DETECTION OF MICROORGANISMS (BACTERIA, FUNGI AND YEASTS) IN ROYAL JELLY

The aim of the present study to detect the population and frequency (%) of microorganism (bacteria, fungi and yeasts) in royal jelly samples. The data indicated that, there are no significant differences were remarked in the population of microorganisms between all the samples for bacteria, fungi and yeasts, where the mean number of population was 5.923, 1.38 and 7.85 colonies/sample for bacteria, fungi and yeasts respectively, in produced royal jelly from honeybee colonies, local royal jelly collected from Egyptian market and samples of imported royal jelly collected from Egyptian market, respectively. According to the isolation and identification procedures for detected royal jelly samples, four bacteria types (Clostridium botulinum, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus wakoensis and Micrococcus luteus), two fungi types (Aspergillusniger and Penicillium sp.) and one yeast type (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were determined. The data also summarized that Clostridium botulinum was the most frequency compared with the other bacterial types, where the percentage of frequency was 1.8 – 2.5, 0.9 – 1.4, 0.4 – 0.6 and 1.5 – 2.0% for C. botulinum, B. cereus, B. wakoensis and Micrococcus luteus, respectively. Meanwhile, Penicillium sp. the most frequency compared with A. niger, where the percentage of frequency was 0.5 - 2.9 and 0.7 – 1.0 %, respectively, in produced royal jelly from honeybee colonies, local royal jelly samples collected from Egyptian market and imported royal jelly samples collected from Egyptian market respectively. Regarding the yeasts, the data also summarized that, S. cerevisiae was the most frequency in royal jelly that produced from  honeybee colonies (2.9%) followed by which local royal jelly samples collected from Egyptian market (2.1%) and imported royal jelly samples collected from Egyptian market (1.8%)

Foliar Fertilization of Different Species of Mulberry Trees and Its Impact on Silkworm Bombyx mori Productivity from Cocoons and Eggs

Rearing mulberry silkworm was found to be dependent on leaves quality of mulberry trees, larvae of mulberry silkworm fed on two species of mulberry trees Morus alba and Mo-rus nigra were treated with foliar fertilizer (Basfoliar 20-19-19 SP contains 20% N, 19% P2O5, 19% K2O, 5% NO3, 3.6% NH4 and 11.4% NH2) with three different concentra-tions,1%, 3% and 6% in addition to control treatment for comparison. When larvae were fed on leaves of mulberry trees one day after Treatment, high mortality (up to 100%) was observed specially with 6% concentration. Mean weights of larvae, cocoons and cocoon shell and fecundity were negatively affected when compared to control. On the other hand, when larvae were fed on leaves of mulberry trees, no mortality occurred after two weeks of treatment in all concentrations, in addition, the mean weights of larvae at the end of 4th and 5th instar larvae, cocoons and cocoon shell s in-creased at 3% concentration compared with other concentrations and control. The highest fecundity occurred in female moths when lar-vae were fed on leaves of M .nigra compared with M. alba as well as 3% concentration com-pared with other concentrations and control

Evaluation of Certain Synthetic and Natural Pesticides Against Whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) on Green Bean and Effect on Honeybee Apis mellifera L.

The green bean crop (Phaseolus vulgaris) is infested with many insects such as whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci). An investigation was carried out to study the insecticidal activity of whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), five pesticides were used, namely Thiamothoxam, Sulfoxaflor, Spirotetramat, Pymetrozine, and Flonicamid, and three commercial natural pesticides, namely Superrego, Topnine, and Bernastar. Pesticides and natural pesticides were sprayed during the two seasons of 2020 and 2021. The obtained results in terms of the reduction rate of the insects' number were as follows: The highest rate of reduction appeared in Thiamothoxam and Sulfoxaflor treatments, where it reached above 80%, while the other pesticides were in the range of 40% to 60%, and the lowest reduction rate was 34.33% and 36.00 % for Bernastar during season 2020 and 2021 respectively. When evaluating the toxicity of these pesticides and natural pesticides against honeybees (Apis mellifera), the pesticides did not reveal any toxicity to honeybees, except for Thiamothoxam, Sulfoxaflor, and Superrego The LC50 and LD50 values against honeybees were 0.2 ppm and 0.000005µg/one honeybee for Thiamothoxam, 4.5 ppm and 0.0001125 µg/one bee for Sulfoxaflor, and 0.95 ppm and 0.00002375 µg /one bee for Superego respectively

Molecular Genetic Studies on Honeybees in Response to Some Environmental Stresses

The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is a widespread pollinator insect. Colony collapse disorder (CCD) has recently caused a significant decline in honeybee numbers worldwide. The beekeeping industry, agriculture, and world biodiversity are threatened by the honeybee population decline. We examined the mRNA levels of heat shock protein gene 60 (hsp60), acetylcholinesterase 1, and acetylcholinesterase 2, as biomolecular markers of the insect response to three separate forms of environmental stress, including high temperature, low temperature, and insecticide. The obtained results indicated increased levels of hsp60 and acetylcholinesterase 2 after the exposure of worker bees to temperatures of 17, 32, and 40°C for one hour, as well as exposure to a low dose of pesticide for 24 h ingestion of imidacloprid solution (2 ppm); meanwhile, acetylcholinesterase 1 showed remarkable expression decrease under heat and cold stresses but increased under pesticide treatment.  The responses of honeybees to hsp60, acetylcholinesterase 1, and acetylcholinesterase 2 are diverse and very specific to various stimuli. According to this research, the distinct expression profiles of hsp60 and acetylcholinesterase 2 can serve as useful instruments for tracking honeybees' vulnerability to varied environmental effects. Due to its insufficient responsiveness, acetylcholinesterase 1 expression is not permitted for use as a biomarker

Effect of Fungicide, Salicylic Acid, Henna Powder and Propolis on Silkworm Larvae Infected with Aspergillus spp.

Mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori L. is in-fected with many diseases. In this work, two fungi species, Aspergillus fumigatus and As-pergillus flavus, were isolated from the in-fected B. mori larvae during rearing process. The morphological symptoms were the same for both fungi and appeared from newly hatched larvae until moth formation. In larvae, black spots of both fungi species appeared eve-rywhere on the body, then these spots extended and eventually larvae died, and fragments of the fungus came out from the spots. The only one difference between the two fungi, is that symptoms of A. fumigatus appeared four days earlier than those of A. flavus. Newly hatched larvae were sprayed with spore suspension (1x106 conidia spores/ml) of A. fumigates and A. flavus separately. One and 12 hrs. after in-oculation, larvae were sprayed with different concentrations of fungicide (Actamyl), sali-cylic acid, and henna and propolis powders, in isolation. After words, mortality and survival percentages were calculated and compared to those that occurred in untreated check (larvae were inoculated with A. fumigatus and A. fla-vus separately without any control treatment). The lowest mortality and highest survival per-centage were occurred in larvae treated with salicylic acid at 10% after 12 hrs. from inocu-lation with A. fumigatus. On the other hand, the lowest mortality and highest survival percent-ages occurred in larvae treated with the fungi-cide Actamyl at 6% and henna at 15% after 12 hrs. from inoculation with A. flavus