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The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera L., Hymenoptera: Apidae) is a species of crucial economic, agricultural and environmental importance.In the last ten years, some regions of the world have suffered from a significant reduction of honey bee colonies. In fact, honey bee losses are not an unusual phenomenon, but in many countries worldwide there has been a notable decrease in honey bee families. The cases in the USA, in many European countries, and in the Middle East have received considerable attention, mostly due to the absence of an easily identifiable cause.It has been difficult to determine the main factors leading to colony losses because of honey bees' diverse social behavior. Moreover, in their daily routine, they make contact with many agents of the environment and are exposed to a plethora of human activities and their consequences. Nevertheless, a number of different factors are considered to be contributing to honey bee losses, and recent investigations have established some of the most important ones, in particular, pests and diseases, bee management, including bee keeping practices and breeding, the change in climatic conditions, agricultural practices, and the use of pesticides. The global picture highlights the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor as a major factor in colony loss. Last but not least, microsporidian parasites, mainly Nosema ceranae, also contribute to the problem.Thus, it is obvious that many factors are involved in honey bee colony losses globally. Increased monitoring and scientific research should throw new light on the factors involved in recent honey bee colony losses.This review focuses on the main factors which have been found to have an impact on the increase in honey bee colony losses.

Indigenous and exotic honey bee species were evaluated for their hygienic behavior in the climatic condition of Peshawar Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Colonies of equal strength from indigenous (Apis cerana) and exotic (Apis mellifera) species were selected for the study. The same colonies were tested in two seasons. Sealed brood were killed with different methods i.e pin killed and freeze killed. The uncapping of cells and brood removal was recorded at different intervals. Significant differences were recorded between hygienic behavior of both species of honey bees. Apis cerana showed significantly superior hygienic behavior than Apis mellifera in both seasons. At different intervals in both species significant differences were recorded. A significant difference was recorded after 12 and 24 hours between the species in both seasons. No significant differences were recorded after 48hours in both species. From the study it is concluded that indigenous honey bee species has superior hygienic behavior than exotic species.

Unmanaged honey bee colonies of local ecotype surviving without human intervention are likely to form a valuable genetic resource for the sustainability of managed apiaries as well conservation of threatened subspecies. In Ireland, following the Isle of Wight disease (which devastated honey bee colonies at the beginning of the 20th century) and subsequent hybridisation with C lineage bees, there has been a general acceptance by government agencies, scientists, and many beekeepers that no Apis mellifera mellifera (Amm) colonies persisted in the wild. However, sporadic reports were received in 2014/2015 of the existence of unmanaged honey bee colonies. Given that Ireland's human population is low in density with only 32 persons per square km in some rural areas and only approximately 3000 registered beekeepers, many of whom are reported to not favour purchasing imported bees, it is feasible that honeybees could have naturally adapted to introduced pathogens such as Varroa destructor. We initiated an investigation into the state of unmanaged honey bee colonies and in 2016 we launched a nationwide request through press and social media seeking locations of unmanaged colonies which realised over 170 replies in a short time period. We found that unmanaged colonies have utilised a wide variety of both natural and artificial cavities and survived unaided for periods reported to be from three to over 20 years. Given the difficulty in confirming the authenticity of these timings the survival of individual colonies has been monitored since 2016. Sixty-two of the colonies were sampled and a combined approach using mitochondrial, microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping has shown the majority to be pure Apis mellifera mellifera and forming an integral part of the previously described pure Amm population in Ireland. This data, along with survival records for >2 years, and details of surrounding habitat and health of the unmanaged colonies, will be presented. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

AbstractPesticide contamination of bee products is a widespread phenomenon. Due to its composition, bee bread is affected by both lipophilic and hydrophilic substances. As proof of concept of a monitoring campaign and to better understand the extent of contamination, we developed an analytical method based on a modified QuEChERS extraction, with subsequent separation by liquid chromatography and detection by mass spectrometry. This allowed for the quantitation of 51 agricultural- or beekeeping-associated pesticides in bee bread. The workflow was applied to 60 samples taken biweekly throughout spring to autumn 2022 from five colonies at a Swiss apiary in an agricultural area. In total, 30 pesticides were identified (> LOD), among which 26 pesticides were quantitated. The total number of pesticides detected per colony ranged from 11 to 19. The most prevalent substances (> LOQ) were two neonicotinoid insecticides, acetamiprid and thiacloprid (max. 16 μg/kg and 37 μg/kg, respectively); seven fungicides, azoxystrobin (max. 72 μg/kg), boscalid (max. 50 μg/kg), cyprodinil (max. 1965 μg/kg), difenoconazole (max. 73 μg/kg), mandipropamid (max. 33 μg/kg), pyraclostrobin (max. 8 μg/kg) and trifloxystrobin (max. 38 μg/kg); and two herbicides, prosulfocarb (max. 38 μg/kg) and terbuthylazine (max. 26 μg/kg). The study revealed strong variability in pesticide occurrence and concentrations among colonies sampled at the same site and date. The applied biweekly sampling of bee bread from March to August was shown to be reliable in capturing peak contaminations and revealing the onset of certain pesticides in bee bread. The study provides an adequate practical approach for pesticide monitoring campaigns.

Emotionalization is increasingly used in the daily news. However, communication scholars have only just begun to explore how journalists use emotionalization in coverage of scientific and environmental topics. This study contributes to filling this research gap by investigating emotionalization in reporting on honey bee colony losses. The aim of the study is to analyze the amount of emotionalization that took place, as well as to observe changes over time. Emotionalization is assessed in two ways; by analyzing to what extent journalists (1) explicitly mentioned discrete emotions in news stories (joy, hope, fear, anger, etc.) and/or (2) used rhetorical devices to evoke emotions (affective vocabulary, metaphors, colloquial language, superlatives, etc.). Results from a quantitative content analysis of four Austrian newspapers in 2010/2011, 2013/2014, and 2017/2018 show that the coverage is highly emotionalized across all three time periods studied. Emotionalization occurs far more often by using rhetorical devices than by explicitly mentioning positive or negative emotions. Interestingly, the incorporation of emotional elements and scientific expertise in the news items do not exclude one another. Hence, there seems to be no strict dichotomy between rational/objective and emotional reporting.

Taddaret Inzerki is an indigenous honey cooperative (i.e. apiary) in rural Morocco that has operated autonomously for centuries. To understand the devolved status of the apiary, and accordingly, explore the often overlooked field of (non-Western) traditional community-based administrative systems and practices, this essay first provides a brief summary of devolution theory (based on Althusius' Politica) and the track record of similar policies in the context of natural resource management. The case of Taddaret Inzerki, which is the core contribution of the essay, is then presented along the lines of a Geertzian thick description, revealing both the apiary's historical foundation and its three enduring institutional goals stemming from the rules of the commons: ensuring the welfare of bees, properly treating fellow beekeepers, and fulfilling Islamic requisites. The result for the villagers upholding their sacred craft of Islamic beekeeping is that they are able to generate a reliable livelihood and preserve their shared natural resource commons. However, this essay argues that this administrative arrangement also proves beneficial at the national and even global level, and concludes by suggesting potential avenues of future research.

The practice of migratory beekeeping is based on moving honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies between different locations to intensify agricultural production through improved pollination services. However, due to stress caused by exposure of bee hives to different environments, migratory beekeeping activities can lead colonies to greater susceptibility of these insects to pathogens and pests, thus leading to population decline and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the health profile of apiaries that adopt two types of management (stationary and migratory), located in the central-eastern region of São Paulo state, Brazil, during two sampling periods, one in spring (October 2010), and one in autumn (May 2011). We collected 474 samples of honeycomb from the brood area, combs containing capped brood, adult bees that covered the brood area, and foraging bees, to evaluate the presence and prevalence of Paenibacillus larvae, Varroa destructor, Nosema apis and N. ceranae. Seasonality was identified as a determining factor in the health condition of Africanized A. mellifera colonies, causing a stronger effect on health than the type of management employed (stationary vs migratory beekeeping). The infection rates of N. ceranae were higher during the autumn in relation to the spring (387 ± 554 spores per bee in the spring and 1,167 ± 1,202 spores per bee in the autumn in stationary apiaries and 361 ± 687 spores per bee in the spring and 1,082 ± 1,277 spores per bee in the autumn in migratory apiaries). The same pattern was found for infestation rates of V. destructor (2.83 ± 1.97 in the spring and 9.48 ± 6.15 in the autumn in stationary apiaries and 3.25 ± 2.32 in the spring and 6.34 ± 6.58 in the autumn in migratory apiaries). These results demonstrate that the seasonality affects the health of A. mellifera colonies, but it does not depend on the type of management adopted (stationary or migratory).

Abstract Background The Member States of European Union are encouraged to improve the general conditions for the production and marketing of apicultural products. In Belgium, programmes on the restocking of honey bee hives have run for many years. Overall, the success ratio of this queen breeding programme has been only around 50%. To tackle this low efficacy, we organized sanitary controls of the breeding queens in 2012 and 2014. Results We found a high quantity of viruses, with more than 75% of the egg samples being infected with at least one virus. The most abundant viruses were Deformed Wing Virus and Sacbrood Virus (≥40%), although Lake Sinai Virus and Acute Bee Paralysis Virus were also occasionally detected (between 10-30%). In addition, Aphid Lethal Paralysis Virus strain Brookings, Black Queen Cell Virus, Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus and Varroa destructor Macula-like Virus occurred at very low prevalences (≤5%). Remarkably, we found Apis mellifera carnica bees to be less infected with Deformed Wing Virus than Buckfast bees (p < 0.01), and also found them to have a lower average total number of infecting viruses (p < 0.001). This is a significant finding, given that Deformed Wing Virus has earlier been shown to be a contributory factor to winter mortality and Colony Collapse Disorder. Moreover, negative-strand detection of Sacbrood Virus in eggs was demonstrated for the first time. Conclusions High pathogen loads were observed in this sanitary control program. We documented for the first time vertical transmission of some viruses, as well as significant differences between two honey bee races in being affected by Deformed Wing Virus. Nevertheless, we could not demonstrate a correlation between the presence of viruses and queen breeding efficacies.