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The microsporidian pathogens Vairimorpha apis and V. ceranae are known to cause intestinal infection in honey bees and are associated with decreased colony productivity and colony loss. The widely accepted method for determining Vairimorpha colony infection level for risk assessment and antibiotic treatment is based on spore counts of 60 pooled worker bees using light microscopy. Given that honey bee colonies consist of as many as 1,000 times more individuals, the number of bees collected for Vairimorpha detection may significantly impact the estimated colony infection level, especially in the case of uneven distribution of high- and low-infected individuals within a hive. Hence, we compared the frequency and severity of Vairimorpha infection in individual bees to pooled samples of 60, 120, and 180 bees, as well as compared the Vairimorpha spp. prevalence in pooled samples of 60 and 180 bees. Overall, we did not find significant differences in spore counts in pooled samples containing incremental numbers of bees, although we observed that, in less-infected colonies, a low frequency of highly infected individuals influenced the estimated colony infection level. Moreover, Vairimorpha spp. prevalence did not differ significantly among the pooled bee samples tested. Increasing the number of pooled bees from the recommended 60 bees to 180 bees did not yield a more accurate representation of colony infection level for highly infected colonies, but the clinical importance of a low frequency of highly infected individuals in less-infected colonies needs to be addressed in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we analyzed Apis mellifera royal jelly proteome alterations induced by supplementation with different concentrations of dietary organic zinc (0, 25, 50, and 75 ppm). Proteins extracted from royal jelly were separated by electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing, and zinc-containing protein spots were identified by tandem mass spectrometry. Organic zinc-containing diets modified total royal jelly protein content and altered the expression of five major royal jelly proteins (MRJP1, MRJP2, MRJP3, MRJP5, and MRJP8). While the diet with the lowest tested zinc content (Zn25) increased total royal jelly protein content and expression of MRJP1, diets with higher zinc contents (Zn50 and Zn75) decreased MRJP expression. Our results demonstrate that important proteins and metabolic processes are modified in royal jelly produced by honey bees supplemented with different concentrations of organic zinc source, affecting nutrition and maintenance of colonies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]