey bees, but this does not appear to be linked to the microbiome.

scholarly journals The Perfect Match: Simultaneous Strawberry Pollination and Bio-Sampling of the Plant Pathogenic Bacterium Erwinia pyrifoliae by Honey Bees Apis mellifera

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. M. Van der Steen ◽  
M. Bergsma-Vlami ◽  
M. Wenneker
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Plant Pathogens ◽  
Perfect Match ◽  
Pathogenic Bacterium ◽  
Plant Pathogenic Bacterium ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Plant Infection ◽  
Practical Tool ◽  
Honey Bee Colony

In this study we show that honey bee colonies placed in a greenhouse for pollination of strawberry can simultaneously be used to indicate the presence of the plant pathogenic bacterium Erwinia pyrifoliae. This was demonstrated by using two methods of qualitative sacrificial and non-sacrificial bio sampling of the honey bee colony. A novel method for non-sacrificial subsampling, named the Beehold device, was applied. Applying the Beehold device did not disturb or affect negatively the honey bee colony. The study demonstrated that the integration of pollination service and bio-sampling functioned. In the sacrificially derived honey bee subsamples, E. pyrifoliae was detected prior to any visible infection in the plant; however, E. pyrifoliae was detected via non-sacrificial sampling at the same time as plant infection was first observed. The Beehold device is a practical tool for monitoring plant pathogens via forager bees during flowering until fruit onset, but is not as sensitive as directly sampling honey bees.

scholarly journals Wild pollinator activities negatively related to honey bee colony densities in urban context

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lise Ropars ◽  
Isabelle Dajoz ◽  
Colin Fontaine ◽  
Audrey Muratet ◽  
Benoît Geslin
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Pesticide Exposure ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Strong Increase ◽  
Pollinator Visitation ◽  
Pollinator Decline ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Honey Bee Colony

AbstractAs pollinator decline is increasingly reported in natural and agricultural environments, cities are perceived as shelters for pollinators because of low pesticide exposure and high floral diversity throughout the year. This has led to the development of environmental policies supporting pollinators in urban areas. However, policies are often restricted to the promotion of honey bee colony installations, which resulted in a strong increase in apiary numbers in cities. Recently, competition for floral resources between wild pollinators and honey bees has been highlighted in semi-natural contexts, but whether urban beekeeping could impact wild pollinators remains unknown. Here, we show that in the city of Paris (France), wild pollinator visitation rates is negatively correlated to honey bee colony densities present in the surrounding (500m – slope = −0.614; p = 0.001 – and 1000m – slope = −0.489; p = 0.005). More particularly, large solitary bees and beetles were significantly affected at 500m (respectively slope = −0.425, p = 0.007 and slope = - 0.671, p = 0.002) and bumblebees were significantly affected at 1000m (slope = - 0.451, p = 0.012). Further, lower interaction evenness in plant-pollinator networks was observed with honey bee colony densities within 1000 meter buffers (slope = −0.487, p = 0.008). Finally, honey bees tended to focus their foraging activity on managed rather than spontaneous plant species (student t-test, p = 0.001) whereas wild pollinators equally visited managed and spontaneous species. We advocate responsible practices mitigating the introduction of high density of hives in urban environments. Future studies are needed to deepen our knowledge about the potential negative interactions between wild and domesticated pollinators.

scholarly journals First Complete Genome Sequence of Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus Isolated from Honey Bees ( Apis mellifera ) in China

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beibei Li ◽  
Chunsheng Hou ◽  
Shuai Deng ◽  
Xuefeng Zhang ◽  
Yanna Chu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Genome Sequence ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Complete Genome Sequence ◽  
Complete Genome ◽  
Viral Disease ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Honey Bee Colony ◽  
Paralysis Virus

Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) is a serious viral disease affecting adult bees. We report here the complete genome sequence of CBPV, which was isolated from a honey bee colony with the symptom of severe crawling. The genome of CBPV consists of two segments, RNA 1 and RNA 2, containing respective overlapping fragments.

Crude protein and amino acid composition of honey bee-collected pollen pellets from south-east Australia and a note on laboratory disparity

2006 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 141 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Somerville ◽  
H. I. Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Amino Acid Content ◽  
Protein Levels ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Dietary Requirements ◽  
Honey Bee Colony ◽  
Honey Bee Nutrition

Pollen pellets collected from honey bees foraging at 62 floral species were analysed for protein and amino acid content and their value for honey bee nutrition was determined. The crude protein levels of all pollen pellets analysed ranged from 9.2% for Hypochoeris radicata (flatweed) to 37.4% for Echium plantagineum (Paterson’s curse) with a mean of 25.9%. Pollen pellets from 15 species were identified as providing protein levels below those acknowledged to satisfy honey bee dietary requirements when they are the only source of pollen available to the honey bee colony. Pollens collected from species of the same genus demonstrated similar protein profiles. Isoleucine was deficient in 38% of the pollens with 69% of eucalypts and related species demonstrating a significant isoleucine deficiency.

Improved Pollination Efficiency and Reduced Honey Bee Colony Decline in Greenhouses by Allowing Access to the Outside During Part of the Day

Sociobiology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nicodemo ◽  
Euclides Braga Malheiros ◽  
David De Jong ◽  
Regina Helena Nogueira Couto
Keyword(s):  
Cucumis Sativus ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Pollination Efficiency ◽  
Food Stores ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Honey Bee Colony ◽  
Alternating Access ◽  
Type Of Management

Although honey bees are efficient pollinators of many crops cultivated in greenhouses, it is difficult to maintain colony strength and consequently pollination efficiency. Many bees die under greenhouse conditions and the colonies rapidly weaken. We examined the effect of adaptations to the hive entrance that allowed control of whether and when bees had access to the outside environment to see how it would affect pollination efficiency and colony condition in greenhouses with flowering cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plants in comparison with colonies that remained constantly inside the greenhouse, previously left in a dark environment or not. We recorded the type and period of visitation to the cucumber flowers, numbers of honey bees entering and leaving the two entrance hives and the effect of this type of management on the quantity of brood and food. Fiveframe Langstroth “nucleus” colonies were equipped with two 30 square centimeter entrances and two 3.0 cm diameter circular openings. Allowing the bees to make visits outside the greenhouse in early morning with redirection of bees into the greenhouse at 8.30 a.m. did not reduce visitation to cucumber flowers in the greenhouse. Maintaining colonies in the greenhouse reduced brood area and food stores. These losses were significantly reduced in colonies that had access outside the greenhouse during the early morning. Another advantage of alternating access to the inside and the outside of the greenhouse was that there was less possibility of interactions between bees and people working on the crop, and also pesticides application could be made without directly affecting foraging bees.

scholarly journals Honey Bee-Infecting Plant Virus with Implications on Honey Bee Colony Health

mBio ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle L. Flenniken
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Plant Virus ◽  
Emerging Viruses ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Colony Losses ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Honey Bee Colony

ABSTRACTHoney bees are eusocial insects that are commercially managed to provide pollination services for agricultural crops. Recent increased losses of honey bee colonies (averaging 32% annually since 2006) are associated with the incidence and abundance of pathogens. In their study inmBio, J. L. Li et al. [mBio 5(1):e00898-13, 2014, doi:10.1128/mBio.00898-13] share their discovery that a plant virus, tobacco ring spot virus (TRSV), replicates in honey bees and that the prevalence of this virus was high in weak colonies. Their findings increase our understanding of the role of viruses in honey bee colony losses and underscore the importance of surveying for new and/or emerging viruses in honey bees. Furthermore, their findings will pique the interest of virologists and biologists across all disciplines. The discovery that a plant virus (TRSV) replicates, spreads, and negatively affects the health of an insect host will lead to additional studies on the mechanisms of host-specific adaptation and the role of cross-kingdom infections in the transmission of this virus.

scholarly journals Honey bee colony losses: Why are honey bees disappearing?

Sociobiology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 5851
Author(s):  
Peter Hristov ◽  
Rositsa Shumkova ◽  
Nadezhda Palova ◽  
Boyko Neov
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
Colony Losses ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Honey Bee Colony ◽  
Honey Bee Colony Losses

The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera L., Hymenoptera: Apidae) is a species of crucial economic, agricultural and environmental importance.In the last ten years, some regions of the world have suffered from a significant reduction of honey bee colonies. In fact, honey bee losses are not an unusual phenomenon, but in many countries worldwide there has been a notable decrease in honey bee families. The cases in the USA, in many European countries, and in the Middle East have received considerable attention, mostly due to the absence of an easily identifiable cause.It has been difficult to determine the main factors leading to colony losses because of honey bees’ diverse social behavior. Moreover, in their daily routine, they make contact with many agents of the environment and are exposed to a plethora of human activities and their consequences. Nevertheless, a number of different factors are considered to be contributing to honey bee losses, and recent investigations have established some of the most important ones, in particular, pests and diseases, bee management, including bee keeping practices and breeding, the change in climatic conditions, agricultural practices, and the use of pesticides. The global picture highlights the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor as a major factor in colony loss. Last but not least, microsporidian parasites, mainly Nosema ceranae, also contribute to the problem.Thus, it is obvious that many factors are involved in honey bee colony losses globally. Increased monitoring and scientific research should throw new light on the factors involved in recent honey bee colony losses.This review focuses on the main factors which have been found to have an impact on the increase in honey bee colony losses.

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