scholarly journals Visual learning and discrimination using Proboscis Extension Reflex in restrained Africanized honey bees, Apis mellifera scutellata

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riveros Andre
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Visual Learning ◽  
Apis Mellifera Scutellata ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Africanized Honey Bees ◽  
Proboscis Extension

Multiple Africanized Bee Stings in a Child

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-117
Author(s):  
Barbara K. Ariue
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Tropical Climate ◽  
Apis Mellifera Scutellata ◽  
Africanized Honey Bees ◽  
Honey Production ◽  
African Honey Bees ◽  
Queen Bees ◽  
Africanized Bees

African honey bees, Apis mellifera scutellata (formerly adsonii) were imported to Brazil in 1956 to introduce a strain of bees with increased honey production which were more suited for the tropical climate.1,2 A year later, 26 African queen bees and their accompanying colonies accidentally escaped.1,2 The African queen bees soon began mating with established European bee races resulting in the hybrid Africanized honey bees.2 Like the pure African bees, the Africanized bees are more defensive with a greater tendency to sting than European bees.3 They respond quickly to the slightest disturbance of their nest and can send out many thousands of bees.

scholarly journals Tetracycline Exposure Alters Key Gut Microbiota in Africanized Honey Bees (Apis mellifera scutellata x spp.)

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kilmer Oliveira Soares ◽  
Celso José Bruno de Oliveira ◽  
Adriana Evangelista Rodrigues ◽  
Priscylla Carvalho Vasconcelos ◽  
Núbia Michelle Vieira da Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Microbial Community ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Apis Mellifera Scutellata ◽  
Africanized Honey Bees ◽  
South Central ◽  
Sugar Syrup ◽  
Bee Health

Honey bees play a critical role in ecosystem health, biodiversity maintenance, and crop yield. Antimicrobials, such as tetracyclines, are used widely in agriculture, medicine, and in bee keeping, and bees can be directly or indirectly exposed to tetracycline residues in the environment. In European honey bees, tetracycline exposure has been linked with shifts in the gut microbiota that negatively impact bee health. However, the effects of antimicrobials on Africanized honey bee gut microbiota have not been examined. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of tetracycline exposure on the gut microbial community of Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata x spp.), which are important pollinators in South, Central, and North America. Bees (n = 1,000) were collected from hives in Areia-PB, Northeastern Brazil, placed into plastic chambers and kept under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. The control group (CON) was fed daily with syrup (10 g) consisting of a 1:1 solution of demerara sugar and water, plus a solid protein diet (10 g) composed of 60% soy extract and 40% sugar syrup. The tetracycline group (TET) was fed identically but with the addition of tetracycline hydrochloride (450 μg/g) to the sugar syrup. Bees were sampled from each group before (day 0), and after tetracycline exposure (days 3, 6, and 9). Abdominal contents dissected out of each bee underwent DNA extraction and 16S rRNA sequencing (V3-V4) on an Illumina MiSeq. Sequences were filtered and processed through QIIME2 and DADA2. Microbial community composition and diversity and differentially abundant taxa were evaluated by treatment and time. Bee gut microbial composition (Jaccard) and diversity (Shannon) differed significantly and increasingly over time and between CON and TET groups. Tetracycline exposure was associated with decreased relative abundances of Bombella and Fructobacillus, along with decreases in key core microbiota such as Snodgrassella, Gilliamella, Rhizobiaceae, and Apibacter. These microbes are critical for nutrient metabolism and pathogen defense, and it is possible that decreased abundances of these microbes could negatively affect bee health. Considering the global ecological and economic importance of honey bees as pollinators, it is critical to understand the effects of agrochemicals including antimicrobials on honey bees.

scholarly journals Tetracycline exposure alters key gut microbiota in Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata x spp.)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kilmer Oliveira Soares ◽  
Celso JB Oliveira ◽  
Adriana Evangelista Rodrigues ◽  
Priscylla Carvalho Vasconcelos ◽  
Nubia MV Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Microbial Community ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Apis Mellifera Scutellata ◽  
Africanized Honey Bees ◽  
South Central ◽  
Sugar Syrup ◽  
Bee Health

Honey bees play a critical role in ecosystem health, biodiversity maintenance, and crop yield. Antimicrobials, such as tetracyclines, are used widely used across agriculture, medicine, and in bee keeping, and bees can be directly or indirectly exposed to tetracycline residues in the environment. In European honey bees, tetracycline exposure has been linked with shifts in the gut microbiota that negatively impact bee health. However, the effects of antimicrobials on Africanized honey bee gut microbiota have not been examined. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of tetracycline exposure on the gut microbial community of Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata x spp), which are important pollinators in South, Central, and North America. Bees (n=1,000) were collected from hives in Areia-PB, Northeastern Brazil, placed into plastic chambers and kept under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. The control group (CON) was fed daily with syrup (10g) consisting of a 1:1 solution of demerara sugar and water, plus a solid protein diet (10g) composed of 60% soy extract and 40% sugar syrup. The tetracycline group (TET) was fed identically but with the addition of tetracycline hydrochloride (450 ug/g) to the sugar syrup. Bees were sampled from each group before (day 0), and after tetracycline exposure (days 3, 6 and 9). Abdominal contents dissected out of each bee underwent DNA extraction and 16S rRNA sequencing (V3-V4) on an Illumina MiSeq. Sequences were filtered and processed through QIIME2 and DADA2. Microbial community composition and diversity and differentially abundant taxa were evaluated by treatment and time. Bee gut microbial composition (Jaccard) and diversity (Shannon) differed significantly and increasingly over time and between CON and TET groups. Tetracycline exposure was associated with decreased relative abundances of Bombella and Fructobacillus, along with decreases in key core microbiota such as Snodgrassella, Gilliamella, Rhizobiaceae, and Apibacter. These microbes are critical for nutrient metabolism and pathogen defense, and decreased abundances of these microbes could negatively affect bee health. Considering the global ecological and economic importance of honey bees as pollinators, it is critical to understand the effects of agrochemicals including antimicrobials on honey bees.

scholarly journals Lateralization of visual learning in the honeybee

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinar Letzkus ◽  
Norbert Boeddeker ◽  
Jeff T Wood ◽  
Shao-Wu Zhang ◽  
Mandyam V Srinivasan
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Visual Learning ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Olfactory Learning ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Proboscis Extension

Lateralization is a well-described phenomenon in humans and other vertebrates and there are interesting parallels across a variety of different vertebrate species. However, there are only a few studies of lateralization in invertebrates. In a recent report, we showed lateralization of olfactory learning in the honeybee ( Apis mellifera ). Here, we investigate lateralization of another sensory modality, vision. By training honeybees on a modified version of a visual proboscis extension reflex task, we find that bees learn a colour stimulus better with their right eye.

A Rapid Bioassay for Detection of Adulterated Beeswax

1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Italo S. Aquino ◽  
Charles I. Abramson ◽  
Mark E. Payton
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Initial Component ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Physical Methods ◽  
Carnauba Wax ◽  
Comprehensive Program ◽  
Rapid Bioassay ◽  
Proboscis Extension

Proboscis extension was used to test the ability of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to detect beeswax adulterated with carnauba wax (Copernicia cerifera Arruda Camara). Subjects were exposed to either 100% beeswax (honeycomb) (e.g., no carnauba wax), 100% beeswax (melted) (e.g., as commercial beeswax cake), 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10% beeswax/carnauba mixtures, 0% beeswax (i.e., 100% carnauba wax), or unscented air. Maximum responding was observed in bees exposed to the scent of honey comb or melted beeswax cake. The addition of as little as 10% carnauba wax was readily detected and resulted in reduced proboscis extensions. Few proboscis extensions occurred to bees exposed to unscented air or 100% carnauba wax. The results indicate that the proboscis extension reflex can be used as a rapid, inexpensive, and reliable bioassay for the detection of adulterated beeswax. The bioassay will be useful in developing countries where chemical and physical methods are unavailable for detecting adulterated beeswax and can serve as an initial component in a comprehensive program of adulteration detection. An equation that predicts the probability of a proboscis response given the percent of adulterated wax is presented.

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