To test whether variation in muscle efficiency contributes to thermal stability during flight in the orchid bee, Euglossa imperialis, we measured CO2 production, heat loss and flight kinematics at different air temperatures (Ta). We also examined the relationship between wingbeat frequency (WBF) and Ta in five additional species of orchid bees. Mean thoracic temperature (Tth) for Eg. imperialis...

Camelina and pennycress are two annual oil-producing plant species that have recently gained attention as biofuel feedstock crops. Prior to commercial production, information on their breeding and pollination system is essential to ensure sustainable management. We conducted pollination experiments and observed flower visitors in an experimental double-cropping system in southern Germany. We fo...

The alfalfa leafcutting bee (ALCB), Megachile rotundata F. (Megachildae), was accidentally introduced into the United States by the 1940s. Nest management of this Eurasian nonsocial pollinator transformed the alfalfa seed industry in North America, tripling seed production. The most common ALCB management practice is the loose cell system, in which cocooned bees are removed from nesting cavitie...

The superiority of Africanized over European honey bees in tropical and subtropical regions of the New World is both well documented and poorly understood. As part of an effort to try to understand the process by which the displacement of European bees occurred, we examined the ability of these two types of bees and of hybrids between the two to convert natural and artificial diets into usable ...

Apples are a major crop globally, including in Tasmania (Australia) – known as ‘the Apple Isle’ owing to the key role of apples Tasmania's history and economy. Most apple cultivars obligate entomophilous species, fruit quantity, quality economic value enhanced under insect pollination. Whilst introduced European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is often assumed be main pollinator most regions world, ...

Abstract Background Climate change is occurring rapidly around the world, and predicted to have a large impact on biodiversity. Various studies shown that climate can alter geographical distribution of wild bees. As affects species causes range shift, degree shift quality habitats are becoming more important for securing diversity. In addition, those pollinator insects contributing not only sha...

We tested six commercial sources of honey bees, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), whose breeding incorporated the trait of Varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH). VSH confers resistance to the parasitic mite Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman by enhancing the ability of the bees to hygienically remove mite-infested brood. VSH production queens (i.e., queens commercially available for use in be...

Honeybees swarm when they move to a new site for their hive. During the process of swarming, their behavior can be analyzed by classifying them as informed bees or uninformed bees, where the informed bees have some information about the destination while the uninformed bees follow the informed bees. The swarm’s movement can be viewed as a network of mobile nodes with asymmetric information exch...

Pathogen spread or ‘spillover’ can occur when heavily infected, domestic hosts interact with closely-related wildlife populations. Commercially-produced bumble bees used in greenhouse pollination often have higher levels of various pathogens than wild bumble bees. These pathogens may spread to wild bees when commercial bees escape from greenhouses and interact with their wild counterparts at ne...