Honey vs. Mite—a trade-off strategy by applying summer brood interruption for Varroa destructor control in the Mediterranean region

Ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor with its associated viruses is a common global threat to the health of honey bee colonies. If colonies are not treated, the vast majority die in a 3-year period. Existing acaricides used for treatment are becoming less effective, and new approaches to honey bee protection are required. A reliable method is to create a broodless condition in a colony by preventing the queen from laying eggs, and after 25 days all mites will be exposed to the treatment with organic acids or essential oils. The focus of our study, performed on 178 colonies in six Mediterranean countries, was to compare different periods of queen caging on honey production, colony development, and the effect of treatment. Queen caging had no negative effect on colony strength before the wintering period, while it affected honey production; colonies in which queens were caged two weeks before the main summer nectar flow produced significantly less honey. However, tested colonies ten weeks after the treatment had significantly lower infestation with V. destructor mites. This study shows that caging the queen with subsequent oxalic acid treatment 25 days after caging is an efficient method to control V. destructor infestation, while the starting point of queen caging in relation to the main summer nectar flow affects honey production

COLOSS survey : global impact of COVID-19 on bee research

The socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on society have yet to be truly revealed; there is no doubt that the pandemic has severely affected the daily lives of most of humanity. It is to be expected that the research activities of scientists could be impacted to varying degrees, but no data exist on how COVID-19 has affected research specifically. Here, we show that the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has already diversely and negatively affected bee research at a global level. An online survey disseminated through the global COLOSS honey bee research association showed that every participant (n¼230 from 56 countries) reported an impact on one or more of their activities. Activities that require travelling or the physical presence of people (meetings and conferences, teaching and extension) were affected the most, but also laboratory and field activities, daily operations, supervision and other activities were affected to varying degrees. Since the basic activities are very similar for many research fields, it appears as if our findings for bee research can be extrapolated to other fields. In the light of our data, we recommend that stakeholders such as governments and funding bodies who support research should facilitate the wide implementation of web-based information technology required for efficient online communication for research and education, as well as adequately loosened restriction measures with respect to field and laboratory work. Finally, increased flexibility in administration and extension of research grants and fellowships seem to be needed. It is apparent that adequate responses by all stakeholders are required to limit the impact of COVID-19 and future pandemics on bee science and other research fields.The Ricola Foundation Nature and Culture and Vetopharma.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjar20am2020Zoology and Entomolog

Authoritative subspecies diagnosis tool for European honey bees based on ancestryinformative SNPs

Background With numerous endemic subspecies representing four of its five evolutionary lineages, Europe holds a large fraction of Apis mellifera genetic diversity. This diversity and the natural distribution range have been altered by anthropogenic factors. The conservation of this natural heritage relies on the availability of accurate tools for subspecies diagnosis. Based on pool-sequence data from 2145 worker bees representing 22 populations sampled across Europe, we employed two highly discriminative approaches (PCA and F-ST) to select the most informative SNPs for ancestry inference. Results Using a supervised machine learning (ML) approach and a set of 3896 genotyped individuals, we could show that the 4094 selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) provide an accurate prediction of ancestry inference in European honey bees. The best ML model was Linear Support Vector Classifier (Linear SVC) which correctly assigned most individuals to one of the 14 subspecies or different genetic origins with a mean accuracy of 96.2% +/- 0.8 SD. A total of 3.8% of test individuals were misclassified, most probably due to limited differentiation between the subspecies caused by close geographical proximity, or human interference of genetic integrity of reference subspecies, or a combination thereof. Conclusions The diagnostic tool presented here will contribute to a sustainable conservation and support breeding activities in order to preserve the genetic heritage of European honey bees.The SmartBees project was funded by the European Commission under its FP7 KBBE programme (2013.1.3-02, SmartBees Grant Agreement number 613960) https://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7.MP was supported by a Basque Government grant (IT1233-19). The funders provided the financial support to the research, but had no role in the design of the study, analysis, interpretations of data and in writing the manuscript

Insight into Free-Living Honey Bee Population in Serbia’s Capital – A COLOSSal Walk around Belgrade

Insight into Free-Living Honey Bee Population in Serbia’s Capital – A COLOSSal Walk around Belgrad

Population genetic structure of coastal Croatian honeybees (

The genetic structure and molecular diversity of Croatian honeybee coastal populations have been investigated with microsatellite and mitochondrial markers. According to sequence data of the mitochondrial tRNAleu-cox2 intergenic region, all analysed samples belong to the Central Mediterranean and Southeast European evolutionary C-lineage. Four mitochondrial haplotypes have been found in the Croatian honeybees, whereas two newly described have been found in Croatia and Greek respectively. Through the Bayesian analysis of microsatellite variation, two groups can be distinguished within the Croatian honeybee population, suggesting the existence of two subpopulations of A. m. carnica. The relation of these subpopulations with previously described ecotypes and regional variations is discussed. These results emphasize the importance of sequencing in the description of new haplotypes and therefore, in the inference of molecular biodiversity within honeybee populations. The description of two subpopulations in coastal Croatian honeybees must be considered in future conservation strategies

Population structure of north african honey bees is influenced by both biological and anthropogenic factors

Honey bee diversity is under threat due to anthropogenic factors as the use of pesticides and the replacement of local colonies to recover from colony losses. To assess the effect of these activities on the genetic diversity and structure of North African honey bee colonies, we studied colonies from the north (Tellian) and the south (Saharan) regions in Algeria, by determining their mitochondrial haplotype and the variation of ten microsatellite loci. Particular haplotypes have been found with a high frequency in each region that may constitute subspecies-specific markers for Apis mellifera intermissa (haplotype A8 at the north) and A. m. sahariensis (haplotype A9 at the south). Moreover, the presence of the haplotype A8 in some Saharan colonies may reflect recent introductions of A. m. intermissa. Structure analysis suggests that a natural differentiation between honey bee populations from Saharan and Tellian regions still exists despite increased colony movements (migration, queen purchases, etc.) during the last decades. One apiary established for the conservation of A. m. sahariensis showed no indication of maternal introgression since all the colonies bear the same haplotype A9. Furthermore, Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium observed in this population indicates that this apiary is appropriate for conservation programs of A. m. sahariensi

Using Citizen Science to Scout Honey Bee Colonies That Naturally Survive Varroa destructor Infestations

Simple Summary Citizen Science is a valuable resource that can substantially contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. However, its use in honey bee research has remained minimal. The Survivors Task Force of the COLOSS association created and promoted an online surveying tool with the aim of identifying potential cases of Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, populations that are surviving infestations with ectoparasitic mites Varroa destructor without control measures by beekeepers. The reports suggest that there could be twice as many naturally surviving colonies worldwide than are currently known. The survey also shows that citizens can be readily engaged through social media, personal networks, and promotional campaigns to gather valuable and previously inaccessible data. These reports of surviving honey bee colonies will now be validated through the new initiative Honey Bee Watch, a global and multi-year Citizen Science project founded to connect citizens, beekeepers, and scientists. This will enable to increase scientific knowledge, mitigate honey bee colony losses, and develop education and conservation campaigns. Citizen Science contributes significantly to the conservation of biodiversity, but its application to honey bee research has remained minimal. Even though certain European honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations are known to naturally survive Varroa destructor infestations, it is unclear how widespread or common such populations are. Such colonies are highly valuable for investigating the mechanisms enabling colony survival, as well as for tracking the conservation status of free-living honey bees. Here, we use targeted Citizen Science to identify potentially new cases of managed or free-living A. mellifera populations that survive V. destructor without mite control strategies. In 2018, a survey containing 20 questions was developed, translated into 13 languages, and promoted at beekeeping conferences and online. After three years, 305 reports were collected from 28 countries: 241 from managed colonies and 64 from free-living colonies. The collected data suggest that there could be twice as many naturally surviving colonies worldwide than are currently known. Further, online and personal promotion seem to be key for successful recruitment of participants. Although the survivor status of these colonies still needs to be confirmed, the volume of reports and responses already illustrate how effectively Citizen Science can contribute to bee research by massively increasing generated data, broadening opportunities for comparative research, and fostering collaboration between scientists, beekeepers, and citizens. The success of this survey spurred the development of a more advanced Citizen Science platform, Honey Bee Watch, that will enable a more accurate reporting, confirmation, and monitoring of surviving colonies, and strengthen the ties between science, stakeholders, and citizens to foster the protection of both free-living and managed honey bees

The angio-architectural features of brain arteriovenous malformations: is it possible to predict the probability of rupture?

Background Hemorrhage is the most devastating complication of brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs), and to date, there is still concern about the needing for treatment in case of unruptured and asymptomatic bAVM. In fact, the morbidity and mortality of treatments may exceed that of the AVM's natural history. None of the classifications and scores for bAVM allows to predict the risk of bleeding. In this study, we aimed to identify the angio-architectural characteristics of brain AVMs associated with bleeding. Methods We retrospectively evaluated all consecutive patients diagnosed with cerebral AVMs, between January 2010 and December 2019 from our prospective bAVM database. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate relationships between angio-architectural features of ruptured and unruptured bAVMs. Results Of the 143 retrieved bAVMs, 65 were unruptured and 78 were ruptured. The univariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated statistically significant differences into angio-architectural features of unruptured and ruptured bAVMs. The multivariate logistic regression analysis fitted well (p =.113) with a good discrimination capacity (ROC = 0.83) of three independent angio-architectural features mainly related to bleeding in bAVMs: a smaller diameter of the nidus (p < .001), the absence of venous drainage alterations (p = .047), of the presence of prenidal aneurysms (p = .005). Conclusions In our study, several features resulted related to an increased probability of rupture for bAVMs, among which the more relevant were a small diameter of the nidus, the absence of venous drainage alterations, and the presence of prenidal aneurysms

Follow-Up Assessment of Intracranial Aneurysms Treated with Endovascular Coiling: Comparison of Compressed Sensing and Parallel Imaging Time-of-Flight Magnetic Resonance Angiography

The aim of our study was to compare compressed sensing (CS) time-of-flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with parallel imaging (PI) TOF MRA in the evaluation of patients with intracranial aneurysms treated with coil embolization or stent-assisted coiling. We enrolled 22 patients who underwent follow-up imaging after intracranial aneurysm coil embolization. All patients underwent both PI TOF and CS TOF MRA during the same examination. Image evaluation aimed to compare the performance of CS to PI TOF MRA in determining the degree of aneurysm occlusion, as well as the depiction of parent vessel and vessels adjacent to the aneurysm dome. The reference standard for the evaluation of aneurysm occlusion was PI TOF MRA. The inter-modality agreement between CS and PI TOF MRA in the evaluation of aneurysm occlusion was almost perfect (κ  =  0.98, p  <  0.001) and the overall inter-rater agreement was substantial (κ  =  0.70, p  <  0.001). The visualization of aneurysm parent vessel in CS TOF images compared with PI TOF images was evaluated to be better in 11.4%, equal in 86.4%, and worse in 2.3%. CS TOF MRA, with almost 70% scan time reduction with respect to PI TOF MRA, yields comparable results for assessing the occlusion status of coiled intracranial aneurysms. Short scan times increase patient comfort, reduce the risk of motion artifacts, and increase patient throughput, with a resulting reduction in costs. CS TOF MRA may therefore be a potential replacement for PI TOF MRA as a first-line follow-up examination in patients with intracranial aneurysms treated with coil embolization