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An animal's diet breadth is a central aspect of its life history, yet the factors determining why some species have narrow dietary breadths (specialists) and others have broad dietary breadths (generalists) remain poorly understood. This challenge is pronounced in herbivorous insects due to incomplete host plant data across many taxa and regions. Here, we develop and validate machine learning models to predict pollen diet breadth in bees, using a bee phylogeny and occurrence data for 682 bee species native to the United States, aiming to better understand key drivers. We found that pollen specialist bees made an average of 72.9% of their visits to host plants and could be predicted with high accuracy (mean 94%). Our models predicted generalist bee species, which made up a minority of the species in our dataset, with lower accuracy (mean 70%). The models tested on spatially and phylogenetically blocked data revealed that the most informative predictors of diet breadth are plant phylogenetic diversity, bee species' geographic range, and regional abundance. Our findings also confirm that range size is predictive of diet breadth and that both male and female specialist bees mostly visit their host plants. Overall, our results suggest we can use visitation data to predict specialist bee species in regions and for taxonomic groups where diet breadth is unknown, though predicting generalists may be more challenging. These methods can thus enhance our understanding of plant-pollinator interactions, leading to improved conservation outcomes and a better understanding of the pollination services bees provide.

Species-level identification of insects is often difficult and can limit ecological studies, particularly those assessing insect biodiversity. Wing venation characteristics are fundamental for defining and classifying insects. Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) have relatively conserved wing characteristics at the family, genus, and species level, but the patterns between groups remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed geometric morphometrics to assess variation in wing venation across bees taxa. Geometric morphometrics allows for detailed shape analysis of wing structure, which may provide insights into evolutionary relationships. By digitally landmarking nine homologous wing vein characters of a diverse sample of bees, we quantified and compared phenotypic variation across several recognized species, genera, and families in order to assess whether the resulting morphological clusters reflect evolutionary divergence. Preliminary results demonstrate the ability to differentiate species within a genus and even among populations, testifying to a high level of precision. We are currently investigating the extent to which our groupings based on morphometric data aligns with established phylogeny and the practical implications. This study assesses the potential of geometric morphometrics to infer the phylogenetic placement of indeterminate bee species based solely on wing vein patterns and provides an effective pathway for species identification. This classification method could accelerate research in pollinator conservation and ecology by offering an accessible alternative means for bee identification and ecological morphotype hypotheses.This poster was presented at the UCSB Undergraduate Research Colloqium- 2024

Wing venation characteristics are fundamental for defining and classifying insects. In bees these characteristics are relatively conserved, but the patterns between groups remain poorly understood. We employed geometric morphometrics to assess variation in wing venation across bees taxa. Geometric morphometrics allows for detailed shape analysis of wing structure, which may provide insights into evolutionary relationships. By digitally landmarking homologous wing vein characters of a diverse sample of bees, we quantified and compared phenotypic variation in order to assess whether the resulting morphological clusters reflect evolutionary divergence and align with established phylogeny. This study assesses the potential of geometric morphometrics to infer the phylogenetic placement of indeterminate bee species based solely on wing vein patterns and provides an effective pathway for species identification.Presented at the UCSB EEMB Undergraduate Research Symposium 2024

Nigeria's agricultural and commercial sectors rely heavily on honey production. Despite its significance, the expansion and efficiency of the honey sector are hampered by obstacles faced by producers and marketers. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by honey producers and marketers in Nigeria's Cross River State. The Electronic Kobo Toolbox Mobile application was used to sample 301 respondents using systematic and purposive sampling procedures. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for interviews with hunters and beekeepers. To confirm and improve the information, three focus groups and ten key informant interviews were held. Using descriptive statistics, the data was examined. Results showed that 90.8% of respondents recorded a decline in honey availability due to seasonality in honey production, honey adulteration, inadequate processing tools, lack of start-up capital and inefficient beekeeping practices. Rising costs, challenges to livelihoods, and possible biodiversity loss as a result of dwindling bee numbers are some of the economic and environmental effects of decreased honey availability. Production trends show that favourable colonization conditions and better yields during the harvest season contributed to increased production for 28.9% and 27.3% of respondents respectively. However, 34.9% identified lower colonization rates as the key factor driving production declines. SWOT analysis of honey production and marketing reveals strengths in indigenous knowledge, access to high-grade natural resources, and the good reputation of honey products. Weaknesses include financial limitations, poor processing technologies, and fragmented market structures. Opportunities include capacity-build initiatives, favourable government policies, and the large supply gap in the honey market, while threats such as limited governmental support, honey adulteration, and agrochemical impact on bee populations pose significant risks to the industry. There is a need for Government intervention to support sustainable honey production practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climatic stressors are important drivers in the evolution of social behavior. Social animals tend to thrive in harsh and unpredictable environments, yet the precise benefits driving these patterns are often unclear. Here, we explore water conservation in forced associations of a solitary bee (Melissodes tepidus timberlakei Cockerell, 1926) to test the hypothesis that grouping can generate synergistic physiological benefits in an incipient social context. Paired bees displayed mutual tolerance and experienced reduced water loss relative to singleton bees when exposed to acute low-humidity stress, with no change in activity levels. While the mechanism underlying these benefits remains unknown, social advantages like these can facilitate the evolution of cooperation among nonrelatives and offer important insights into the social consequences of climate change.

In this paper, we address an essential problem related to object detection and image processing: detecting objects potentially nested in other ones. This problem exists particularly in the beekeeping sector: detecting varroa parasites on bees. Indeed, beekeepers must ensure the level of infestation of their apiaries by the varroa parasite which settles on the backs of bees. As far as we know, there is no yet a published approach to deal with nested object detection using only one neural network trained on two different datasets. We propose an approach that fills this gap. Therefore, we improve the accuracy and the efficiency of bee and varroa detection task. Our work is based on deep learning, more precisely Mask R-CNN neural network. Instead of segmenting detected objects (bees), we segment internal objects (varroas). We add a branch to Faster R-CNN to segment internal objects. We extract relevant features for internal object segmentation and suggest efficient method for training the neural network on two different datasets. Our experiments are based on a set of images of bee frames, containing annotated bees and varroa mites. Due to differences in occurrence rates, two different sets were created. After carrying out experiments, we ended up with a single neural network capable of detecting two nested objects without decreasing accuracy compared to two separate neural networks. Our approach, compared to traditional separate neural networks, improves varroa detection accuracy by 1.9%, reduces infestation level prediction error by 0.22%, and reduces execution time by 28% and model memory by 23%. In our approach, we extract Res4 (a layer of the ResNet neural network) features for varroa segmentation, which improves detection accuracy by 11% compared to standard FPN extraction. Thus, we suggest a new approach that detects nested objects more accurately than two separate network approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (MAPEOs) are considered to be one of the main sources of mercury release into the environment. Considering the gold mining activities, this study evaluated the Hg concentration in 27 apiaries (Apis spp.) in the South of the Legal Amazon, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. A total of 243 samples distributed in 81 samples of bees, 81 beeswax, and 81 of honeys, collected between the months of July and November 2022, were analyzed. One bee sample showed Hg concentration above the limit of quantification (68.8 ng g−1), 27 samples were between the limit of detection and limit of quantification (15 samples of bees, 8 of wax and 4 of honey). In all study areas, trace levels of Hg concentration were detected, 12 near MAPEOs areas and 16 near crop areas. It recorded that the honeys analyzed in this study in Mato Grosso are not contaminated by Hg, not offering any risk to consumers of the product. It is noteworthy that the use of bioindicator tools such as bees, beeswax, and honey is effective in relation to Hg monitoring in apiaries. It can also infer that the implementation of beekeeping in areas that will go through experience the process of environmental recovery, after the mining exploitation, is feasible, in line with permanent biomonitoring of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bees are essential pollinators for many plant species, but multiple threats exist to both managed and wild bee populations. Since bee nutrition is critical for hive and colony health, their innate foraging behaviors and food preferences are the subject of extensive study. Multiple approaches have been developed to assess bee foraging behavior and associated preferences, but these approaches are often labor-intensive and provide data on a limited number of parameters. In this manuscript, we present an improved method to quantify bee foraging preferences, including the design, build, and implementation of an inexpensive and automated feeding apparatus capable of recording (1) environmental conditions, (2) species and behavior through photos and videos, (3) foraging activity, and (4) food consumption. The efficacy of this apparatus is demonstrated through preference tests with artificial nectars, while also acknowledging the limitations of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "animacy perception" describes the ability of animals to detect cues that indicate whether a particular object in the environment is alive or not. Such skill is crucial for survival, as it allows for the rapid identification of animated agents, being them potential social partners, or dangers to avoid. The literature on animacy perception is rich, and the ability has been found to be present in a wide variety of vertebrate taxa. Many studies suggest arthropods also possess this perceptual ability, however, the term "animacy" has not often been explicitly used in the research focused on these models. Here, we review the current literature providing evidence of animacy perception in arthropods, focusing especially on studies of prey categorization, predator avoidance, and social interactions. First, we present evidence for the detection of biological motion, which involves recognizing the spatio-temporal patterns characteristic of liveliness. We also consider the congruency between shape and motion that gives rise to animacy percept, like the maintenance of a motion direction aligned with the main body axis. Next, we discuss how some arthropods use static visual cues, such as facial markings, to detect and recognize individuals. We explore the mechanisms, development, and neural basis of this face detection system, focusing on the well-studied paper wasps. Finally, we discuss thanatosis—a behavior in which an animal feigns death to disrupt cues of liveliness—as evidence for the active manipulation of animacy perception in arthropods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bees play a pivotal role in maintaining ecosystems and securing food for humankind. As such, it is crucial to shape a scientific understanding of bees for school students at a young age so as to value and protect the little creatures. This study is intended to identify teenage students' knowledge and understandings of bees in relation to structures, behaviours, functions, threatening factors and loss of bees, via interviews and a drawing test which were administered to a total of 73 seventh-graders from two classes in a lower secondary school. The findings reveal that some drawn bees' external structures are most often missing, misplaced and erroneously quantified, suggesting a lack of holistic knowledge of bees' external structures. A majority of students tend to equate bees with social bees and some barely conceive the messages that certain behaviours of bees communicate. Anthropomorphism is commonly used in representing and formulating their understandings of bees. Students' statements demonstrate that some unproved and insubstantial factors are deemed as a threat to bees and that their anticipations of the impacts of bee loss are characterised by immediacy and directness. Based on these findings, the sources of their misconceptions and misunderstandings as well as some implications are illuminated in relation to bee teaching in biological education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the toxicity of insecticides on bees is crucial for preserving pollinators in agricultural areas. This study aimed to evaluate the residual and ingestion toxicity of the insecticide Pymetrozine on Apis mellifera under laboratory conditions. Bees were exposed to two commercial doses of Pymetrozine (0.2 and 0.4 g a.i./L) through contact with residues on melon leaves and ingestion of contaminated food. Distilled water served as a control, and Thiamethoxam (0.30 g a.i./L) was used as a positive control. Mortality and motor disorders were assessed over 24 hours. For bees that survived, flight capacity was evaluated. Contact with Pymetrozine residues resulted in 20.8% and 23.9% mortality at the lower and higher doses, respectively. Ingestion of contaminated food caused 8.2% and 9.1% mortality at the lower and higher doses, respectively. The Median Lethal Time (LT50) for Pymetrozine was 93.3 hours for residual contact and 229.4 hours for ingestion, regardless of dose. Pymetrozine also reduced the flight capacity of surviving bees after 24 hours of exposure. Overall, Pymetrozine caused low mortality in A. mellifera but affected their mobility and flight capacity under laboratory conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Pollination services across rural–urban gradients may vary as land cover and other environmental attributes differentially influence pollinators. Most studies examining crop pollination, however, have been conducted in rural environments, while research in urban areas has lagged behind despite growing interest in urban agriculture. In this study, we hypothesized that increased urbanization would alter pollinator community composition due to a reduction in natural areas within the surrounding landscape, potentially decreasing pollinator abundance. To evaluate this hypothesis, we conducted a three‐year study using strawberries as a focal study crop. We characterized the abundance, diversity, and community composition of bees across 10 farms along a rural–urban gradient in Michigan, USA. Across sites and years, we found that urbanization, measured as impervious surface cover, had no consistent effect on overall bee abundance and diversity. However, urbanization differentially influenced certain taxa, namely, Halictini which was positively associated with more urban environments in year one and Ceratinini which was negatively associated with more urban environments in year three. Sweat bees and small carpenter bees were the most frequent strawberry flower visitors across sites and years, although honey bees were dominant at rural sites in year one. We observed 61 bee species visiting strawberry flowers, most commonly Lasioglossum, Ceratina, and Augochlorella species. Most bee species were generalist foragers that visited many flower species within each site. Variation in strawberry floral visitors across years appeared to be driven by shifts in flower phenology, especially in year one when flowering was delayed due to the practice of flower removal to increase yield. Our study demonstrates the importance of wild bees, especially native species, as pollinators in urban agriculture and illustrates how habitat context shapes bee communities.

The purpose of this research project is to investigate how rising temperatures, for instance climate change, can affect bees of various body sizes given their essential role in the global food supply through pollination of agricultural crops. To achieve this I utilized 3D imaging and 3D modeling techniques to calculate surface area-to-volume (SA/V) ratios of the bees that otherwise cannot be obtained using conventional methods. SA/V ratios were calculated for 4 different families (Halictidae, Colletidae, Apidae, and Megachilidae) in the order Hymenoptera and were analyzed alongside the bee’s Critical Thermal Maximum (CT Max) data, the maximum heat a bee can withstand before losing mobility, to gain insight on the bee's ability to survive in extreme hot temperatures. It is evident from the data that larger bees, characterized by smaller SA/V ratios, presented a higher CT Max suggesting their greater chance of survival in higher temperatures than smaller bees due to less heat exchange relative to their body size. This data implies that with the earth’s rising global temperatures larger bees will likely perform better than smaller bees. This poster was presented at the UCSB Center for Science & Engineering Partnerships Undergraduate Research Symposium, on August 9, 2023.

The paper examines a complex of figurative meanings of the entomonym “abelha” (“bee”), manifested in the space of the Portuguese poetic text of the 19th–20th centuries. The purpose of the work is to trace the transformation of the image and its semantic increments. We used methods of contextual, stylistic, semantic analysis and linguistic and cultural commentary. The material includes poems by Almeida Garret, Guerra Junqueiro, Antonio Nobre, Fernando Pessoa, Sofi a de Mello, José Saramago, Fernando Echevarría, etc. The bee is one of the few insects that are evaluated mostly positively in the Portuguese language worldview. However, specific individual authors’ figurative associations diff er in their originality, significantly expanding and complementing the corresponding concept. So, a swarm of bees symbolizes both a sensibly organized collective work, and a gang of naughty schoolboys (G. Junqueiro). At the same time, a separate bee, along with diligence in work, is associated with a thirst for life and creativity (S. de Mello), the birth of rhymes swarming in the mind, boiling thoughts (J. Saramago) and the fervor of love (J. Saramago, A. Garret). The fl ight of a bee over blooming gardens is often likened in Portuguese poetry to the craving of a man for a woman, and the bees themselves become an allegory of sparkling glances (E. de Castro), also of lips and kisses – thanks to the association with honey. Sounds’ similes are important as well: they are guitar chords, fado melodies (A. Nobre). The vast variability of poetic interpretations of the bee’s image is cemented into a single whole by the idea of intensity: diligent collective work, ardent love, a passionate desire to live and create (thirst for life), a powerful creative upsurge, irrepressible frolic of children, deep and rich (thick) sounds of fado in silence, the inviting shine of bright eyes. The image of a bee, reinterpreted in Portuguese poems, is distinguished by a variety of associative foundations, originality and versatility. Having undergone significant transformations in poetic discourse, the updated semantic palette of this entomonym enriches the imagery of the Portuguese language.

Summary: A few Capsicum (pepper) species produce yellow‐colored floral nectar, but the chemical identity and biological function of the yellow pigment are unknown.A combination of analytical biochemistry techniques was used to identify the pigment that gives Capsicum baccatum and Capsicum pubescens nectars their yellow color. Microbial growth assays, visual modeling, and honey bee preference tests for artificial nectars containing riboflavin were used to assess potential biological roles for the nectar pigment.High concentrations of riboflavin (vitamin B2) give the nectars their intense yellow color. Nectars containing riboflavin generate reactive oxygen species when exposed to light and reduce microbial growth. Visual modeling also indicates that the yellow color is highly conspicuous to bees within the context of the flower. Lastly, field experiments demonstrate that honey bees prefer artificial nectars containing riboflavin.Some Capsicum nectars contain a yellow‐colored vitamin that appears to play roles in (1) limiting microbial growth, (2) the visual attraction of bees, and (3) as a reward to nectar‐feeding flower visitors (potential pollinators), which is especially interesting since riboflavin is an essential nutrient for brood rearing in insects. These results cumulatively suggest that the riboflavin found in some Capsicum nectars has several functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we present the palynological composition of a single sample of the elusive purple honey collected in southern North Carolina and discuss how it fits within a nearby statewide South Carolina melissopalynological study. 302 samples were collected by nineteen beekeepers participating in this year-long project, submitting honey samples while honeybees were actively collecting nectar. The absence of pollen of Pueraria (kudzu) in the purple honey dismisses the often-suggested link between the unique tint of the purple honey and kudzu's purple pollen. A second hypothesis hinting that the tint could be linked to ripened berries is not reinforced by our investigation as pollen of Ericaceae (eg blueberries) and Rosaceae (eg blackberries) were not found in the purple honey sample but were commonly found in classic golden honey analyzed. The presence of Vitis pollen supports the possibility that bees forage on wild muscadine grapes (Vitis rotundifolia) which was available in the foraging area. This study cannot discredit the possibility that bees were foraging on berry juices or other sugar sources containing purple pigments because these sources contain little or no pollen. A third hypothesis proposes a link between purple honey and the sourwood tree, Oxydendrum arboretum. This hypothesis is supported by this investigation as the dominant pollen type recovered in the purple honey was sourwood, with 19% in relative abundance, a significant percentage for this plant. We suggest chemical analysis of purple honey samples be conducted to determine if berry juice or sourwood is the more likely source of the pigmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apis), honey bees, are the most widely used managed crop pollinators. However, their high rental cost and uncertain availability for North American orchard crops have motivated growers to explore alternative pollination options. We examined whether adding solitary, spring-flying Osmia lignaria Say (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), blue orchard bees, as co-pollinators with A. mellifera in Washington sweet cherry and pear orchards enhances fruit set and yield compared to the use of A. mellifera alone. We added managed O. lignaria to orchard sites where A. mellifera hives were already present. Fruit set, fruit yield, and O. lignaria reproduction at O. lignaria -supplemented sites were compared to nearby, paired sites pollinated only by A. mellifera (3 paired cherry and 3 paired pear sites). For both crops, the addition of O. lignaria significantly increased fruit set but did not yield at harvest. Microscopic inspection of pollen grains from O. lignaria nest cell provisions confirmed that O. lignaria primarily visited orchard flowers. Mean retention of O. lignaria in cherry orchards was slightly higher (65%) than O. lignaria retention reported in other orchard crops (30%–60%). However, retention in pear orchards was much lower (≤20%). These results show that supplementing hives with O. lignaria in Washington spring orchard crops can increase overall pollination, but that trees fail to bear developing fruit to maturity. The strategy of using co-pollinators, O. lignaria and A. mellifera , in US orchards may act as "pollination insurance" when A. mellifera hives are in low supply or when the weather is not amenable for A. mellifera flight during the bloom period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the construction of the concepts of empowerment and transformation as they manifest through the discourse of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in South Africa. Using critical discourse analysis, the paper argues that key BEE documents such as the BEE Commission Report, the DTI BEE Strategy and the BBBEE Acts reduce the discourses of empowerment and transformation to the ahistorical and apolitical concepts of economic inclusion and participation. Previous studies have ignored the analysis of these fundamental discourses while framing BEE as a radically transformative policy that has only failed. Drawing upon Nancy Fraser and Marion Young’s concepts of justice, the paper finds that BEE policy documents appropriate and compound anti-colonial and anti-apartheid discourses to construct BEE as radically transformative without being transformative in conception and discourse. Thus, these policy documents are ideologically oriented towards the allocation of surplus resources among Black people rather than addressing the more central question of radically transforming social rules and unequal power relations of racial capitalism that determine economic relations. The outcome of these discursive practices directly contributes to the maintenance of these relations that continue to underpin the oppression of black people while giving the impression that something radically has been done about this oppression.

Bees play a crucial role in terrestrial ecosystems. However, beekeepers are unable to monitor the state of beehives (bees and environment) all the time, which often results in bees escaping or even dying. Currently, some researchers provided the scheme of intelligent beehive monitoring system equipped with the Internet of Things (IoT), There remain two challenges: accurately monitor the environmental status around the hive and accurately track and monitor bees in real time. With the development of the IoT and computer vision algorithms, we hope to provide an automated and efficient system to meet the above challenges. In this paper, we proposed a hive monitoring system, and build a visualization module in the cloud to monitor the activity of bee colonies and the environmental dynamic changes. (1) We proposed a multi-bee tracking algorithm to solve the problem of monitoring bees at the door of the hive; (2) we constructed a dataset containing various complex scenes, named BEE22, for training and testing the performance of our algorithm; (3) we designed a bee counting rule, based on results of multi-bee tracking algorithm, to reasonably count the bees entering or leaving the beehive; (4) we have deployed multiple sensors around(center, margin, door, and environment) the hive to accurately reflect the changes in the environment around the hive. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and excellence of our system. In particular, the tracking performance of the multi-bee tracking algorithm reaches 83.5 % ± 0.7 % Multiple Object Tracking Accuracy (MOTA) and 77.3 %±0.2 % Multiple Object Tracking Precision (MOTP), speeds up to 16 frames per second, compared with other algorithms, MOTA and Identity F1 Score (IDF1) are improved by 5.4 % and 8.2 % respectively. Moreover, our counting algorithm also achieved excellent results, with root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.3 ± 0.1, 0.2 ± 0.0, and 1.6 ± 0.1 in counting the number of bees current, entry, and out scene in an episode, respectively. After that, the system will be deployed and monitored for a long time in the actual scenario, it was found that the activity of bees decreased significantly under heavy rainfall conditions. Additionally, the activity of the bee colony will also increase accordingly, when the amplitude is 500 dB to 2000 dB, the temperature of the center of the beehive is 25 °C to 37 °C, and the humidity is 48 % to 67 %. In summary, our system can provide valuable information for bee farmers to make control decisions on hives.

Balancing the application of insecticides with the preservation of bees in agricultural areas poses a significant challenge to farmers. Therefore, this study aims to assess the survival and flight capacity of Apis mellifera (L.) bees after contact with residues of the insecticide/acaricide Spiromesifen on melon leaves. The experiment occurred under laboratory conditions, in a completely randomized design and a 4x3 factorial scheme, with two doses of Spiromesifen (0.24 and 0.288 g a.i./L), a positive control (Thiamethoxam), and an absolute control (distilled water), at three exposure times: 1, 2, and 3 hours after treatment application. Spiromesifen caused mortality of 15.33% and 13.80% after 1 hour of spraying, 20.05% and 17.72% after 2 hours of spraying, and 21.52% and 14.33% after 3 hours of spraying, for lower and higher doses, respectively. Spiromesifen provided a median lethal time of 112.9 hours, regardless of dose and exposure time. After exposure to the lower dose of Spiromesifen at 1, 2, and 3 hours after spraying, 28.41%, 8.0%, and 17.0% of the bees were able to fly, respectively, while at the higher dose, 33.55% and 8.11% were able to fly after 1 and 2 hours of spraying. Bees exposed after 3 hours of spraying at the higher dose showed a flight activity similar to the absolute control. Contact with Spiromesifen residues on melon leaves was slightly lethal to the honey bee A. mellifera, but it reduced the flight capacity of surviving bees after exposure.

ABBA (Apple, Bee, Bacteria, Antagonists) onFire (Fire Blight) is a three-year internal consortium project at the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI), in which six JKI institutes are involved. In this project, an innovative treatment approach based on natural tailocin-producing bacteria is being investigated to combat the fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora in organic pome fruit cultivation. In addition to effectiveness, the project also assesses potential impacts on non-target organisms and the environment. The project aims to verify the benefits of microbial genomic mining, through a proof-of-concept using the pathogen Erwinia amylovora. The objective is to search for natural antagonists against this plant pathogenic bacterium in organic farming and thus to develop a practical, specific control concept. The overall aim of the project is to develop an approach that can also be transferred to other harmful bacteria and be used for prophylactic treatments in organic farming.

Lavandula angustifolia Mill., lavender, is an aromatic plant in the Lamiaceae family. Lavender is an important economic plant that is cultivated throughout the world. Previous studies have shown that the primary pollinators of lavender in Europe and North Africa are bee species, specifically Bombus spp. However, similar studies have not been previously performed in North America. The current study, on cultivated population lavender (grown from seed) in Utah (USA), found a diverse community of bees visiting lavender over a 4-week sequential and successive blooming period. The observed and identified bees were distinguished across 8 genera and 12 species, of which 3 were species not native to North America. The most observed bees were Apis mellifera (88.3%), Bombus fervidus (4.2%), and B. huntii (3.7%). To investigate seed production and viability, lavender plants were either caged off and their access withheld from pollinators, or selectively granted access to various pollinators, to determine (1) if lavender is capable of self-pollination, (2) if pollination increases both the seed production rates and seed viability of lavender, and (3) which bee species are the most efficient pollinators of lavender. The findings from this study demonstrate the ecological interactions between pollinators both native and non-native to North America on lavender, a plant native to the Mediterranean region.

Aim of the current research is to know degree of commitment of bee keepers with modern methods in storing and marketing bee products in Nineveh governorate / Iraq in general, know the correlation between level of following modern methods in storing and marketing bee products and independent variables of research (academic achievement, years spent in bee breeding, percentage of contribution of bee keeping in annual revenue its owner , environment of bee hive, number of bee hives , status of property of bee hive and purpose of breeding bees), To collect data, researcher adopted a survey of two parts: first number of personal variables of bee keepers. Second a scale to measure degree of commitment of bee keepers with modern methods in storing and marketing bee products with (30) items. Surface validity was verified. Stability reached (0,93). Society of research was all (113) licensed bee breeders come from these regions: (Al-Gweer 24) (Bartillah 18) (Sinjar 30) (Talaafar 19) (Al-Namrood 23). A percentage representing (40%) of society was chosen . Thus sample was (45) researchees. Results showed that level of commitment of bee keepers with modern methods in storing and marketing bee products in general is moderate tends to increase. There was a morally significant relation between level of commitment of bee keepers with modern methods in storing and marketing bee products and the following independent variables (percentage of contribution of bee keeping in annual revenue of its owner, number of bee hives). The first three items were (I always sterilize tools of purifying honey, make sure that jars are tightly closed, keep main dates to harvest honey ) respectively. Researcher recommends adopt technique of extracting bees poison by electric shock outside hive, extract gemogenes from bees, inject bees poison to treat diseases.

Invasive pests may disturb and destructively reformat the local ecosystem. The small hive beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida, originated in Africa and has expanded to America, Australia, Europe, and Asia. A key factor facilitating its fast global expansion is its ability to subsist on diverse food inside and outside honey bee colonies. SHBs feed on various plant fruits and exudates in the environment while searching for bee hives. After sneaking into a bee hive, they switch their diet to honey, pollen, and bee larvae. How SHBs survive on such a broad range of food remains unclear. In this study, we simulated the outside and within hive stages by providing banana and hive resources and quantified the SHB associated microbes adjusted by the diet. We found that SHBs fed on bananas were colonized by microbes coding more carbohydrate-active enzymes and a higher alpha diversity than communities from SHBs feeding on hive products or those collected directly from bee hives. SHBs fed on bananas and those collected from the hive showed high symbiont variance, indicated by the beta diversity. Surprisingly, we found the honey bee core symbiont Snodgrassella alvi in the guts of SHBs collected in bee hives. To determine the role of S. alvi in SHB biology, we inoculated SHBs with a genetically tagged culture of S. alvi, showing that this symbiont is a likely transient of SHBs. In contrast, the fungus Kodamaea ohmeri is the primary commensal of SHBs. Diet-based microbiome shifts are likely to play a key role in the spread and success of SHBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There is overwhelming evidence of declines in native bee populations and therefore a need for increased monitoring to track these declines and assist in conservation and restoration efforts. Bees can be sampled non-lethally through visual surveys (e.g., distance transects) or lethally through active (e.g., hand netting) or passive (e.g., traps that lure insects from afar) methods. These lethal methods suffer from imperfect detection that is difficult to account for and can confound inferences about habitat characteristics. Additionally, evidence suggests that lethal sampling methods can even invert habitat quality patterns such that high-quality sites yield fewer individuals and low-quality sites yield more individuals. Methods: To study potential biases associated with imperfect detection, we used hierarchical density estimation with visual surveys to estimate density of bees within 40 young forest patches across Pennsylvania, USA. We surveyed bee communities non-lethally using visual surveys and lethally using blue-vane traps and bee bowls every two weeks between May and September 2019. We collected data on blooming flowers, vegetation structure, and weather during times of survey. Results: We found that bee densities estimated from distance transects had a positive relationship with floral resource availability. In contrast, abundance measured via bee bowls and blue-vane traps had no relationship, or sometimes even negative trends with habitat quality, including floral resource availability. Raw bee counts within 2-m of the transect always correlated with modeled densities, showing that some methods do not share the biases of attractive traps. Discussion: Our study demonstrates that failing to account for imperfect detection can impact the interpretation of pollinator surveys and adds to a growing body of literature that acknowledges the value of distance sampling for insects like bees to better understand species' habitat needs and to monitor populations for conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic diseases associated with metabolism are becoming one of the most prevalent health problems in the world. Therefore, searching for foods with functional properties is a viable strategy to prevent the onset of chronic diseases. Amongst the most currently studied functional foods, the edible insects stand out, and Apis mellifera (bee) has received prominent attention due to its high nutritional value. In this context, the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of a food supplementation with A. mellifera wholemeal flour on the mice's metabolic profile with diet-induced hepatic steatosis. Six-week-old male Swiss mice were divided into 6 groups and treated for 4 weeks. The groups were identified as follows: standard diet (AIN93), standard diet + 15% A. mellifera (AIN93 + 15%), standard diet + 30% A. mellifera (AIN93 + 30%), hyperlipidic diet (HFD) HFD + 15% A. mellifera (HFD + 15%), and HFD + 30% wholemeal bee A. mellifera flour (HFD + 30%). Several parameters such as liver histology, tissue weight, and liver mRNA expression were evaluated. The main results showed that including Apis mellifera wholemeal flour reduced hepatic steatosis by improving biochemical and histological parameters. Moreover, significant changes were also observed in the expression of the lipogenic genes PPARγ, SRBP1c, and GPX4. The main findings showed the potential use of A. mellifera wholemeal flour in improving hepatic steatosis and its beneficial effects on metabolic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Journal of Kirkuk University for Agricultural Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Very little is known about the Megachilid bee diversity from Pakistan. In this context, a study primarily focused on Genus Megachile Latreille 1802 from grassland and meadows of coniferous forests of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province was conducted. Eight species were recorded, two species (Megachile albifrons, Smith 1853, Megachile pseudodisjuncta, Kumari 2018) are new record to Pakistan, whereas all the eight species are new record to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Brief description together with illustrations and distributional range of each of these Megachile species is also provided. A diagnostic key for identification of the female species of Genus Megachile Latreille 1802 for Pakistan is provided for ready reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societies of social Hymenoptera usually consist of groups of closely related females in which the dominant female(s) is specialized for reproduction and subordinate females care for immature offspring. Studying simple societies allows the identification of factors responsible for early stages of evolution of sociality. Here, we examined facultative social nesting in the species Ceratina chalybea using nest dissection, observation of nests, and evaluation of relatedness using microsatellite loci. Social nests were composed of an old female and on average 3.38 young adults and 2.05 newly provisioned brood cells. Social nests had a smaller number of brood cells, and empty cells made up a smaller proportion of the nest in comparison with solitary nests. Moreover, social nesting was strongly associated with nest reuse. Almost all of the young adults present were males, and about half of them were unrelated to the old female. The old female was the only member of the society who performed regular foraging. Feeding of mature offspring by the mother is typical for Ceratina bees. We suppose that social nests emerge when the mother begins provisioning new brood cells in the same nest where young adults are still present. As young adults do not perform physically demanding or risky activities, they incur little or no cost, but they can benefit from the food they obtain from the old female. Our results suggest that relatedness may be unimportant for eusociality maintenance when costs of helping behaviour are small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lavandula angustifolia Mill., lavender, is an aromatic plant in the Lamiaceae family. Lavender is an important economic plant that is cultivated throughout the world. Previous studies have shown that the primary pollinators of lavender in Europe and North Africa are bee species, specifically Bombus spp. However, similar studies have not been previously performed in North America. The current study, on cultivated population lavender (grown from seed) in Utah (USA), found a diverse community of bees visiting lavender over a 4-week sequential and successive blooming period. The observed and identified bees were distinguished across 8 genera and 12 species, of which 3 were species not native to North America. The most observed bees were Apis mellifera (88.3%), Bombus fervidus (4.2%), and B. huntii (3.7%). To investigate seed production and viability, lavender plants were either caged off and their access withheld from pollinators, or selectively granted access to various pollinators, to determine (1) if lavender is capable of self-pollination, (2) if pollination increases both the seed production rates and seed viability of lavender, and (3) which bee species are the most efficient pollinators of lavender. The findings from this study demonstrate the ecological interactions between pollinators both native and non-native to North America on lavender, a plant native to the Mediterranean region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Land-use change can cause decreases in plant abundance and richness and the replacement of wild plants with domesticated plants. Changes in plant community composition disrupt mutualistic plant-pollinator interactions with ecological consequences for plants and pollinators, and especially for specialists that rely on certain plants. Objectives: We assessed the effects of land-use change and subsequent shifts in plant communities on resource collection and body size for a bee pollinator, Habropoda laboriosa, a purported specialist of blueberries and related Ericaceae plants. Methods: We collected Habropoda laboriosa across a gradient of land use in north-central Florida including agricultural, natural, and urban habitats. We assessed landcover and floral community composition at each site and related these to bee body size (intertegular distance) and resource use (proportion host plant pollen and pollen diversity collected). Results: Host plant pollen collection and bee body size generally responded similarly to the landscape, both increasing with habitats containing host plants (blueberry farms and natural habitat) but decreasing with urban development. However, host pollen collection and bee body size responded in opposite ways to overall cropland in the landscape, with cropland negatively affecting body size despite positively affecting host pollen collection, indicating other factors associated with cropland might drive declines in bee body size. Conclusions: Land-use change can adversely affect bee diet and body size, and changes in diet likely contribute to changes in body size over time. Specialists are particularly at risk for negative impacts of land-use change due to their inability to shift plant hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the mechanisms by which wild bees survive in modified landscapes is important for their conservation and management as pollinators. Pollen is a critical resource for the completion of bee life cycles, so we investigated how the pollen loads carried by native bee communities change between natural forests and farms dominated by exotic crops and weeds in an agricultural region of south‐east Australia.We found that individual bees tended to carry higher proportions of exotic pollen on farms compared with forests (after accounting for whether they were captured on exotic or native flowers), and the diversity of pollen carried by bees did not differ significantly between native forest and farm sites or along native forest cover gradients. This suggests that the native bees found on farms, which are predominantly different species compared with those found in native forests, are not disadvantaged by the dominance of exotic plants in these habitats (though impacts on larval nutrition were not investigated).While some native bees carried crop pollen, others almost exclusively carried the pollen of agricultural weeds (e.g., Arctotheca and Brassica species), such that some native bee species may pollinate and benefit from crops, whereas others may only persist on farms if agricultural weeds are tolerated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pesticide use in agricultural landscapes creates environmental contamination that is heterogenous in space and time. Mobile organisms, such as bees, are exposed to multiple contamination sources when visiting patches that vary in the amount, timing and toxicity of pesticides used. Yet, environmental risk assessments (ERA) typically fail to consider this heterogeneity, in part because of the complexities of estimating exposure to different pesticides, and subsequent risk at organism‐relevant scales.We use pesticide assays of 269 bee‐collected pollen samples to understand the spatiotemporal variability of risk across a network of 41 field sites in southern Sweden. Observed bee pesticide risk is calculated based on compound‐specific residue quantifications in pollen and standardized toxicity data. We then compare the ability of three classes of landscape‐scale variables to predict this risk: (1) landscape composition and configuration metrics, (2) landscape load based on national pesticide use data and (3) predictions from a newly developed bee pesticide exposure model.Based on use data, 10 crops account for 81% of the total risk. We detected 49 pesticide compounds in bee‐collected pollen. Although herbicides and fungicides constitute the bulk of detected pesticides, both in frequency and amount quantified, unsurprisingly, insecticides contribute the most to risk.Landscape composition and configuration metrics did not predict observed pesticide risk, and interactions with bee species indicate taxa‐dependency in predictions. Landscape load predicted observed risk consistently between taxa. Risk estimates from our exposure model were strongly predictive but only when considering realized risk (i.e., risk estimates based on prior pesticide use information).Synthesis and applications. Predicting pesticide risk based on landscape patterns could enable landscape‐scale ERA. However, simple metrics of landscape pattern, such as proportion of agricultural land, are not sufficient. We found that risk observed in bee‐collected pollen was best predicted when integrating spatialized pesticide use in the pesticide exposure model, underscoring the importance of such data for research, monitoring and mitigation. Further, we propose a guidance framework for future landscape ecotoxicological risk analyses that clarifies data needs relative to risk prediction goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying genetic structure and levels of genetic variation are fundamentally important to predicting the ability of populations to persist in human‐altered landscapes and adapt to future environmental changes. Genetic structure reflects the dispersal of individuals over generations, which can be mediated by species‐level traits or environmental factors. Dispersal distances are commonly positively associated with body size and negatively associated with the amount of degraded habitat between sites, motivating the investigation of these potential drivers of dispersal concomitantly. We quantified genetic structure and genetic variability within populations of seven bee species from the genus Euglossa across fragmented landscapes. We genotyped bees at SNP loci and tested the following predictions: (1) deforested areas restrict gene flow; (2) larger species have lower genetic structure; (3) species with greater resource specialization have higher genetic structure; and (4) sites surrounded by more intact habitat have higher genetic diversity. Contrasting with previous work on bees, we found no associations between body size and genetic structure. Genetic structure was higher for species with greater resource specialization, and the amount of intact habitat between or surrounding sites was positively associated with parameters reflecting gene flow and genetic diversity. These results challenge the dominant paradigm that individuals of larger species disperse farther, and they suggest that landscape and resource requirements are important factors mediating dispersal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decline of insect pollinators is a global concern, and the use of pesticides has been identified as a potential cause for it. Glyphosate‐based herbicides (GBHs) are the world's most used pesticides, but until recent years they have been claimed to be safe for non‐target organisms, such as pollinators. Using controlled arena experiments, we investigated the effects on the learning and long‐term memory of buff‐tailed bumblebees, Bombus terrestris (L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), of a single field‐realistic dose of glyphosate, both in its pure form and as a commercial herbicide (Roundup Gold) containing the active ingredient (a.i.) glyphosate and other co‐formulants. We found that glyphosate in its pure form caused deterioration in the learning ability of bumblebees in a 10‐color discrimination experiment; the glyphosate‐treated bees discriminated colors over 10% worse than the untreated control bees. However, the commercially used GBH (Roundup Gold) had no observable effect on the learning ability of the bumblebees, despite the fact that this herbicide contained the same amount of glyphosate as its pure form. These findings shed light on the potential risks associated with agrochemicals previously considered safe for pollinators and emphasize the need for comprehensive risk assessments of pesticides, including evaluations of cognitive functions in pollinators. Therefore, we propose that future pesticide testing should incorporate broader assessments to ensure the safety of pollinators in agricultural landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]