Heritability and genetic correlations for honey (HP) and propolis production (PP), hygienic behavior (HB), syrup-collection rate (SCR) and percentage of mites on adult bees (PMAB) of a population of Africanized honeybees were estimated. Data from 110 queen bees over three generations were evaluated. Single and multi-trait models were analyzed by Bayesian Inference using MTGSAM. The localization...

China is the largest royal jelly producer and exporter in the world, and high royal jelly-yielding strains have been bred in the country for approximately three decades. However, information on the molecular mechanism underlying high royal jelly production is scarce. Here, a cDNA microarray was used to screen and identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) to obtain an overview on the change...

BACKGROUND Thiamethoxam, clothianidin, and imidacloprid are the most commonly used neonicotinoid insecticides on the Canadian prairies. There is widespread contamination of nectar and pollen with neonicotinoids, at concentrations which are sublethal for honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus). OBJECTIVE We compared the effects of chronic, sublethal exposure to the three most commonly used neonic...

Objective(s):Previous studies demonstrated a functional similarity between vertebrate and honey bee nervous systems. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of heroin and Iranian street Kerack, a combination of heroin and caffeine, on sensory threshold and locomotor activity in honey bees. Materials and Methods: All drugs were given orally to honey bees 30 min before each exper...

California’s almond industry, valued at $2.3 billion per year, depends on the pollinator services of honey bees, although pollination by other insects, mainly solitary wild bees, is being investigated as an alternative because of recent declines in the number of honey bee colonies. Our objective is to model the movements of honey bees and determine the conditions under which they will forage in...

Microbial strains can be manipulated to improve product yield and improve growth characteristics. Optimization algorithms are developed to identify the effects of gene knockout on the results. However, this process is often faced the problem of being trapped in local minima and slow convergence due to repetitive iterations of algorithm. In this paper, we proposed Bees Hill Flux Balance Analysis...

A genetic stock certiÞcation assay was developed to distinguish Russian honey bees from other European (Apis mellifera L.) stocks that are commercially produced in the United States. In total, 11 microsatellite and Þve single-nucleotide polymorphism loci were used. Loci were selected for relatively high levels of homogeneity within each group and for differences in allele frequencies between gr...

Bumble bees are important pollinators whose populations have declined over recent years, raising widespread concern. One conspicuous threat to bumble bees is their unintended exposure to trace residues of systemic neonicotinoid pesticides, such as imidacloprid, which are ingested when bees forage on the nectar and pollen of treated crops. However, the demographic consequences for bumble bees of...

T here is widespread concern about the global decline in pollinators and the associated loss of pollination services. This concern is understandable given the importance of pollinators for global food security; ~75% of all globally important crops depend to some degree on pollination, and the additional yield due to pollination adds ~9% to the global crop production (1). These services are deli...

This study was conducted to determine the effect of increased propolis production on overall hive profitability and productivity. The study took place near George situated in the Southern Cape region of South Africa. Standard Langstroth hives were used (n = 12) containing honeybee colonies of equal strength from the species Apis mellifera capensis. Propolis production in colonies equipped with ...