Published in Apidologie
Vitellogenin (Vg) is a conserved protein used by nearly all oviparous animals to produce eggs. It is also pleiotropic and performs functions in oxidative stress resistance, immunity, and, in honey bees, behavioral development of the worker caste. It has remained enigmatic how Vg affects multiple traits. Here, we asked whether Vg enters the nucleus ...
Published in Apidologie
Currently, there is a growing interest in developing biopesticides and increasing their share in the plant protection market as sustainable tools in integrated pest management (IPM). Therefore, it is important that regulatory requirements are consistent and thorough in consideration of biopesticides' unique properties. While microbial pesticides ge...
Published in Apidologie
Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) are the most significant threat to beekeeping worldwide. They are directly or indirectly responsible for millions of colony losses each year. Beekeepers are somewhat able to control varroa populations through the use of physical and chemical treatments. However, these methods range in effectiveness, can harm honey b...
Published in Apidologie
Propolis is a honey bee product containing chiefly beeswax and resins originated from plant buds or exudates. Propolis resin exerts a diversity of biological activities, such as antitumoral, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and defense of the hive against pathogens. Chemical standardization and identification of botanical sources is crucial for ch...
Published in Apidologie
The performance of Bombus terrestris micro-colonies fed five diets differing in pollen species composition and level of nine essential amino acids (EAA; leucine, lysine, valine, arginine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, threonine, histidine, methionine) was assessed for 37 days by recording total biomass gain, nest building initiation, brood production ...
Published in Apidologie
Social movements in several countries are stimulating a reconsideration of academic structures and historic figures and promoting reparation and recognition of marginalized and forgotten black scientists. A paradigmatic case in that sense is Charles Henry Turner (1867–1923) who was the first African American to receive a graduate degree at the Univ...
Published in Apidologie
In swarming season, honeybee queens emit two kinds of queen piping signals: tooting and quacking. These signals are considered to be important for swarming, and honeybees distinguish between the two signals through differences in their temporal structures. In this study, we revealed that the piping signals of two honeybee species, Apis cerana and A...
Published in Apidologie
Pollinators foraging on monocultures like hybrid lavender are suspected to suffer physiological stress. We used biomarkers to assess changes in honeybee physiology pre- and post-hybrid lavender season, in high and low weight gain colonies. We observed post-season increased levels of enzymes involved in antioxidant defenses: catalase, superoxide dis...
Published in Apidologie
We designed a cage that can maintain adult bees for 21 days with about 90% survival rate, in addition to facilitating the changing of sucrose syrup and beebread, and collection of live and dead bees without disturbing or releasing bees. The consumption rates of bee pollen diet and sucrose syrup for groups of 50–200 honey bees were recorded for 21 d...
Published in Apidologie
Hygienic behavior is a social defense mechanism against parasites and pathogens in honeybees. We studied the genetic basis of hygienic behavior in African-derived Apis mellifera by performing RNA sequencing on brains of individual honeybee workers observed performing hygienic behavior, in order to identify expression changes linked with this behavi...
