scholarly journals Evaluation of Apis mellifera Carniolan and Africanized honey bees in royal jelly production

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisele Fernanda Mouro ◽  
Vagner de Alencar Arnaut de Toledo

Investigations were carried out to evaluate Africanized and Carniolan hybrid Apis mellifera honeybees in royal jelly production. Ten colonies were randomly collected in nature and housed in Langstroth beehives. Each hive was having two nuclei with five frames. In superior nucleus frame was containing 28 acrylic cups in two bars. The five colonies with the best production remained in the experiment and their queens replaced by the respective daughters. Carniolan queens were placed in the five Africanized honeybees colonies with lower production. The hybrid Carniolan showed a higher production (P=0.0001) of royal jelly per colony, in three-day collect (3.95 ± 2.92 g) when compared to the Africanized honeybees (2.23 ± 2.13 g). The Carniolan also had a higher percentage of larvae acceptance (55.45 ± 36.7%) compared to the Africanized honeybees (35.8 ± 28.3%).

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Mariellen Guilherme dos Santos ◽  
Dayane Aparecida dos Santos ◽  
Angela Kwiakowski ◽  
Maria Josiane Sereia ◽  
Lívia Bracht

<p>The aim of this paper was to study the in vitro antimicrobial activity of royal jelly obtained from supplemented honey bees against the microorganism Staphylococcus aureus using the disk diffusion method. The royal jelly was obtained from Apis mellifera africanized honey bees fed with complete supplement constituted of palm oil plus linseed oil, palm oil alone, linseed oil alone and with no supplementation. Samples obtained from the different supplementations were applied to paper disks in the concentration range 0 -100%.&nbsp; All the samples of royal jelly were able to inhibit the growth of S. aureus in a dose-dependent manner. There was no difference between the antimicrobial activity of the different samples of royal jelly obtained from supplemented or not supplemented bees.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span>DOI:&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.14685/rebrapa.v4i1.102">http://dx.doi.org/10.14685/rebrapa.v1i1.3</a></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p>


Author(s):  
Vagner de Alencar Arnaut de Toledo ◽  
Regina Helena Nogueira-Couto

This experiment was carried out to study the internal temperature regulation of a colony of Africanized honey bees (AFR), compared with hybrid Caucasian (CAU), Italian (ITA), and Carniolan (CAR) bees, during the period of one year and different size hives located in a sub-tropical region. The instant internal temperature, 33.7 ± 1.5° C for the AFR, 33.5 ± 1.4° C for the CAU, 33.7 ± 1.5° C for the ITA and 33.8 ± 1.4° C for the CAR, did not show any significant difference (P>0.05). The maximum temperature (36.1 ± 2.3° C) was statistically different (P<0.05) from the minimum (27.6 ± 5.3° C). There was no difference (P>0.05) in the mean internal temperature, between the nucleus (31.7 ± 6.3° C) and the brood nest (32.1 ± 5.3° C) measured between two and four o'clock in the afternoon.


2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-128
Author(s):  
Georgios Goras ◽  
Chrysoula Tananaki ◽  
Sofia Gounari ◽  
Elissavet Lazaridou ◽  
Dimitrios Kanelis ◽  
...  

Abstract We investigated the rearing of drone larvae grafted in queen cells. From the 1200 drone larvae that were grafted during spring and autumn, 875 were accepted (72.9%) and reared as queens. Drone larvae in false queen cells received royal jelly of the same composition and of the same amounts as queen larvae. Workers capped the queen cells as if they were drones, 9-10 days after the egg laying. Out of 60 accepted false queen cells, 21 (35%) were capped. The shape of false queen cells with drone larvae is unusually long with a characteristically elongate tip which is probably due to the falling of larvae. Bees start the destruction of the cells when the larvae were 3 days old and maximised it before and after capping. Protecting false queen cells in the colony by wrapping, reversing them upside down, or placing in a horizontal position, did not help. The only adult drones that emerged from the false queen cells were those protected in an incubator and in push-in cages. Adult drones from false queen cells had smaller wings, legs, and proboscis than regular drones. The results of this study verify previous reports that the bees do not recognise the different sex of the larvae at least at the early stage of larval development. The late destruction of false queen cells, the similarity in quality and quantity of the produced royal jelly, and the bigger drone cells, allow for the use of drone larvae in cups for the production of royal jelly.


1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geraldo Moretto ◽  
Leonidas João de Mello Jr.

Different levels of infestation with the mite Varroa jacobsoni have been observed in the various Apis mellifera races. In general, bees of European races are more susceptible to the mite than African honey bees and their hybrids. In Brazil honey bee colonies are not treated against the mite, though apparently both climate and bee race influence the mite infestation. Six mixed colonies were made with Italian and Africanized honey bees. The percentage infestation by this parasite was found to be significantly lower in adult Africanized (1.69 ± 0.44) than Italian bees (2.79 ± 0.65). This ratio was similar to that found in Mexico, even though the Africanized bees tested there had not been in contact with varroa, compared to more than 20 years of the coexistence in Brazil. However, mean mite infestation in Brazil on both kinds of bees was only about a third of that found in Mexico.


Insects ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Winkler ◽  
Frank Sieg ◽  
Anja Buttstedt

One of the first tasks of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) during their lifetime is to feed the larval offspring. In brief, young workers (nurse bees) secrete a special food jelly that contains a large amount of unique major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs). The regulation of mrjp gene expression is not well understood, but the large upregulation in well-fed nurse bees suggests a tight repression until, or a massive induction upon, hatching of the adult worker bees. The lipoprotein vitellogenin, the synthesis of which is regulated by the two systemic hormones 20-hydroxyecdysone and juvenile hormone, is thought to be a precursor for the production of MRJPs. Thus, the regulation of mrjp expression by the said systemic hormones is likely. This study focusses on the role of 20-hydroxyecdysone by elucidating its effect on mrjp gene expression dynamics. Specifically, we tested whether 20-hydroxyecdysone displayed differential effects on various mrjps. We found that the expression of the mrjps (mrjp1–3) that were finally secreted in large amounts into the food jelly, in particular, were down regulated by 20-hydroxyecdysone treatment, with mrjp3 showing the highest repression value.


PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenchao Yang ◽  
Yuanyuan Tian ◽  
Mingfeng Han ◽  
Xiaoqing Miao

In the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, queens and workers have different longevity although they share the same genome. Queens consume royal jelly (RJ) as the main food throughout their life, including as adults, but workers only eat worker jelly when they are larvae less than 3 days old. In order to explore the effect of RJ and the components affecting longevity of worker honey bees, we first determined the optimal dose for prolonging longevity of workers as 4% RJ in 50% sucrose solution, and developed a method of obtaining long lived workers. We then compared the effects of longevity extension by RJ 4% with bee-collected pollen from rapeseed (Brassica napus). Lastly, we determined that a water soluble RJ protein obtained by precipitation with 60% ammonium sulfate (RJP60) contained the main component for longevity extension after comparing the effects of RJ crude protein extract (RJCP), RJP30 (obtained by precipitation with 30% ammonium sulfate), and RJ ethanol extract (RJEE). Understanding what regulates worker longevity has potential to help increase colony productivity and improve crop pollination efficiency.


2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1107-1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles I. Abramson ◽  
Aaron J. Place ◽  
Italo S. Aquino ◽  
Andrea Fernandez

Experiments were designed to determine whether ethanol influenced aggression in honey bees. Two experiments are reported. In Exp. 1, harnessed honey bees were fed a 1%, 5%, 10%, or 20% ethanol solution. Two control groups received either a sucrose solution only or no pretreatment, respectively. The dependent variable was the number of sting extensions over 10 min. Analysis showed that aggression in harnessed bees was not influenced by prior ethanol consumption. Because there was some suspicion that the extension of the sting apparatus may be hindered by harnessing, and the authors wanted to use a design that increased ecological validity, Exp. 2 was conducted with free-flying bees. Sucrose or 20% ethanol solutions were placed in front of beehives, and the number of stings on a leather patch dangled in front of the hive served as the dependent variable. The experiment was terminated after 5 hr. because bees exposed to ethanol became dangerously aggressive. A unique aspect of the study was that Africanized honey bees were used.


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