Pollinator-flower interactions in gardens during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown of 2020

During the main COVID-19 global pandemic lockdown period of 2020 an impromptu set of pollination ecologists came together via social media and personal contacts to carry out standardised surveys of the flower visits and plants in gardens. The surveys involved 67 rural, suburban and urban gardens, of various sizes, ranging from 61.18° North in Norway to 37.96° South in Australia, resulting in a data set of 25,174 rows, with each row being a unique interaction record for that date/site/plant species, and comprising almost 47,000 visits to flowers, as well as records of flowers that were not visited by pollinators, for over 1,000 species and varieties belonging to more than 460genera and 96plant families. The more than 650 species of flower visitors belong to 12 orders of invertebrates and four of vertebrates. In this first publication from the project, we present a brief description of the data and make it freely available for any researchers to use in the future, the only restriction being that they cite this paper in the first instance. The data generated from these global surveys will provide scientific evidence to help us understand the role that private gardens (in urban, rural and suburban areas) can play in conserving insect pollinators and identify management actions to enhance their potential

Les méthodes de l’insémination artificielle des reines d’abeille

L'insémination artificielle  des reines d'abeilles (Apis mellifera) est devenue méthode de routine importante dans l'élevage des abeilles. La technique a été utilisée pour la première fois en 1947. Depuis plusieurs années, l'insémination instrumentale est devenue accessible à grande échelle pour éleveurs de reines et d'abeilles dans le monde entier.L'avantage l’insémination artificielle  à des fins de reproduction est évidente. Sur l'accouplement naturel vols les reines d'abeilles s'accouplent avec plusieurs drones de génotype inconnu. Inséminé artificiellement les reines assurent des accouplements vraiment contrôlés. Par conséquent, le progrès génétique dans la sélection les programmes avec les abeilles peuvent être obtenus beaucoup plus rapidement qu'avec les accouplements naturels.L’article fait une revue succincte des travaux les plus marquants concernant les progrès récents de l’insémination artificielle instrumentale des reines d’Abeilles, ainsi qu’une description détaillée de la méthode de travail

EVALUATION OF THE EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT ACARICIDES AGAINST VARROA DESTRUCTOR ON APIS MELLIFERA INTERMISSA IN ALGERIA

Varroa mite has become a major concern of beekeepers in Algeria since the discovery of the first cases of infestation in the year 1982. The objective of this study was to test different registered chemicals aside with those prepared by beekeepers. The experiment was conducted on 50 Apis meliffera intermissa colonies in a commercial apiary and kept in standard Langstroth hives. Among the products which are approved in Algeria and tested in our experiment are Bayvarol which recorded the highest efficiency rate (91.62%), followed by Apivar (86.50%) and then Apistan (77.75%). Traditional preparations treatments had very low efficiency where it was only: 39.37% for amitraz and 44.21% for tau-fluvalinate (Mavrik). Our study showed a reduction in the efficiency of commercial products (Apistan, Bayvarol and Apivar) and a very low efficiency for amitraz and Mavrik. Such results prove the high demand of searching for more effective treatments against Varroa

Pollinator-flower interactions in gardens during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown of 2020

During the main COVID-19 global pandemic lockdown period of 2020 an impromptu set of pollination ecologists came together via social media and personal contacts to carry out standardised surveys of the flower visits and plants in gardens. The surveys involved 67 rural, suburban and urban gardens, of various sizes, ranging from 61.18° North in Norway to 37.96° South in Australia, resulting in a data set of 25,174 rows, with each row being a unique interaction record for that date/site/plant species, and comprising almost 47,000 visits to flowers, as well as records of flowers that were not visited by pollinators, for over 1,000 species and varieties belonging to more than 250 genera and 110 plant families. The more than 650 species of flower visitors belong to 12 orders of invertebrates and four of vertebrates. In this first publication from the project, we present a brief description of the data and make it freely available for any researchers to use in the future, the only restriction being that they cite this paper in the first instance. The data generated from these global surveys will provide scientific evidence to help us understand the role that private gardens (in urban, rural and suburban areas) can play in conserving insect pollinators and identify management actions to enhance their potential