Diana Sammataro

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The potential of pheromone-assisted techniques for management and control of Varroa, the behavior of conspecific mites (Varroa destructor) towards each other, and their corresponding extracts, were examined. Neither actual mites nor extracts prompted significant attraction responses or avoidance reactions that were indicative of aggregation-attachment, sex or alarm (= allomonal defense secretion) pheromone production. A mite- exposed filter paper disc covered with mite excreta, however, was highly attractive to mites and shows use of an assembly pheromone. This confirms involvement of the fecal accumulation in concentrating mites on brood cell walls between bloodmeals. Interestingly, formation of clusters at the fecal accumulation performs functional values of those pheromones that are absent. We anticipate that supplementing trap baits with guanine, the main component of mite excreta, may be useful as a control tactic. Alternatively, the lack of a defense secretion makes V. destructor vulnerable and ideal for control by introducing a mite predator.

... The term symbiosis was first used by Heinrich Anton de Bary, a German botanist, in 1879 to describe "the living to-gether of two dissimilar ... Much of the research conducted on the types of microbes in honey bee colonies was performed by Dr. Martha Gilliam at the Carl Hayden ...

Scientists who use honey bees for their experiments sometimes need to obtain known ages of honey bees, mature or immature, for use in their research. We updated a technique commonly-used to obtain known-age brood cohorts (worker or drone) using a frame cage made of queen excluder. We repeatedly confined the queen bee overnight using 4-day intervals to obtain easily-distinguishable brood

... on sticky boards Nancy OSTIGUY*, Diana SAMMATARO ... Finally, we assessed the need to select new random numbers for each sticky board ver-sus using the same random numbers for every sticky board. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.1. Sticky boards ...

Fermentation by fungi converts stored pollen into bee bread that is fed to honey bee larvae, Apis mellifera, so the diversity of fungi in bee bread may be related to its food value. To explore the relationship between fungicide exposure and bee bread fungi, samples of bee bread collected from bee colonies pollinating orchards from 7 locations over 2 years were analyzed for fungicide residues and fungus composition. There were detectable levels of fungicides from regions that were sprayed before bloom. An organic orchard had the highest quantity and variety of fungicides, likely due to the presence of treated orchards within bees' flight range. Aspergillus, Penicillium, Rhizopus, and Cladosporium (beneficial fungi) were the primary fungal isolates found, regardless of habitat differences. There was some variation in fungal components amongst colonies, even within the same apiary. The variable components were Absidia, Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Bipolaris, Fusarium, Geotrichum, Mucor, Nigrospora, Paecilomyces, Scopulariopsis, and Trichoderma. The number of fungal isolates was reduced as an effect of fungicide contamination. Aspergillus abundance was particularly affected by increased fungicide levels, as indicated by Simpson's diversity index. Bee bread showing fungicide contamination originated from colonies, many of which showed chalkbrood symptoms.

Honey bee colony feeding trials were conducted to determine whether differential effects of carbohydrate feeding (sucrose syrup (SS) vs. high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS) could be measured between colonies fed exclusively on these syrups. In one experiment, there was a significant difference in mean wax production between the treatment groups and a significant interaction between time and treatment for the colonies confined in a flight arena. On average, the colonies supplied with SS built 7916.7 cm(2) ± 1015.25 cm(2) honeycomb, while the colonies supplied with HFCS built 4571.63 cm(2) ± 786.45 cm(2). The mean mass of bees supplied with HFCS was 4.65 kg (± 0.97 kg), while those supplied with sucrose had a mean of 8.27 kg (± 1.26). There was no significant difference between treatment groups in terms of brood rearing. Differences in brood production were complicated due to possible nutritional deficiencies experienced by both treatment groups. In the second experiment, colonies supplemented with SS through the winter months at a remote field site exhibited increased spring brood production when compared to colonies fed with HFCS. The differences in adult bee populations were significant, having an overall average of 10.0 ± 1.3 frames of bees fed the sucrose syrup between November 2008 and April 2009, compared to 7.5 ± 1.6 frames of bees fed exclusively on HFCS. For commercial queen beekeepers, feeding the right supplementary carbohydrates could be especially important, given the findings of this study.

Developmental stages were compared between European honey bee (EHB) and local African honey bee (AHB) workers, to provide updated information since the AHB migrated into N. America. The weight and dimensions of each life stage of the immature bee, egg to adult, were recorded. European queens from known stock were selected for this experiment. The queens were the SMR (suppressed mite reproduction, now called Varroa Sensitive Hygiene or VSH) and Russian (RU) lines from the USDA-ARS Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiological Research (Baton Rouge, LA), Hygienic queens (HY), Italian queens from Big Island Queens, Hawaii (BI), and local African bees (AHB) found near the lab (Tucson, AZ). The most noticeable differences were the weight and developmental time in the AHB compared to the EHB which are similar to those reported for AHB in South America in 1979. A table recording the changes in size and weight of each stage was created that includes a description and timing of melanizatio...

Two kinds of experiments were conducted with Aethina tumida Murray larvae over four temperatures: "consumption" experiments, in which larvae and diet were weighed to determine food consumption rates under conditions of unlimited food and few conspecifics; and "competition" experiments, in which varying numbers of larvae were presented with the same amount of honey and pollen diet, and larval weight at final instar was used to determine competition effects. In consumption experiments temperature, diet and their interaction all had significant effects on the ratio of larval weight to the weight of food consumed, which was higher at 24 degrees C than at any other temperature. In competition experiments, three relationships were examined and modeled: that between the number of larvae per experimental unit and the average weight of those larvae; that between average larval and adult weights; and that between average adult weight and survivorship to adult (emergence rate). An exponential decay function was fit to the relationship between number of larvae per experimental unit and their average weight. Average adult weight was linearly correlated with larval weight. Likewise, emergence rates for adults < 11.6 mg in weight were linearly correlated with adult weights, but no significant relationship was observed for heavier adults. Using these relationships, the reproductive potential for A. tumida were estimated for a frame of honey and pollen. Information on resource acquisition by A. tumida will be useful in evaluating the impact of different factors on beetle population dynamics, such as bee hygienic behavior or control strategies used by the beekeeper.

In this study, the carbohydrate composition of high-fructose corn syrups (HFCS) from commercial manufacturers as well as from beekeepers was characterized by GC-MS. Sucrose syrups (SS) were also included in this work for comparison. Fructosyl-fructoses and some unknown carbohydrates, which could correspond to fructosyl-glucoses, have been detected in HFCS for the first time, whereas SS were mainly characterized by the high contents of sucrose. Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content of samples supplied by beekeepers was much more variable; the mean level of HMF was 64.61 ppm (+/-16.92 ppm, 95% CI ranging from 26.91 to 102.31 ppm). Syrups were used to feed caged bees and the resulting honeys produced were analyzed in order to determine their influence in carbohydrate composition. Fructosyl-fructoses were mainly detected in honeys from bees fed with HFCS, but not from those honeys coming from free-flying bees or bees fed with SS.

This is the first demonstration of active water vapor uptake by the adult female honey bee parasitic mite, Varroa jacobsoni (Oudemans). Water vapor gain permits these ‘leaky’ mites to counter water loss and survive between meals. Their poor water-retention ability (fast net water loss rate) reveals a critical requirement for moisture. This is reflected by the stable, humid microhabitat of

The hive of the honey bee is a suitable habitat for diverse mites (Acari), including nonparasitic, omnivorous, and pollen-feeding species, and parasites. The biology and damage of the three main pest species Acarapis woodi, Varroa jacobsoni, and Tropilaelaps clareae is reviewed, along with detection and control methods. The hypothesis that Acarapis woodi is a recently evolved species is rejected. Mite-associated bee pathologies (mostly viral) also cause increasing losses to apiaries. Future studies on bee mites are beset by three main problems: (a) The recent discovery of several new honey bee species and new bee-parasitizing mite species (along with the probability that several species are masquerading under the name Varroa jacobsoni) may bring about new bee-mite associations and increase damage to beekeeping; (b) methods for studying bee pathologies caused by viruses are still largely lacking; (c) few bee- and consumer-friendly methods for controlling bee mites in large apiaries are available.