Blue Orchard Bee (Osmia lignaria): Commercial Pollinator for Orchards

The most common mason bee in Utah is the blue orchard bee. Blue orchard bees collect pollen from a large variety of flowering plants but prefer fruit trees from the family Rosaceae. Recent concerns about honey bees, coupled with the blue orchard bee’s superior pollination of tree fruits, have increased interest in rearing blue orchard bees

Routes of Pesticide Exposure in Solitary, Cavity-Nesting Bees

Declines of pollinator health and their populations continue to be commercial and ecological concerns. Agricultural practices, such as the use of agrochemicals, are among factors attributed to honey bee (Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)) population losses and are also known to have negative effects on populations of managed non-Apis pollinators. Although pesticide registration routinely requires evaluation of impacts on honey bees, studies of this social species may not reveal important pesticide exposure routes where managed, solitary bees are commonly used. Studies of solitary bees offer additional bee models that are practical from the aspect of availability, known rearing protocols, and the ability to assess effects at the individual level without confounding factors associated with colony living. In addition to understanding bees, it is further important to understand how pesticide characteristics determine their environmental whereabouts and persistence. Considering our research expertise in advancing the management of solitary bees for crop pollination, this forum focuses on routes of pesticide exposure experienced by cavity-nesting bees, incorporating the relative importance of environmental contamination due to pesticide chemical behaviors. Exposure routes described are larval ingestion, adult ingestion, contact, and transovarial transmission. Published research reports of effects of several pesticides on solitary bees are reviewed to exemplify each exposure route. We highlight how certain pesticide risks are particularly important under circumstances related to the cavity nesters

Olfactory cues and nest recognition in the solitary bee\u3ci\u3e Osmia lignaria\u3c/i\u3e

The use of olfactory cues for nest recognition by the solitary bee Osmia lignaria is studied in a greenhouse environment. Glass tubes are provided as nesting cavities to allow the in-nest behavior of bees to be observed. In addition, each glass tube is cut into three sections for experimental manipulation and for subsequent chemical analysis. Nesting females drag their abdomen along the tube before exiting, spiral inside the tube, and sometimes deposit fluid droplets from the tip of the abdomen. For the manipulation, the outer section, the middle section, or both sections are removed and replaced with similar clean glass tube sections, and the behavior exhibited by test females is recorded upon arrival in front of the nesting site and inside the nesting tubes. The resulting hesitation behavior displayed by females after treatments appears to indicate the loss of some olfactory cues used for nest recognition inside the entire nest. Chemical analysis of the depositions inside the nesting tube, as well as analysis of the cuticular lipids of the nesting bees, reveals the presence of free fatty acids, hydrocarbons and wax esters

Ecology and economics of using native managed bees for almond pollination

Native managed bees can improve crop pollination, but a general framework for evaluating the associated economic costs and benefits has not been developed. We conducted a cost–benefit analysis to assess how managing blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria Say [Hymenoptera: Megachildae]) alongside honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus [Hymenoptera: Apidae]) can affect profits for almond growers in California. Specifically, we studied how adjusting three strategies can influence profits: (1) number of released O. lignaria bees, (2) density of artificial nest boxes, and (3) number of nest cavities (tubes) per box. We developed an ecological model for the effects of pollinator activity on almond yields, validated the model with published data, and then estimated changes in profits for different management strategies. Our model shows that almond yields increase with O. lignaria foraging density, even where honey bees are already in use. Our cost–benefit analysis shows that profit ranged from −US$1,800 to US$2,800/ acre given different combinations of the three strategies. Adding nest boxes had the greatest effect; we predict an increase in profit between low and high nest box density strategies (2.5 and 10 boxes/acre). In fact, the number of released bees and the availability of nest tubes had relatively small effects in the high nest box density strategies. This suggests that growers could improve profits by simply adding more nest boxes with moderate number of tubes in each. Our approach can support grower decisions regarding integrated crop pollination and highlight the importance of a comprehensive ecological economic framework for assessing these decisions

A Nonlethal Method to Examine Non-Apis Bees for Mark-Capture Research

Studies of bee movement and activities across a landscape are important for developing an understanding of their behavior and their ability to withstand environmental stress. Recent research has shown that proteins, such as egg albumin, are effective for mass-marking bees. However, current protein mass-marking techniques require sacrificing individual bees during the data collection process. A nonlethal sampling method for protein mark-capture research is sorely needed, particularly for vulnerable, sensitive, or economically valuable species. This study describes a nonlethal sampling method, in which three non-Apis bee species (Bombus bifarius Cresson [Hymenoptera: Apidae], Osmia lignaria Say [Hymenoptera: Megachilidae], and Megachile rotundata Fabricius [Hymenoptera: Megachilidae]) were tested for a unique protein marker by immersing them momentarily in saline buffer and releasing them. Results showed that an egg albumin-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was 100% effective at detecting the protein on bees that were sampled nonlethally. Furthermore, this sampling method did not have an impact on bee survivorship, suggesting that immersing bees in buffer is a reliable and valid surrogate to traditional, destructive sampling methods for mark-capture bee studies

Boarding of critically Ill patients in the emergency department

ObjectivesEmergency department boarding is the practice of caring for admitted patients in the emergency department after hospital admission, and boarding has been a growing problem in the United States. Boarding of the critically ill has achieved specific attention because of its association with poor clinical outcomes. Accordingly, the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the American College of Emergency Physicians convened a Task Force to understand the implications of emergency department boarding of the critically ill. The objective of this article is to review the U.S. literature on (1) the frequency of emergency department boarding among the critically ill, (2) the outcomes associated with critical care patient boarding, and (3) local strategies developed to mitigate the impact of emergency department critical care boarding on patient outcomes.Data sources and study selectionReview article.Data extraction and data synthesisEmergency department- based boarding of the critically ill patient is common, but no nationally representative frequency estimates has been reported. Boarding literature is limited by variation in the definitions used for boarding and variation in the facilities studied (boarding ranges from 2% to 88% of ICU admissions). Prolonged boarding in the emergency department has been associated with longer duration of mechanical ventilation, longer ICU and hospital length of stay, and higher mortality. Health systems have developed multiple mitigation strategies to address emergency department boarding of critically ill patients, including emergency department- based interventions, hospital- based interventions, and emergency department- based resuscitation care units.ConclusionsEmergency department boarding of critically ill patients was common and was associated with worse clinical outcomes. Health systems have generated a number of strategies to mitigate these effects. A definition for emergency department boarding is proposed. Future work should establish formal criteria for analysis and benchmarking of emergency department- based boarding overall, with subsequent efforts focused on developing and reporting innovative strategies that improve clinical outcomes of critically ill patients boarded in the emergency department.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156455/2/emp212107_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156455/1/emp212107.pd