Female honeybees have two castes, queens and workers. Developmental fate is determined by larval diet. Coding sequences made available through the Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium allow for a pathway-based approach to understanding caste determination. We examined the expression of several genes of the insulin signalling pathway, which is central to regulation of growth based on nutrition...

BACKGROUND It has been previously reported that melittin, the main ingredient of honey bee venom, has anticancer properties. However, there appears to be no earlier study focusing on the isolation of melittin from Iranian honey bee venom (Apis mellifera meda), and evaluation of its effect on cancerous cells. METHODS We isolated melittin using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatogra...

The stinger is a very small and efficient device that allows honeybees to perform two main physiological activities: repelling enemies and laying eggs for reproduction. In this study, we explored the specific characteristics of stinger penetration, where we focused on its movements and the effects of it microstructure. The stingers of Italian honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica) were grouped an...

Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae are the two main microsporidian parasites causing nosematosis in the honey bee Apis mellifera. The aim of the present study is to investigate the presence of Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae in the area of Bulgaria. The 16S (SSU) rDNA gene region was chosen for analysis. A duplex PCR assay was performed on 108 honey bee samples from three different parts of the coun...

This study compared stress-induced expression of Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) and thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) genes in the European honeybee Apis mellifera L. and Asian honeybee Apis cerana F. Expression of both SOD1 and TrxR rapidly increased up to 5 h after exposure to cold (4 °C) or heat (37 °C) treatment and then gradually decreased, with a stronger effect induced by cold stress in A....

Honeybees are threatened by various pathogens and parasites. More than 18 viruses have been described in honeybees and many of them have been detected in China and Argentina. In China, both Apis cerana and Apis mellifera are raised. In Argentina, beekeepers raise different ecotypes of A. mellifera: European honeybees (in both temperate and subtropical regions) and Africanised honeybees (in subt...

Studying the genetic signatures of climate-driven selection can produce insights into local adaptation and the potential impacts of climate change on populations. The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is an interesting species to study local adaptation because it originated in tropical/subtropical climatic regions and subsequently spread into temperate regions. However, little is known about the genet...