Faculty Opinions recommendation of Responsiveness to inhibitory signals changes as a function of colony size in honeybees (Apis mellifera).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Pellis
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Colony Size

scholarly journals Can colony size of honeybees (Apis mellifera) be used as predictor for colony losses due to Varroa destructor during winter?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coby van Dooremalen ◽  
Frank van Langevelde
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Colony Size ◽  
Varroa Destructor ◽  
Warning Signs ◽  
Colony Losses ◽  
Early Warning Signs ◽  
Parasitic Mite ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Early Predictor

AbstractFor more than three decades, honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera) experience high losses during winter, and these losses are still continuing. It is crucial that beekeepers monitor their colonies closely and anticipate losses early enough to apply mitigating actions. We tested whether colony size can be used as early predictor for potential colony losses, in particular due to the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. V. destructor is one of the most important causes for these losses. Such early predictor for potential V. destructor induced losses is especially relevant as measuring V. destructor load in colonies is difficult and cumbersome. During three years, we monitored colonies with high and low V. destructor load from July until March of the next year. We found that differences in colony size were only visible after November, even though we lost almost all colonies every winter in the group with high V. destructor load. In the Northern hemisphere, November is considered to be too late for beekeepers to strengthen colonies in preparation for winter. We therefore argue that early-warning signs for potential colony losses due to V. destructor are urgently needed to allow beekeepers preventing winter losses. We discuss the role of precision apiculture to monitor the health and productivity of honeybee colonies.

POLLEN STORAGE AND FORAGING BY HONEY BEES (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) IN HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRIES (ERICACEAE), CULTIVAR BLUECROP

1999 ◽  
Vol 131 (6) ◽  
pp. 757-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margriet H. Dogterom ◽  
Mark L. Winston
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Colony Size ◽  
Vaccinium Corymbosum ◽  
Highbush Blueberry ◽  
Pollen Foraging ◽  
Pollen Storage ◽  
Pollen Types ◽  
Average Proportion ◽  
Highbush Blueberries

AbstractWe investigated pollen and nectar foraging of honey bees, Apis mellifera L., from pollen-poor and pollen-rich, small and large colonies in blooming highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum L. cv. Bluecrop fields. The proportion of pollen foragers differed significantly between pollen-rich and pollen-poor colonies after storage levels were manipulated, but foraging and pollen stores returned to similar levels within a week. No differences were found in small colonies, although the proportion of pollen foragers was high (46% and 45% from pollen-rich and pollen-poor colonies, respectively). Only 7.6% of pollen foragers carried Vaccinium sp. pollen in their loads independent of treatment, day, and colony size, whereas 60.8% of nectar foragers carried up to 100 tetrads of Vaccinium sp. pollen on their bodies. The average proportion of Vaccinium sp. pollen carried by nectar and pollen foragers per day and treatment was less than 10%. Our research indicates that when colonies are placed in fields of blooming blueberry flowers, pollen foraging is stimulated in large colonies with stores that are pollen poor, but predominantly for pollen types other than blueberry. This research indicates that nectar foragers are the major visitor of highbush blueberry cv. Bluecrop and suggests that increasing the number of nectar foragers rather than pollen foragers would result in more honey bees foraging on highbush blueberry, in particular cv. Bluecrop.

scholarly journals Can Colony Size of Honeybees (Apis mellifera) Be Used as Predictor for Colony Losses Due to Varroa destructor during Winter?

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 529
Author(s):  
Coby van Dooremalen ◽  
Frank van Langevelde
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Colony Size ◽  
Varroa Destructor ◽  
Warning Signs ◽  
Colony Losses ◽  
Early Warning Signs ◽  
Parasitic Mite ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Early Predictor

For more than three decades, honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera) have experienced high losses during winter and these losses are still continuing. It is crucial that beekeepers monitor their colonies closely and anticipate losses early enough to apply mitigating actions. We tested whether colony size can be used as early predictor for potential colony losses, in particular due to the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. V. destructor is one of the most important causes of these losses. Such an early predictor for potential V. destructor induced losses is especially relevant as measuring V. destructor load in colonies is difficult and cumbersome. Over three years, we monitored colonies with high and low V. destructor loads from July until March of the next year. We found that differences in colony size were only visible after November, even though we lost almost all colonies every winter in the group with a high V. destructor load. In the Northern hemisphere, November is considered to be too late for beekeepers to strengthen colonies in preparation for winter. We therefore argue that early warning signs for potential colony losses due to V. destructor are urgently needed to allow beekeepers to prevent winter losses. We discuss the role of precision apiculture in monitoring the health and productivity of beehive colonies.

Differentiation Processes of the Ocellar Retina of the Honeybee (Apis Mellifera L.)

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 430-431
Author(s):  
Maria Anna Pabst
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Distal Part ◽  
Cell Layer ◽  
Single Layer ◽  
Photoreceptor Cells ◽  
Distal Segment ◽  
Compound Eyes ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Ultrastructural Studies ◽  
Adult Worker

In addition to the compound eyes, honeybees have three dorsal ocelli on the vertex of the head. Each ocellus has about 800 elongated photoreceptor cells. They are paired and the distal segment of each pair bears densely packed microvilli forming together a platelike fused rhabdom. Beneath a common cuticular lens a single layer of corneagenous cells is present.Ultrastructural studies were made of the retina of praepupae, different pupal stages and adult worker bees by thin sections and freeze-etch preparations. In praepupae the ocellar anlage consists of a conical group of epidermal cells that differentiate to photoreceptor cells, glial cells and corneagenous cells. Some photoreceptor cells are already paired and show disarrayed microvilli with circularly ordered filaments inside. In ocelli of 2-day-old pupae, when a retinogenous and a lentinogenous cell layer can be clearly distinguished, cell membranes of the distal part of two photoreceptor cells begin to interdigitate with each other and so start to form the definitive microvilli. At the beginning the microvilli often occupy the whole width of the developing rhabdom (Fig. 1).

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