Abelha melífera como eficiente agente polinizador de moranga

The production of fruits and seeds of many crops is increased when bees visit their flowers pollinating them. The aim of this research was to study the pollination of pumpkins (Cucurbita maxima Duch. var. Exposição), to determine the diversity of insects visiting its flowers, the time and type of provision obtained and the effect of the visits on fruit set, fruit size and weight, and number of seeds. Apis mellifera L. accounted for 73.4% of the visits made by bees, collecting pollen during 34.5 s per flower and nectar in 43.9 s and 29.3 s from female and male flowers, respectively. Trigona spinipes (Fabr.) collected only nectar, during a mean time of 60.5 s per flower, and represented 26.6% of the visits by bees. Diabrotica speciosa (Germ.) only fed on the petals of the flower. When no insect visits occurred, there was no production of fruits. In the flowers with free visitation by insects, fruit set was 40%. The higher the number of visits, up to 16, by A. mellifera to female flowers, the greater was the fruit set, fruit size and weight, and number of seeds. In flowers visited by insects from the onset of anthesis until 9 a.m., fruit set was 35%. After 9 a.m., there was no fruit set, demonstrating the important role of A. mellifera as a pollinating agent of pumpkin, since it was the only insect visiting up to 9 a.m.A produção de frutos e sementes de várias culturas é favorecida quando abelhas visitam suas flores, efetuando a polinização. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a polinização em moranga (Cucurbita maxima Duch. var. Exposição), no que se refere à identificação dos insetos que visitam mais freqüentemente suas flores, o tempo e tipo de recurso floral coletado e o resultado das visitas destes insetos na frutificação, tamanho, peso e número de sementes dos frutos. Apis mellifera L. foi responsável por 73.4% das visitas realizadas por abelhas, coletando pólen em 34.5 s e néctar em 43.9 s e 29.3 s, respectivamente para as flores femininas e masculinas. Trigona spinipes (Fabr.) coletou apenas néctar, em tempo médio de 60.5 s, representando 26.6% das visitas realizadas por abelhas. Diabrotica speciosa (Germ.) somente se alimentou das pétalas da flor. Não houve produção de frutos quando não ocorreu visita de insetos. Nas flores com livre visitação de insetos a frutificação foi de 40%. Quanto maior o número, até 16, de visitas de A. mellifera nas flores femininas, maior a frutificação, tamanho, peso e número de sementes. A frutificação foi de 35% no tratamento em que as flores permaneceram disponíveis à visitação desde o início da antese até às 9h00. A partir deste horário não houve frutificação, evidenciando o importante papel da A. mellifera como agente polinizador da moranga, já que foi o único inseto visitante até às 9h00.FAPESPCNP

Improved Pollination Efficiency and Reduced Honey Bee Colony Decline in Greenhouses by Allowing Access to the Outside During Part of the Day

Although honey bees are efficient pollinators of many crops cultivated in greenhouses, it is difficult to maintain colony strength and consequently pollination efficiency. Many bees die under greenhouse conditions and the colonies rapidly weaken. We examined the effect of adaptations to the hive entrance that allowed control of whether and when bees had access to the outside environment to see how it would affect pollination efficiency and colony condition in greenhouses with flowering cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plants in comparison with colonies that remained constantly inside the greenhouse, previously left in a dark environment or not. We recorded the type and period of visitation to the cucumber flowers, numbers of honey bees entering and leaving the two entrance hives and the effect of this type of management on the quantity of brood and food. Fiveframe Langstroth “nucleus” colonies were equipped with two 30 square centimeter entrances and two 3.0 cm diameter circular openings. Allowing the bees to make visits outside the greenhouse in early morning with redirection of bees into the greenhouse at 8.30 a.m. did not reduce visitation to cucumber flowers in the greenhouse. Maintaining colonies in the greenhouse reduced brood area and food stores. These losses were significantly reduced in colonies that had access outside the greenhouse during the early morning. Another advantage of alternating access to the inside and the outside of the greenhouse was that there was less possibility of interactions between bees and people working on the crop, and also pesticides application could be made without directly affecting foraging bees

Costs and economic viability for the silkworm cocoon production

Sericiculture is characterized by the possibility of income generation in areas smaller than 10.0 ha and by the rationalization of family labor. Even considering this favorable scenario for the development of this activity, there is still a gap in the management of its economic factors in most of the rural properties within this chain, contributing negatively to their expansion. This study aimed at assessing the production cost and economic viability for producing silkworm cocoons, by using a case study conducted in a property located in Quatá, São Paulo State, Brazil. The main results for a production of 1,904 kg-1 of silkworm cocoons, with labor costs reaching 51.5% of the Effective Operating Cost and 35.5% of the Total Operating Cost, were a profitability index higher than 50% and an Internal Rate of Return of 9.68%, for the second production year, providing a good profitability rate for this agricultural segment, when we consider that the improved profitability of the producer is proportional to the best production indicators, particularly due to the fast return that this activity provides

Gamifying the visit to places with valuable landscapes

The landscape, in general, is full of meaning and has been studied over time by experts in different fields. In 1992, the landscape was considered a World Heritage Site with the designation of "Cultural Landscape". Despite this relevance, in many regions, there are places with valuable landscapes that are unknown to most of the population. This paper describes a mobile tool for finding and sharing places with valuable landscapes, which includes gamification components to motivate users to search for new places and share them. It is also presented an evaluation of the tool, in terms of user experience and including the assessment of gamification features. The tests were carried out in the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, considered world heritage since 1995.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Imidacloprid-induced oxidative stress in honey bees and the antioxidant action of caffeine

International audienceAbstractThe use of pesticides on crops contributes to the decline of bee populations, and in this sense, bioactive nutrients have been studied to counteract this effect. We suppose that caffeine might be one of these nutrients. We exposed honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to 0.7 or 2.0 ng/mL imidacloprid, 5.0 μg/mL caffeine in syrup, or 5.0 μg/mL caffeine in syrup plus 0.7 or 2.0 ng/mL imidacloprid. After 72 h, the oxidative status and the food intake were verified. Imidacloprid increased glutathione peroxidase and catalase activities. Caffeine alone or with 2.0 ng/mL imidacloprid also stimulated the activity of glutathione peroxidase but did not alter the effect of the insecticide on the catalase activity. A significant reduction in the concentration of the thiol group of proteins was observed in the two imidacloprid-fed groups, and the addition of caffeine protected these groups. Imidacloprid increased the malondialdehyde concentration while the addition of caffeine partially decreased this effect. Food intake was higher for bees treated with 2.0 ng/mL imidacloprid. Our results show that imidacloprid increased the food intake resulting in oxidative damage, which was partially reversed by caffeine. From these findings, it is inferred that caffeine treatments can be used to mitigate the sublethal effects of this insecticide on honey bees

Recurrent bacteremia after injection of N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate for treatment of bleeding gastric varices: a case report and review of the literature

Abstract\ud \ud Background\ud Bleeding from gastric varices has high mortality rate, and obliteration using N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate is the treatment of choice. Recurrent bacteremia is rarely reported following the procedure. We aimed to report a case of recurrent bacteremia after N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate treatment and to review published cases.\ud \ud \ud Case presentation and review\ud In May 2014, a 43-year-old Brazilian male presented with lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Endoscopy showed active bleeding from gastric varix. Injection of N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate was performed and the patient was discharged. Over the next 4 months he presented with three episodes of bacteremia with severe sepsis and no identifiable focus of infection. Oral prophylaxis was initiated in September 2014 and he has remained free of bacteremia. Six other cases of recurrent bacteremia following sclerosis with N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate were reported in the literature. All patients had portal hypertension and bleeding from gastric varices. Average age of patients was 55.7 years and the median time from endoscopic procedure to the first episode of bacteremia was 105 days (range 14–365). The mean number of episodes of bacteremia per patient was 2.5.\ud \ud \ud Conclusion\ud Recurrent bacteremia associated with endoscopic treatment with N-2-butyl-cyanoacrylate is rare, but should be suspected in patients in which investigation shows no other focus of infection. Secondary prophylaxis should be considered after the first episode

Notulae to the Italian flora of algae, bryophytes, fungi and lichens: 7

In this contribution, new data concerning algae, bryophytes, fungi, and lichens of the Italian flora are presented. It includes new records and confirmations for the algae genus Chara, the bryophyte genera Cephalozia, Conardia, Conocephalum, Didymodon, Sphagnum, Tetraplodon, and Tortula, the fungal genera Endophyllum, Gymnosporangium, Microbotryum, Phragmidium, and Pluteus, and the lichen genera Candelariella, Cladonia, Flavoplaca, Lichenothelia, Peltigera, Placolecis, Rinodina, Scytinium, and Solenopsora