Honeybee behavior

This work was carried out in the apiary yard of the Experimental Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza Governorate. Eighteen honeybee colonies were used representing 3 hybrids (Carniolian, Italian and Egyptian). Results revealed that the highest percentage of acceptance for grafted larvae was recorded in the Italian hybrid followed by Carniolian hybrid, whereas Egyptian hybrid showed the lowest value. On the other hand, the highest mean amount of harvested royal jelly was attained in the Carniolian hybrid followed by Italian hybrid and finally Egyptian hybrid. Statistical analysis showed that there were a positive relations between mean percentages of accepted  grafted larvae and mean amounts of harvested royal jelly for the three hybrids. "t" values showed significant relationship between mean percentage of accepted  grafted larvae and mean amounts of harvested royal jelly in Carniolian hybrid whereas these relations were  insignificant in both Italian and Egyptian hybrids.

The cavity-nesting Apis mellifera and Apis cerana bees detect, uncap, and remove diseased brood. The hygiene behaviour of open-air-nesting bees Apis dorsata and Apis laboriosa was investigated in India and Nepal. Sealed A. dorsata pupae were pin-killed or deep-frozen. The workers removed 73 or 37% of damaged pin-killed pupae depending on the diameter of the pins, and only 7% of the frozen undamaged pupae. Migrating A. dorsata and A. laboriosa left unopened the sealed brood in deserted combs. Thus, A. dorsata and A. laboriosa do not open undamaged cells with dead brood. This behaviour is a more efficient mechanism in preventing the spread of diseases and parasitic mites than uncapping and removing dead pupae by A. mellifera and A. cerana. It may be beneficial for migrating A. dorsata and A. laboriosa to temporarily disuse part of the comb cells in exchange for arresting the mites there and thus reducing the increase of their population.

The population fluctuation of oriental hornet during its active season (August- November) was
weekly determined using modified screen trap fixed on empty brood box provided with some honey
combs for two successive seasons, 2007 and 2008. The obtained results revealed that the total number of
trapped hornet were, 41242.5 individuals/trap and 9577.9 individuals/trap during 2007 and 2008,
respectively. The highest mean number of hornet individuals was recorded during October, for the two
studied seasons represented 41.9% and 65.7% of the total trapped hornets. The highest wiped out colonies
due to direct attack of hornet was occurred during October (29.03 % & 17.65%) for the two observed
years, respectively. The percentage of the total destroyed honeybee colonies during hornet active seasons
were 45.16% and 35.29% of the total wiped out colonies during each year. Many of the survived colonies,
after hornet active season, were weak and unable for wintering. The percentages of finished colonies from
them were 5.65% and 2.94% as a latent negative effect of hornet. The percentage of total wiped out
colonies were 50.81% and 38.24% for the two successive years in Giza region.

The 43rd International Apicultural
Congress Apimondia took place in the
Ukrainian capital, the city of Kiev on
September 29th – October 04th 2013, in
which we were participants and presented
our work. On November 04th – 9th 2014
we also participated in the 10th Apislavia
Congress which was arranged concurrently
with the 4th International Mugla Beekeeping
& Pine Honey Congress in Oludeniz,
Mugla Province, in Turkey.

My thoughts on the state of the world in this thesis are based on my three years of coursework and fellowships on the topics of Sustainability, Alternative (Hi)stories, and Localization, in addition to my observations as a graduate student of the social, environmental, political, and economic conditions of production during my visits to Portland, Oregon; Oaxaca, México; Fukushima, Japan; Tanzania; and Dow Chemical Headquarters. These experiences have been moulded by my interactions with such thinkers as Bunker Roy, Ron Broglio, and Tom Seeley, and artists such as Lee Mingwei, Ben Kinmont, Steve Lambert, Oron Catts, and Amy Youngs. These observations and encounters have been tempered by years of reading the works of authors that range from Henry Thoreau and Peter Kropotkin, to David Harvey, Rob Nixon, and Masanobu Fukuoka. I have, whenever possible, tried to remain intellectually omnivorous in an attempt to digest the breadth of work that attempts to confront the meaning of humanity in an age of self-aware, self-inflicted annihilation. I have been careful to meld both data and empiricism, which in aggregate serve as a foundation on which I understand and address the world as an artist, activist, and craftsperson. At times my thesis will be fortified by data, but will most often be based in an empiricism of the spirit. I do not claim to be right. I don’t know that I believe in singular answers any more. An array of responses, made with positive intentions and strong insight, seems to be the only approach to the impending “century of crises” and what I describe as the “great transition.” However, as I intend to demonstrate, my work seeks to occupy a hybrid practice, one that reconsiders Joseph Beuys’ notion of Social Sculpture and his famous maxim “everyone is an artist,” and reframes it through the writings of Lucy Lippard, Howard Risatti, Octavio Paz, and Chögyam Trungpa into a theory of “Social Craft.” It is my position that everyone is a craftsperson, each of us endowed with the capacities to mindfully transform society in preparation for the Great Transition. Furthermore, I look to honeybee society as a model for social transformation. I contend, as others such as Kropotkin have, that the honeybee exhibits a profound model when considering methods of social change. Therefore, it is my intention in this thesis to demonstrate what a Social Craft practice could be, with the hope that others will realize their own capacities to positively participate in the great transition.

This research was carried out to estimate variance, covariance and genetic parameters for royal jelly production in Africanized honeybees. Twenty Africanized mother queens, donated by beekeepers to produce daughter queens were evaluated for royal jelly production of their workers, the acceptance percentage of grafted larvae (%), royal jelly production per colony (g) and per cup (mg), in hive and mini-hives. Data were submitted to unicharacter and thricharacter analyses using Bayesian inference. The heritability estimates in unicharacter analysis ranged from 0.01 to 0.08, and for thricharacter from 0.004 to 0.01. The genetic correlation values were positive for royal jelly production per colony and per cup (0.29), for larvae acceptance and royal jelly production per colony (0.42), and for larvae acceptance and royal jelly production per cup (0.06). The royal jelly production had environmental influence. The genetic correlation indicates that selection to increase royal jelly production per colony will increase larvae acceptance and royal jelly production per cup.

Background: The study was carried out to evaluate the biological activities of three honeybee races namely; Apis mellifera lamarckii (indigenous race), A. m. carnica (carniolan race) and A. m. ligustica (Italian race) under the environmental conditions of arid lands. Material and Methods: Three colonies of each race kept at the experimental farm of Arid Lands Cultivation Research Institute, City for Scientific Research and Technology Applications, New Borg El-Arab City, Alexandria, Egypt, from March 2012 to April 2013. Results: Number of frames covered with bees showed highly significant differences between tested honey bee races (F= 9.00, P< 0.0009). Obtained results showed no significant differences for sealed worker brood, stored honey, and stored pollen. Apis mellifera lamarckii produced the highest sealed drone brood (8.08±2.79 inch2), number of queen cups (7.39±2.21) and number of queen cells (6.06±2.07). Generally, stored honey and stored pollen had positive significantly correlations with sealed worker brood and number of frames covered with bees (r=0.88, P=0.000; r=0.66, P=0.004) and (r=0.92, P=0.000; r=0.64, P=0.005), respectively. Conclusion: under the arid land conditions, there are positive correlations between stored honey area and stored pollen area and temperature. Therefore, beekeepers can wintering their colonies in arid land and managed them for the next foraging season.

This research was carried out to infer the genetic value to produce royal jelly in African‐ ized Apis mellifera L. honeybees with the compilation of data collected from 2006 to 2011. Genetic information of the selected and accessed colonies was obtained using the total DNA extraction techniques of nurse honeybees' thorax with molecular markers for MRJP3 protein and characterized in Apis mellifera L. From the information on the colonies and genealogical structure were predicted genetic values of the colonies and queens for the larvae acceptance trait (%), royal jelly per colony (g), and royal jelly per cup (mg). Animal model with Bayesian Inference was used from Multiple Trait Gibbs Sampling software in Animal Models, Gibbs chains 58,500 cycles resulting from 650,000 cycles with intervals and disposal of 65,000 and 10 withdraw, respectively. From the predicted values, the colonies were classified into upper and lower. To compare the average of the genetic values according to the genotypes, the average multiple comparison tests were proceed‐ ed and implemented in routine PROC GENMOD from the Statistical Analysis System. Environmental effects were considered, time and hive type (standard Langstroth) as having flat distribution and collection as chi-square distribution. The studies presented an increase in the alleles C and D and the alleles D and E—referring to MRJPs—found in the highest genetic value for royal jelly production. Alleles D, E, and C are important when evaluating the parameters larvae acceptance, royal jelly per colony, and royal jelly per cup and, occasionally, it was the DE genotype that stood out royal jelly production. Genotypes DE, DC, and EC are those that should be kept in this evaluation system for royal jelly production, and the other genotypes should be discarded because they had the worst performance for the parameters evaluated.

Defense behavior of three, free living giant (Megapis) honey bee subspecies, Apis laboriosa, A. dorsata dorsata and A. dorsata breviligula, was compared. Disturbed worker bees responded with characteristic dorso-ventral defense body twisting (DBT). Workers of A. laboriosa twisted the thorax by 55°, and the two other A. dorsata subspecies by about 10° more. A. laboriosa workers raised the tip of the abdomen by 90° and workers of the two other bee subspecies by about 20° higher. Differences in those traits were highly significant between A. laboriosa and both A. dorsata subspecies, but were not significant between those two subspecies. The whole cycle of DBT was the most vigorous in A. d. breviligula (0.11 s), and it was twice as vigorous as in A. d. dorsata (0.26 s) and trice as in A. laboriosa (0.32 s). A. laboriosa twisted the body together with wings folded over the abdomen, while the two A. dorsata subspecies raised the abdomen between spread wings. This supports the opinion to treat A. laboriosa as a separate species.

This research was carried out to evaluate the acceptance of light and dark comb for brood rearing and/or food storage at the center and sides of the hive by hybrid workers from Africanized, Caucasian, Italian and Carniolan queen sisters. Honeybees used the light and dark combs for brood rearing and food storage in central position, and the hybrids did not presented preference for either light or dark comb introduced in the hive. At the center and sides, the dark comb had larger storage area for both honey - 186.60 and 242.00 cm² and pollen - 67.30 and 118.10 cm² than the light comb - 53.30 and 126.90 cm² for honey storage area and 13.90 and 14.70 cm² for pollen storage area, respectively. When storing food, nectar and pollen, honeybees prefer dark combs; but the occupied area by honey in the lateral position was larger in light combs than dark combs.

This research was carried out to evaluate the effect of proteic supplement on royal jelly production in honeybee colonies and its correlation with environmental variables. The treatments were: colonies that had received a diet formulated with 35% crude protein, colonies that had received a commercial supplement with 35% crude protein, and colonies that did not receive protein diet. There was no difference (p > 0.05) among the treatments for parameters of production. The average for each variable was: amount accepted larvae, 8.56 ± 6.76; acceptance percentage, 29.20 ± 22.03%; amount of royal jelly produced per colony, 1.83 ± 0.82 g; and amount of royal jelly produced per cup, 213.58 ± 108.36 mg. Rainfall did not affect (p > 0.05) royal jelly production. The selected models point to a negative correlation among larvae accepted with the maximum temperature and low relative humidity. Larvae acceptance and royal jelly production per cup had a positive correlation with the maximum relative humidity and negative correlation with the minimum relative humidity. It can be concluded that the addition of proteic supplement (35%) did not increase royal jelly production of Africanized honeybee colonies, and its use for this purpose was unprofitable.

The population fluctuation of oriental hornet during its active season (August- November) was weekly determined using modified screen trap fixed on empty brood box provided with some honey combs for two successive seasons, 2007 and 2008. The obtained results revealed that the total number of trapped hornet were, 41242.5 individuals/trap and 9577.9 individuals/trap during 2007 and 2008, respectively. The highest mean number of hornet individuals was recorded during October, for the two studied seasons represented 41.9% and 65.7% of the total trapped hornets. The highest wiped out colonies due to direct attack of hornet was occurred during October (29.03 % & 17.65%) for the two observed years, respectively. The percentage of the total destroyed honeybee colonies during hornet active seasons were 45.16% and 35.29% of the total wiped out colonies during each year. Many of the survived colonies, after hornet active season, were weak and unable for wintering. The percentages of finished c...

This study was carried out to evaluate seed production and germination of sunflower, Helianthus annuus. The sunflower cultivar used is called Embrapa 122-V2000. The experiment used a marked area that had 8m x 3m, and in a second area was installed, containing a honeybee colony and covered with wire screen, 8m x 3m, with two meters in the highest part. The seed production was 362.34% higher in the covered area with honeybee colony, and its achenes weight, 27.12% higher. Therefore, pollination by honeybees in sunflower increases the seed production, as well as its germination.

This study was conducted to compare royal jelly production from colonies of Apis mellifera Africanized honeybees selected for yields of royal jelly or honey with that from Carniolan hybrids. In the first trial, 10 colonies of Africanized honeybees selected for royal jelly production were used; the top five queens were replaced with their offspring and in the remaining
colonies were introduced Carniolan queens in order to evaluate production after switch of population. In the second trial, 15 colonies were used as follows: five with Africanized queens selected for honey yield (AFHO), five with Africanized queens selected for royal jelly yield (AFRJ), and five with Carniolan hybrids (CAHB). In trial one, Carniolan hybrids showed greater royal jelly production/ colony/collection (3.95 ± 2.92 g) when compared to Africanized honeybees (2.23 ± 2.13 g). In addition, Carniolan hybrids had higher acceptance percentage of grafted larvae (55.4 ± 36.7) than the Africanized counterparts (35.8 ± 28.3). In trial two, yield of royal jelly/colony/collection was significantly higher on AFHO compared to AFRJ and CAHB that did not differ in production. Both Africanized honeybees (AFHO = 254.2 ± 90.7 g and AFRJ = 253.8 ± 206.8 g) produced more royal jelly per cup than CAHB that yielded 195.8 ± 80.9 g.

The great use of insecticides is affecting as much the insect’s curses as other organisms. The insecticide Thiamethoxam is a composed neonicotinoid of high toxicity on bees. These works aimed at characterise in the chromatin of Malpighian tubules of worker’s Apis mellifera with different ages the effect of this insecticide. Besides, the behaviour of the same ones was analyzed, that it based on the observation of acceptance/rejection of the food and of the rate of the worker’s mortality. For the analysis of the chromatin the technique of Critical Electrolytes Concentration (CEC) were undertaken with Toluidine Blue staining (TB) at pH 4.0. It is sensitive to differentiate types of complex DNA-proteins in chromatin in situ and in vitro. Behavioral differences, alterations in the values of CEC and chromatin structure were observed at different ages as different concentrations of the insecticide used, evidencing the toxicity of the same, mainly in low concentrations (sublethal doses).

This experiment was carried out to study the internal temperature regulation of a colony of Africanized honey bees (AFR), compared with hybrid Caucasian (CAU), Italian (ITA), and Carniolan (CAR) bees, during the period of one year and different size hives located in a sub-tropical region. The instant internal temperature, 33.7 ± 1.5° C for the AFR, 33.5 ± 1.4° C for the CAU, 33.7 ± 1.5° C for the ITA and 33.8 ± 1.4° C for the CAR, did not show any significant difference (P&gt;0.05). The maximum temperature (36.1 ± 2.3° C) was statistically different (P&lt;0.05) from the minimum (27.6 ± 5.3° C). There was no difference (P&gt;0.05) in the mean internal temperature, between the nucleus (31.7 ± 6.3° C) and the brood nest (32.1 ± 5.3° C) measured between two and four o&#39;clock in the afternoon.

The population fluctuation of oriental hornet during its active season (August-November) was weekly determined using modified screen trap fixed on empty brood box provided with some honey combs for two successive seasons, 2007 and 2008. The obtained results revealed that the total number of trapped hornet were, 41242.5 individuals/trap and 9577.9 individuals/trap during 2007 and 2008, respectively. The highest mean number of hornet individuals was recorded during October, for the two studied seasons represented 41.9% and 65.7% of the total trapped hornets. The highest wiped out colonies due to direct attack of hornet was occurred during October (29.03 % & 17.65%) for the two observed years, respectively. The percentage of the total destroyed honeybee colonies during hornet active seasons were 45.16% and 35.29% of the total wiped out colonies during each year. Many of the survived colonies, after hornet active season, were weak and unable for wintering. The percentages of finished colonies from them were 5.65% and 2.94% as a latent negative effect of hornet. The percentage of total wiped out colonies were 50.81% and 38.24% for the two successive years in Giza region.

This experiment was carried out to study the internal temperature regulation of a colony of Africanized honey bees (AFR), compared with hybrid Caucasian (CAU), Italian (ITA), and Carniolan (CAR) bees, during the period of one year and different size hives located in a sub-tropical region. The instant internal temperature, 33.7 ± 1.5°C for the AFR, 33.5 ± 1.4°C for the CAU, 33.7 ± 1.5°C for the ITA and 33.8 ± 1.4°C for the CAR, did not show any significant difference (P>0.05). The maximum temperature (36.1 ± 2.3°C) was statistically different (P<0.05) from the minimum (27.6 ± 5.3°C). There was no difference (P>0.05) in the mean internal temperature, between the nucleus (31.7 ± 6.3°C) and the brood nest (32.1 ± 5.3°C) measured between two and four o'clock in the afternoon.

During the last years, a great number of swarms of Africanized honey bees migrated to the urban zone of Maringá, Paraná State, Brazil, causing a great concern, mainly in those who live at home with children, elderly and allergic people. This study aimed to record and remove the colonies and swarms reported to the Animal Science Department at Universidade Estadual de Maringá from 1997 to 1999, in order to avoid possible problems caused by honey bees (Apis mellifera) to the community and use them for research and teaching purposes. 283 reports were recorded, being 226 (79.9%) colonies and 57 (20.1%) swarms. 191 (67.5%) of the total reports were collected, being 169 (88.5%) colonies and 22 (11.5%) swarms. The honeybees were generally located in roofs (123; 43.5%), boxes (64; 22.6%), floors (59; 20.8%) and trees (37; 13.1%).

The great use of insecticides is affecting as much the insect’s curses as other organisms. The insecticide Thiamethoxam is a composed neonicotinoid of high toxicity on bees. These works aimed at characterise in the chromatin of Malpighian tubules of worker’s Apis mellifera with different ages the effect of this insecticide. Besides, the behaviour of the same ones was analyzed, that it based on the observation of acceptance/rejection of the food and of the rate of the worker’s mortality. For the analysis of the chromatin the technique of Critical Electrolytes Concentration (CEC) were undertaken with Toluidine Blue staining (TB) at pH 4.0. It is sensitive to differentiate types of complex DNA-proteins in chromatin in situ and in vitro. Behavioral differences, alterations in the values of CEC and chromatin structure were observed at different ages as different concentrations of the insecticide used, evidencing the toxicity of the same, mainly in low concentrations (sublethal doses).

This work was carried out in the apiary yard of the Experimental Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza Governorate. Eighteen honeybee colonies were used representing 3 hybrids (Carniolian, Italian and Egyptian). Results revealed that the highest percentage of acceptance for grafted larvae was recorded in the Italian hybrid followed by Carniolian hybrid, whereas Egyptian hybrid showed the lowest value. On the other hand, the highest mean amount of harvested royal jelly was attained in the Carniolian hybrid followed by Italian hybrid and finally Egyptian hybrid. Statistical analysis showed that there were a positive relations between mean percentages of accepted grafted larvae and mean amounts of harvested royal jelly for the three hybrids. &quot;t&quot; values showed significant relationship between mean percentage of accepted grafted larvae and mean amounts of harvested royal jelly in Carniolian hybrid whereas these relations were insignificant in both Italian and ...

Defense behavior of three, free living giant (Megapis) honey bee subspecies, Apis laboriosa, A. dorsata dorsata and A. dorsata breviligula, was compared. Disturbed worker bees responded with characteristic dorso-ventral defense body twisting (DBT). Workers of A. laboriosa twisted the thorax by 55°, and the two other A. dorsata subspecies by about 10° more. A. laboriosa workers raised the tip of the abdomen by 90° and workers of the two other bee subspecies by about 20° higher. Differences in those traits were highly significant between A. laboriosa and both A. dorsata subspecies, but were not significant between those two subspecies. The whole cycle of DBT was the most vigorous in A. d. breviligula (0.11 s), and it was twice as vigorous as in A. d. dorsata (0.26 s) and trice as in A. laboriosa (0.32 s). A. laboriosa twisted the body together with wings folded over the abdomen, while the two A. dorsata subspecies raised the abdomen between spread wings. This supports the opinion to treat A. laboriosa as a separate species.

This study was carried out to evaluate the financial viability of five supplements made with different sources of oil and protein, to be given to Africanized honeybees for royal jelly production. The study verified whether the investments with colony supplementation give financial returns to beekeepers, increasing profits for the diversification of bee products. In order to evaluate the five supplements, two experimental assays were performed. In each, 20 colonies were distributed randomly in four treatments, with 15 replications per colony. In assay I, the treatments were: linseed oil plus palm oil supplement, linseed oil, palm oil, and control without supplementation. In assay II, isolated soy protein plus brewer’s yeast, isolated soy protein, brewer’s yeast, and control without supplementation were evaluated. The following production financial indicators were determined: net operating income, total cost, profit and benefit-cost ratio. Supplements made with mixtures of linseed oil plus palm oil and isolated soy protein plus beer yeast showed ratios between the obtained profit and the calculated values for indirect production costs of 2.58 and 2.50, respectively, differing from the control (p < 0.05), which indicates it is economically viable to supplement Africanized honey bees in royal jelly production when compared to other treatments and control without supplementation.

There is a substantial class of collective decision problems whose successful solution requires interdependence among decision makers at the agenda-setting stage and independence at the stage of choice. We define this class of problems and describe and apply a search-and-decision mechanism theoretically modeled in the context of honeybees and identified in earlier empirical work in biology. The honeybees’ mechanism has useful implications for mechanism design in human institutions, including courts, legislatures, executive appointments, research and development in firms, and basic research in the sciences. Our paper offers a fresh perspective on the idea of “biomimicry” in institutional design and raises the possibility of comparative institutional analysis across species.
Preprint: http://personal.lse.ac.uk/list/PDF-files/ListVermeuleJune2013.pdf

This research was carried out to evaluate the sugar concentration in soybean nectar in areas with Africanized honeybee colonies. The var. Codetec 207 was used in four treatments: 24 m2 covered area with Africanized honeybee colony inside, semi-covered area for free insect visitation, uncovered area, and covered area without insect visitation. Flowers were harvested for three days at two-hour intervals, and the total sugar concentration per flower was determined by spectrophotometry. The covered area with Africanized honeybee colony presented higher sugar concentration than the covered area without insect visitation; however, the sugar concentration in the uncovered area did not differ from the concentration observed in the covered area without honeybees. There was a reduction in the average of sucrose concentration in the uncovered area, different from concentrations in other areas. The glucose concentration did not differ among treatments, whereas fructose did not differ between the areas covered with honeybees, semi-covered and uncovered area. The soybean var. Codetec 207 presented higher total sugar and fructose concentrations in the covered area with honeybee colonies. However, the presence of Apis mellifera did not influence this sugar concentration in the nectar of soybean flowers of this variety.