A scientific note on the use of stingless bees for commercial pollination in enclosures

Stingless bees are considered to be very important pollinators in the tropics, and they are known to effectively pollinate at least 9 crops [1]. Nevertheless, they are seldomly used for commercial pollination. To our knowledge, only one study has been published using stingless bees for crop pollination [2]. In that study, Nannotrigona testaceicornis was used successfully to pollinate strawberries in a greenhouse in Japan. There are several advantages that might make stingless bees more suitable for the pollination of certain crops than the commonly used honeybee [1, 3]. The fact that they lack a functional sting makes them especially suitable for pollination in enclosures. In our study, we compared the pollinating activity between two species of sting-less bees and honeybees on the ornamental plant Salvia farinacea var. strata (Lamiaceae) in enclosures. S. farinacea is an ornamental herbaceous plant, with small (ca. 1 cm) purple and white flowers. It is commercially grown for seed export, usually in enclosures to ensure the production of pure seeds. Experiments were carried out at the seed company Flora Feliz, Cartago, Costa Rica (9° 43 51 N, 83° 54 51 W, altitude 1388 m). Flower visitors of S. farinacea were captured in an open-air patch of 40 plants in December 1995. Pollination experiments were conducted in four netted enclosures (6 ´ 3 ´ 3 m) in April 1996. Each enclosure contained 60 plants that were pollinated by one of the three bee species during one month, or were left without pollinators (control). The following bee species were used: Nannotrigona testaceicornis, Tetragonisca angustula, and Apis mellifera. N. testaceicornis is a small robust bee with a body length of 4.1 4.2 mm. Colonies contain a few thousand individuals and the species is quite common in the Neotropics. T. angustula is a small, slender bee with a body length of 4.4 4.7 mm. It is the most abundant stingless bee species in Costa Rica with a colony size up to 5,000 individuals. We used a 5-frame hive of Africanized A. mellifera with approximately 10,000 workers

Desempenho de cultivares de morango submetidas a diferentes tipos de polinização em cultivo protegido

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de diferentes tipos de polinização sobre a qualidade de frutos de cultivares de morangueiro e sua contribuição isolada para a massa dos frutos, bem como determinar o potencial de Plebeia nigriceps (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Meliponini) como agente polinizador em ambiente protegido. As cultivares Aromas, Diamante e Cegnidarem foram submetidas a tratamentos com autopolinização, polinização por P. nigriceps e polinização livre. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em estufa tipo pampeana, coberta com polietileno transparente e desprovida de telas anti-insetos nas laterais, com 1.344 plantas. Para as avaliações, foram marcadas 56 flores primárias em botão, de cada cultivar, e considerou-se cada planta uma repetição. Avaliaram-se massa de matéria fresca, peso, diâmetro, comprimento e presença de deformação nos frutos. A polinização entomófila tem contribuição variada à massa dos frutos, de acordo com a cultivar. As cultivares apresentam sensibilidade variada à autopolinização, no que se refere à incidência de frutos deformados. A interferência da polinização entomófila na produtividade do morangueiro está mais relacionada à redução do percentual de frutos deformados do que ao aumento da massa dos frutos em si. O comportamento de P. nigriceps indica que a espécie apresenta potencial para polinização da cultura do morangueiro em ambiente protegido

Saccular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Patient Characteristics, Clinical Presentation, Treatment, and Outcomes in the Netherlands

Objective: The aim of this was to analyze differences between saccularshaped abdominal aortic aneurysms (SaAAAs) and fusiform abdominal aortic aneurysms (FuAAAs) regarding patient characteristics, treatment, and outcome, to advise a threshold for intervention for SaAAAs.Background: Based on the assumption that SaAAAs are more prone to rupture, guidelines suggest early elective treatment. However, little is known about the natural history of SaAAAs and the threshold for intervention is not substantiated.Methods: Observational study including primary repairs of degenerative AAAs in the Netherlands between 2016 and 2018 in which the shape was registered, registered in the Dutch Surgical Aneurysm Audit (DSAA). Patients were stratified by urgency of surgery; elective versus acute (symptomatic/ruptured). Patient characteristics, treatment, and outcome were compared between SaAAAs and FuAAAs.Results: A total of 7659 primary AAA-patients were included, 6.1% (n = 471) SaAAAs and 93.9% (n = 7188) FuAAAs. There were 5945 elective patients (6.5% SaAAA) and 1714 acute (4.8% SaAAA). Acute SaAAApatients were more often female (28.9% vs 17.2%, P = 0.007) compared with acute FuAAA-patients. SaAAAs had smaller diameters than FuAAAs, in elective (53.0mm vs 61 mm, P = 0.000) and acute (68mm vs 75 mm, P = 0.002) patients, even after adjusting for sex. In addition, 25.2% of acute SaAAA-patients presented with diameters <55mm and 8.4% <45 mm, versus 8.1% and 0.6% of acute FuAAA-patients (P = 0.000). Postoperative outcomes did not significantly differ between shapes in both elective and acute patients.Conclusions: SaAAAs become acute at smaller diameters than FuAAAs in DSAA patients. This study therefore supports the current idea that SaAAAs should be electively treated at smaller diameters than FuAAAs. The exact diameter threshold for elective treatment of SaAAAs is difficult to determine, but a diameter of 45mm seems to be an acceptable threshold.Vascular Surger