Standard methods for Apis mellifera anatomy and dissection

An understanding of the anatomy and functions of internal and external structures is fundamental to many studies on the honey bee Apis mellifera. Similarly, proficiency in dissection techniques is vital for many more complex procedures. In this paper, which is a prelude to the other papers of the COLOSS BEEBOOK, we outline basic honey bee anatomy and basic dissection techniques

Knowing the honey bee : a multispecies ethnography : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Multispecies scholarship argues that the non-human has been relegated to the background of discussions about who and what inhabits and shapes the world. This thesis engages with this discussion as an experimental multispecies ethnography with honey bees in Manawatu, New Zealand. I aim to centre the honey bee in ethnography through engagement in the practice of fieldwork as well as the representation of the findings of this engagement. The honey bee is commonly known as an introduced, domesticated species, kept by humans in beehives in apiculture. This conceals the agency of the honey bee, rendering it passive, productive and compliant to the desires of humans, or in need of human intervention for survival. To view the agency of the bee I undertook embodied, performative ethnography, interviewing beekeepers and becoming one myself. My methodology, which was shaped by the bee, traced the networks that honey bees were enrolled in. Encounters were awkward, one-sided, and sometimes dangerous. The representation of honey bees demands an approach which attends to multiple, distinct accounts of honey bee worlds, because the bee is a lively agent, contributing to, experiencing, and communicating about the multiple networks in which it is engaged. As such, the findings of this thesis are presented in three accounts of encounters with honey bees. These accounts are distinct, capturing the honey bee in different networks, but are also distinct in their narrative styles, progressing from a description of honey networks in the spirit of Actor-Networks, to writing with honey bee narrator in poetry. Ethnographic representation is inevitably partial and an act of imagination. However, becoming sensitive to the ‘bee-ness’ of the bee; the waggle, hum and sting, and employing narrative inspired by the multisensory apiary, in other words, shaping representation with honey bees in mind, is an act of privileging honey bees in writing, and exploring what more can be said of, and with, the bee

Signatures of selection in the Iberian honey bee: a genome wide approach using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)

Dissecting genome-wide (expansions, contractions, admixture) from genome-specific effects (selection) is a goal of central importance in evolutionary biology because it leads to more robust inferences of demographic history and to identification of adaptive divergence. The publication of the honey bee genome and the development of high-density SNPs genotyping, provide us with powerful tools, allowing us to identify signatures of selection in the honey bee genome. These signatures will be an important first step towards understanding the transition of genotype into phenotype and the basis of adaptive divergence. The Iberian Peninsula harbours the greatest honey bee genetic diversity and complexity in Europe. The challenge of deciphering the mechanisms underlying such complexity has led to numerous morphological and molecular marker-based surveys of the Iberian honey bee. Yet, in spite of the numerous studies, the evolutionary processes underlying patterns of Iberian honey bee genetic diversity remain poorly understood. The evolutionary process in the Iberian Peninsula has been dynamic and the genetic consequences are too complex to be addressed piecemeal, using few markers with unknown or poorly known linkage relationships. Accordingly, in 2010 more than 650 honey bee colonies were sampled across latitudinal and longitudinal clines in the Iberian Peninsula. The 650 honey bee samples were genotyped for 1536 SNPs – all equally distributed across the honey bee genome and all with known linkage relationships, based on the latest honey bee genome assembly. Herein we show the preliminary results of this genotyping, focusing on an Iberian honey bee genome inquiry on recent selective sweeps. We provide new insights into the evolutionary processes shaping the Iberian honey bee patterns

Signatures of selection in the Iberian honey bee: a genome wide approach using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)

Dissecting genome-wide (expansions, contractions, admixture) from genome-specific effects (selection) is a goal of central importance in evolutionary biology because it leads to more robust inferences of demographic history and to identification of adaptive divergence. The publication of the honey bee genome and the development of high-density SNPs genotyping, provide us with powerful tools, allowing us to identify signatures of selection in the honey bee genome. These signatures will be an important first step towards understanding the transition of genotype into phenotype and the basis of adaptive divergence. The Iberian Peninsula harbours the greatest honey bee genetic diversity and complexity in Europe. The challenge of deciphering the mechanisms underlying such complexity has led to numerous morphological and molecular marker-based surveys of the Iberian honey bee. Yet, in spite of the numerous studies, the evolutionary processes underlying patterns of Iberian honey bee genetic diversity remain poorly understood. The evolutionary process in the Iberian Peninsula has been dynamic and the genetic consequences are too complex to be addressed piecemeal, using few markers with unknown or poorly known linkage relationships. Accordingly, in 2010 more than 650 honey bee colonies were sampled across latitudinal and longitudinal clines in the Iberian Peninsula. The 650 honey bee samples were genotyped for 1536 SNPs – all equally distributed across the honey bee genome and all with known linkage relationships, based on the latest honey bee genome assembly. Herein we show the preliminary results of this genotyping, focusing on an Iberian honey bee genome inquiry on recent selective sweeps. We provide new insights into the evolutionary processes shaping the Iberian honey bee patterns

Molecular and phylogenetic characterization of honey bee viruses, Nosema microsporidia, protozoan parasites, and parasitic mites in China

China has the largest number of managed honey bee colonies, which produce the highest quantity of honey and royal jelly in the world; however, the presence of honey bee pathogens and parasites has never been rigorously identified in Chinese apiaries. We thus conducted a molecular survey of honey bee RNA viruses, Nosema microsporidia, protozoan parasites, and tracheal mites associated with nonnative Apis mellifera ligustica and native Apis cerana cerana colonies in China. We found the presence of black queen cell virus (BQCV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), deformed wing virus (DWV), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), and sacbrood virus (SBV), but not that of acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) or Kashmir bee virus (KBV). DWV was the most prevalent in the tested samples. Phylogenies of Chinese viral isolates demonstrated that genetically heterogeneous populations of BQCV, CBPV, DWV, and A. cerana-infecting SBV, and relatively homogenous populations of IAPV and A. meliifera-infecting new strain of SBV with single origins, are spread in Chinese apiaries. Similar to previous observations in many countries, Nosema ceranae, but not Nosema apis, was prevalent in the tested samples. Crithidia mellificae, but not Apicystis bombi was found in five samples, including one A. c. cerana colony, demonstrating that C. mellificae is capable of infecting multiple honey bee species. Based on kinetoplast-encoded cytochrome b sequences, the C. mellificae isolate from A. c. cerana represents a novel haplotype with 19 nucleotide differences from the Chinese and Japanese isolates from A. m. ligustica. This suggests that A. c. cerana is the native host for this specific haplotype. The tracheal mite, Acarapis woodi, was detected in one A. m. ligustica colony. Our results demonstrate that honey bee RNA viruses, N. ceranae, C. mellificae, and tracheal mites are present in Chinese apiaries, and some might be originated from native Asian honey bees

Molecular and phylogenetic characterization of honey bee viruses, Nosema microsporidia, protozoan parasites, and parasitic mites in China

China has the largest number of managed honey bee colonies, which produce the highest quantity of honey and royal jelly in the world; however, the presence of honey bee pathogens and parasites has never been rigorously identified in Chinese apiaries. We thus conducted a molecular survey of honey bee RNA viruses, Nosema microsporidia, protozoan parasites, and tracheal mites associated with nonnative Apis mellifera ligustica and native Apis cerana cerana colonies in China. We found the presence of black queen cell virus (BQCV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), deformed wing virus (DWV), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), and sacbrood virus (SBV), but not that of acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) or Kashmir bee virus (KBV). DWV was the most prevalent in the tested samples. Phylogenies of Chinese viral isolates demonstrated that genetically heterogeneous populations of BQCV, CBPV, DWV, and A. cerana-infecting SBV, and relatively homogenous populations of IAPV and A. meliifera-infecting new strain of SBV with single origins, are spread in Chinese apiaries. Similar to previous observations in many countries, Nosema ceranae, but not Nosema apis, was prevalent in the tested samples. Crithidia mellificae, but not Apicystis bombi was found in five samples, including one A. c. cerana colony, demonstrating that C. mellificae is capable of infecting multiple honey bee species. Based on kinetoplast-encoded cytochrome b sequences, the C. mellificae isolate from A. c. cerana represents a novel haplotype with 19 nucleotide differences from the Chinese and Japanese isolates from A. m. ligustica. This suggests that A. c. cerana is the native host for this specific haplotype. The tracheal mite, Acarapis woodi, was detected in one A. m. ligustica colony. Our results demonstrate that honey bee RNA viruses, N. ceranae, C. mellificae, and tracheal mites are present in Chinese apiaries, and some might be originated from native Asian honey bees

Monitoring of Honey Bee Colony Losses

In recent decades, independent national and international research programs have revealed possible reasons behind the death of managed honey bee colonies worldwide. Such losses are not due to a single factor, but instead are due to highly complex interactions between various internal and external influences, including pests, pathogens, honey bee stock diversity, and environmental changes. Reduced honey bee vitality and nutrition, exposure to agrochemicals, and the quality of colony management contribute to reduced colony survival in beekeeping operations. Our Special Issue (SI) on ‘’Monitoring of Honey Bee Colony Losses” aims to address the specific challenges that honey bee researchers and beekeepers face. This SI includes four reviews, with one being a meta-analysis that identifies gaps in the current and future directions for research into honey bee colonies’ mortalities. Other review articles include studies regarding the impact of numerous factors on honey bee mortality, including external abiotic factors (e.g., winter conditions and colony management) as well as biotic factors such as attacks by Vespa velutina and Varroa destructor

Penggunaan Computed Radiography Untuk Identifikasi Madu Lebah

Research on identification of honey bee using Computed Radiography has been done. The testing was carried out by providing digital radiograph of the three types of honey bee. The voltage of the x-ray generator was varied at 50 kV, 60 kV and 70 kV, while filament current was set at 100 mA and exposure time was at 5 ms. Honey bee was identified based on the image line profile that indicated the distribution of linear absorption coefficient (µ) for each sample. The analyses on the image line profile showed that at the voltage of 50 kV and 70 kV the three kinds of the honey bee can be distinguished. However, at the voltage of 60 kV the difference among honey bee was unable to be identified

The Complex Demographic History and Evolutionary Origin of the Western Honey Bee, Apis Mellifera.

The western honey bee, Apis mellifera, provides critical pollination services to agricultural crops worldwide. However, despite substantial interest and prior investigation, the early evolution and subsequent diversification of this important pollinator remain uncertain. The primary hypotheses place the origin of A. mellifera in either Asia or Africa, with subsequent radiations proceeding from one of these regions. Here, we use two publicly available whole-genome data sets plus newly sequenced genomes and apply multiple population genetic analysis methods to investigate the patterns of ancestry and admixture in native honey bee populations from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The combination of these data sets is critical to the analyses, as each contributes samples from geographic locations lacking in the other, thereby producing the most complete set of honey bee populations available to date. We find evidence supporting an origin of A. mellifera in the Middle East or North Eastern Africa, with the A and Y lineages representing the earliest branching lineages. This finding has similarities with multiple contradictory hypotheses and represents a disentangling of genetic relationships, geographic proximity, and secondary contact to produce a more accurate picture of the origins of A. mellifera. We also investigate how previous studies came to their various conclusions based on incomplete sampling of populations, and illustrate the importance of complete sampling in understanding evolutionary processes. These results provide fundamental knowledge about genetic diversity within Old World honey bee populations and offer insight into the complex history of an important pollinator