Effect of carbon dioxide and cold anaesthesia on the hoarding behavior of the honeybee.

Hoarding behaviour of groups of newly emerged adult honeybees was measured after they had been exposed to CO2 for 10 min, or exposed to CO2 for long enough to immobilize them, or exposed to cold. Both CO2 and cold affected hoarding behaviour. Bees exposed to CO2 for 10 min initially hoarded less, and later hoarded more, than controls. The hoarding rate of bees exposed to CO2 only long enough to immobilize them, or exposed to cold, was generally depressed throughout the experiment. Due to the complex changes in hoarding that follow CO2 treatment, cold is judged to be the preferred anaesthetic for use in hoarding experiments

Reproductive isolation by different time of drone flight between Apis cerana (Fabricius, 1793) and Apis vechti (Maa, 1953)

In Sri Lanka the three honeybee species Apis florea, Apis cerana and Apis dorsata are found in the same biotope. The daily periods of drone flight were found to be specific O( ENIKGER and AW-YALGUN1ASE K,ERA 1976). According to NT RUETR (1988) this behavioral isolation is a more complete separation than the reproductive barrier between A. mellifera and A. cerana. The three honeybees, A. cerana, A. vechti and A. dorsata are naturally distributed in the same habitat. We compared the time of drone flight between these honeybees in Sabah (North East Borneo)

Characterisation of the British honey bee metagenome

Numerous microbial symbionts, both commensal and pathogenic, are associated with honey bees. Here, the authors genomically characterize this ‘metagenome’ of the British honey bee, identifying a diversity of commensal microbes as well as known and putative pathogen

Cold room thermoregulation, store consumption, and survival of Africanized and European honey bees (Apis mellifera L)

The potential of Africanized honey bees to survive winters was evaluated by comparing them in groups (40 g, 1.0 kg, 1.5 kg or whole colonies) to European bees in cold rooms. Africanized workers caged in 40-g groups at 15°C aggregated in different positions and in tighter conformations, removed significantly lower amounts of sucrose syrup from feeders, and had higher mortalities than European workers. Africanized bees in 1.0-kg groups also had lower rates of syrup removal but were similar to European groups in aggregation and core temperatures. Groups of 1.5 kg showed similar temperature profiles inside the hives. Whole colonies of both types exposed to temperatures ≈ 0°C died before 10 wk, and did not differ significantly in amounts of recovered dead workers, or in weight loss. These results suggest that some of the important behavioral components of overwintering are present in Africanized honey bees

Baiting system for selective abatement of undesirable honey bees

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A morphological and mitochondrial assessment of Apis mellifera from Palermo, Italy.

A characterization of the honey bees from western Sicily (Palermo, Italy) is presented. Morphological comparisons to A. m. ligustica were made using data taken from honey bee populations from southeastern (Bari) and central (Emilia Romagna) Italy. The honey bees of the Palermo area have distinct morphological differences compared to the mainland honey bees. The mtDNA haplotype common in subspecies within the African lineage of A. mellifera predominated in the Sicilian honey bee samples (13 out of 16). These results suggest both the potential and the desirability to expend efforts to conserve A. m. sicula. © Inra/DIB/AGIB/Elsevier, Pari

A scientific note on stratified foraging by Sabahan bees on the yellow flame tree (Peltophorum pferocarpum)

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A morphological comparison of the cavity dwelling honeybees of Borneo Apis koschevnikovi (Buttel-Reepen, 1906) and Apis cerana (Fabricius, 1793)

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