Abstract In the Canadian Maritimes, many beekeepers rent honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), hives to growers of lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium (Ericaceae), for pollination services. Anecdotally, have less vigour following pollination, potentially due higher Nosema spp. (Nosematidae) spore loads, microsporidian causing nosemosis. We undertook a study determine ...

A series of bioassays were conducted to determine the relative toxicities and residual activities of insecticides labeled for use in blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) on natural enemies, to identify products with low toxicity or short duration effects on biological control agents. In total, 14 insecticides were evaluated using treated petri dishes and four commercially available natural enemi...

Blueberry growers in Maine attend annual Cooperative Extension presentations given by university faculty members. These presentations cover topics, such as, how to prevent plant disease and monitor for insect pests. In 2012, in order to make the sessions more interactive and promote learning, clicker questions and peer discussion were incorporated into the presentations. Similar to what has bee...

Over a period of 19 yr, the harvestman (Opiliones) community associated with the lowbush blueberry agro-ecosystem in Maine was studied. Eight species representing five genera, four subfamilies, and two families of harvestmen belonging to the suborder Eupnoi were collected. The harvestman community was dominated by two introduced, synanthropic species: Phalangium opilio in all but 1 yr (that ye...

Introduction Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry) is a member of the Ericaceae family, and is also known as European blueberry, huckleberry, whortleberry, or blueberry. It is a shrubby perennial plant one to two feet in height and can be found in the mountains and forests of Europe and the northern United States. Its branches contain alternating, elliptical, bright green leaves, and its flowers, whic...

At 15 commercial highbush blueberry farms, fields where row middles were tilled had 72% lower larval density of Popillia japonica than fields with grass in row middles. Popillia japonica larval populations were similar in the perimeters of tilled and untilled fields. Soil parameters measured in these sites were not correlated with larval density of P. japonica. Samples of adult beetles on bushe...

Background: Anthocyanins have been proven to affect multiple cancer-associated processes in different cancer cell lines. However, relatively few studies have investigated the effects of blueberry anthocyanins on metastatic melanoma. Thus, this study focuses on evaluating the chemopreventive potential of blueberry anthocyanins and their aglycones (anthocyanidins) in B16-F10 melanoma cells. Metho...

Our objective was to assess the antioxidant properties and the effects against the reperfusion injury of a nonalcoholic extract obtained by fermentation from the Colombian blueberry, mortiño (Vaccinium meridionale Swartz, Ericaceae). Antioxidant properties were assessed by in vitro systems. To examine the postischemic myocardial function, isolated rat hearts were treated 10 min before ischemia ...