Since it first appeared in 2022,the phenomenon referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder(CCD)has affected several regions of Morocco to varying degrees.In order to assess the possible impact of pesticides on the appeara...Since it first appeared in 2022,the phenomenon referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder(CCD)has affected several regions of Morocco to varying degrees.In order to assess the possible impact of pesticides on the appearance of this syndrome,we conducted a study aimed at evaluating the impact of pesticide use on the emergence of this syndrome through a year-long survey involving 160 beekeepers in the Beni Mellal–Khenifra Region(BKR)who also experienced an unprecedented desertion of hives during the same period.The majority of surveyed beekeepers practice mixed(45%)or migratory beekeeping(42%)and provide supplementary feeding(83.75%)to support their bees.Nearly 37.5%of the hives are located near crops treated with pesticides,exposing the bees to these chemicals.The results showed that the majority of beekeepers reported a cessation of queen laying(74.38%),high mortality rates among worker bees(81.25%),drones(65.63%),and queens(61.88%).Abnormal behaviors such as immobility with trembling(42.50%),reduced flights(47.50%),and disoriented navigation(28.75%)were also observed.Correlation analyses indicate that proximity to treated crops significantly increases the risk of queen laying cessation(Odds Ratio 6.0)and a reduction in waggle dances(Odds Ratio 2.41).Extended foraging flights show a borderline statistical significance(Odds Ratio 2.33),suggesting a disruption of natural food sources.These results highlight the potential impact of pesticides on colony health and bee behavior,pointing out the need to adapt beekeeping practices and implement protective measures against pesticides.展开更多
Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are important pollinators of flowering plants and agricultural crops contributing annually to billions of dollars in revenues to crop production. Honeybees have an average lifespan between 8...Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are important pollinators of flowering plants and agricultural crops contributing annually to billions of dollars in revenues to crop production. Honeybees have an average lifespan between 8 weeks to 5 years. Dead honeybees are abundantly available in beehives and can be utilized as an alternative source to synthesize nanoparticles. In recent years, biologically synthesized nanoparticles have been preferred over their chemical counterparts. However, honeybee-based-green synthesis of nanoparticles has not been explored yet. Herein, we report the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles from honeybees and its antibacterial activity. The synthesis of silver nanoparticles was monitored visually through a gradual change in color. Furthermore, the biosynthesized nanoparticles were confirmed and characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy. Scanning Electron Microscope was utilized to analyze the average size and morphologies of the biosynthesized nanoparticles. Subsequently, the antibacterial potential of the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles was tested against selected Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. It was found that a distinct color change from yellow to brown in the reaction solution suggested the formation of silver nanoparticles. The biosynthesized nanoparticles exhibited absorption maxima at 430 nm. The SEM analysis confirmed the spherical and cuboidal shape of the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles with a size range between 10 - 40 nm. Furthermore, the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles exhibited strong antimicrobial potential against tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria strains by aggregating on the cell surface. This study showcases the biomedical and agricultural applications of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles from honeybee wings. .展开更多
In honeybee （Apis mellifera） colonies, queens and workers are altemative forms of the adult female honeybee that develop from genetically identical zygotes but that depend on differential nourishment. Queens and wor...In honeybee （Apis mellifera） colonies, queens and workers are altemative forms of the adult female honeybee that develop from genetically identical zygotes but that depend on differential nourishment. Queens and workers display distinct morphologies, anatomies and behavior, better known as caste differentiation. Despite some basic insights, the exact mechanism responsible for this phenomenon, especially at the molecular level, remains unclear although some progress has been achieved. In this study, we examined mRNA levels of the TOR （target of rapamycin） and Dnmt3 （DNA methyltransferase 3） genes, closely related to caste differentiation in honeybees. We also investigated mRNA expression of the S6K （similar to RPS6-p70-protein kinase） gene linked closely to organismal growth and development in queen and worker larvae （1-day and 3-day old）. Last, we investigated the methylation status of these three genes in corresponding castes. We found no difference in mRNA expression for the three genes between 1st instar queen and worker larvae; however, 3rd instar queen larvae had a higher level of TOR mRNA than worker larvae. Methylation levels of all three genes were lower in queen larvae than worker larvae but the differences were not statistically significant. These findings provide basic data for broadening our understanding of caste differentiation in female honeybees.展开更多
Plant-pollinator in teractio ns have a fundame ntal in fluence on flower evolution. Flower color signals are frequently tuned to the visual capabilities of important pollinators such as either bees or birds, but far l...Plant-pollinator in teractio ns have a fundame ntal in fluence on flower evolution. Flower color signals are frequently tuned to the visual capabilities of important pollinators such as either bees or birds, but far less is known about whether flower shape in fluences the choices of pollinators. We tested European honeybee Apis mellifera pref ere nces using novel achromatic (gray-scale) images of 12 insect-pollinated and 12 bird-pollinated native Australian flowers in Germany;thus, avoiding in flue nces of color, odor, or prior experie nee. In depende nt bees were tested with a number of parameterized images specifically desig ned to assess pref ere nces for size, shape, brightness, or the number of flower-like shapes prese nt in an image. We show that honeybees have a pref ere nee for visiti ng images of in sect-polli nated flowers and such a pref ere nee is most-likely mediated by holistic in formati on rather than by in dividual image parameters. Our results in dicate an giosperms have evolved flower shapes which in fluence the choice behavior of importa nt pollinators, and thus suggest spatial achromatic flower properties are an important part of visual signaling for plantpollinator in teractions.展开更多
Cloud computing is a collection of disparate resources or services,a web of massive infrastructures,which is aimed at achieving maximum utilization with higher availability at a minimized cost.One of the most attracti...Cloud computing is a collection of disparate resources or services,a web of massive infrastructures,which is aimed at achieving maximum utilization with higher availability at a minimized cost.One of the most attractive applications for cloud computing is the concept of distributed information processing.Security,privacy,energy saving,reliability and load balancing are the major challenges facing cloud computing and most information technology innovations.Load balancing is the process of redistributing workload among all nodes in a network;to improve resource utilization and job response time,while avoiding overloading some nodes when other nodes are underloaded or idle is a major challenge.Thus,this research aims to design a novel load balancing systems in a cloud computing environment.The research is based on the modification of the existing approaches,namely;particle swarm optimization(PSO),honeybee,and ant colony optimization(ACO)with mathematical expression to form a novel approach called PACOHONEYBEE.The experiments were conducted on response time and throughput.The results of the response time of honeybee,PSO,SASOS,round-robin,PSO-ACO,and P-ACOHONEYBEE are:2791,2780,2784,2767,2727,and 2599(ms)respectively.The outcome of throughput of honeybee,PSO,SASOS,round-robin,PSO-ACO,and P-ACOHONEYBEE are:7451,7425,7398,7357,7387 and 7482(bps)respectively.It is observed that P-ACOHONEYBEE approach produces the lowest response time,high throughput and overall improved performance for the 10 nodes.The research has helped in managing the imbalance drawback by maximizing throughput,and reducing response time with scalability and reliability.展开更多
The sting of Giant Asian honeybee(Apis dorsata) or Bambara in Sinhala and Kanmge Kulavi in Tamil is a common environmental hazard in Sri Lanka known to cause immediate allergic reactions,which could be fatal in sensit...The sting of Giant Asian honeybee(Apis dorsata) or Bambara in Sinhala and Kanmge Kulavi in Tamil is a common environmental hazard in Sri Lanka known to cause immediate allergic reactions,which could be fatal in sensitized individuals.We reported myocardial infarction, bowel gangrene and fatal anaphylaxis in a prospectively proven case series and the association of these uncommon complications with delayed removal of stingers from the patients’skin.展开更多
In learning and memory studies on honeybees （Apis mellifera）, cold-induced narcosis has been widely used to temporarily immobilize honeybees. In this study, we investigated the effects of cold narcosis on the associ...In learning and memory studies on honeybees （Apis mellifera）, cold-induced narcosis has been widely used to temporarily immobilize honeybees. In this study, we investigated the effects of cold narcosis on the associative memories in honeybees by using the proboscis extension response （PER） paradigm. Severe impairments in memory acquisition was found when cold narcosis was performed 30 rain, instead of 1 h before training. Locomotor activities were reduced when honeybees were tested 15 min, instead of 30 rain after cold narcosis. These results indicate that cold narcosis impairs locomotor activities, as well as memory acquisition in a time-dependent manner, but by comparison no such effects on memory retrieval have yet been observed.[0]展开更多
Mite （Varroa destructor） is one of the most serious parasite threats to the honey bee （Apis mellifera） reared in China. The beekeepers mainly use the drug to control and kill the mite in the past years, but the ho...Mite （Varroa destructor） is one of the most serious parasite threats to the honey bee （Apis mellifera） reared in China. The beekeepers mainly use the drug to control and kill the mite in the past years, but the honey products may be contaminated and the mite is becoming drug-resistant. The main idea of this paper is to research the possibility of mite-resistant honeybee rearing by nutritional crossbreed. The larvae （Apis mellifera ligustica） are bred with the royal jelly of Apis carana carana, and then the morphological index of the worker generation, genotypic frequency and gene frequency of the MDH Ⅱ, genetic resemblance, and mite resistance are measured. The results show that： compared to the parent workers, the proboscis length, anterior wing area, the total length of the third and fourth dorsal plate of the abdomen, the length of the fourth dorsal plate of the tuberculum, the area of the sixth abdominal segment, and the area of wax mirrors are significantly different, but the differences in the brachium index, dactylus index, and wing claw are not significant. Moreover, there are some mutations in the genotypic frequency and gene frequency of the MDH Ⅱ. The mite resistance of the nutritional crossbreed worker is significantly higher. The morphological, physical, and biochemical characters, genetic resemblance, and the mite-resistant ability of the worker generation can be changed by nutritional crossbreeding. Nutritional crossbreeding can be a new way to breed the honeybee.展开更多
The aim of our study was to explore whether honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) could be used as a reliable alternative to the standard mechanical devices for monitoring of air quality, in particular with respect to the con...The aim of our study was to explore whether honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) could be used as a reliable alternative to the standard mechanical devices for monitoring of air quality, in particular with respect to the concentration of the heavy metals cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and vanadium (V). We therefore tested whether the concentrations of these metals in adult honeybees and in ambient air were positively correlated, and whether differences in concentration between locations were similar for bees and air. On the basis of our measurements, conducted over a two-month period at three distinct locations in the Netherlands with each three replicate honeybee colonies placed next to mechanical monitoring devices, we concluded that a significant positive relationship between the concentrations in bees and in air could only be established for V. Also, only in the case of V, the differences between the three locations in mean concentration were similar for bees and air. Both outcomes were probably due to the relatively large range over which the concentrations of V varied, both in bees and in air, as compared to Cd and Pb. However, for V, as well as for Cd and Pb, the concentrations in ambient air were about two orders of magnitude below the established air quality standards. We therefore conclude that in the Netherlands, both variation and levels of the atmospheric concentrations of these metals are too low to establish a relationship between the concentration in bees and in air that is useful to present honeybees as an alternative to mechanical devices in monitoring of air pollution. However, in countries with larger variation and higher levels of the atmospheric concentrations of these metals, further exploration of the potential of honeybees in biomonitoring of air pollution may be worthwhile.展开更多
The injection to emerging adult workerbees with fluvalinate doses ranging from 1 femtomol to 1 nanomol per individual resulted in a reduction of haemolymph carbohydrate concentrations, particularly at the lowest dose ...The injection to emerging adult workerbees with fluvalinate doses ranging from 1 femtomol to 1 nanomol per individual resulted in a reduction of haemolymph carbohydrate concentrations, particularly at the lowest dose 1 hour after injections. At the same time, a large increase was observed for triacylglycerols and to a much lesser extent for steroids and phospholipids with 0.1 picomol per bee. By contrast, fatty acids, steroids and triacylglycerols exhibited a depress at the higher dose. Most responses were thus biphasic, showing that much attention should be paid to the effects of very low doses of pesticide.展开更多
文摘Since it first appeared in 2022,the phenomenon referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder(CCD)has affected several regions of Morocco to varying degrees.In order to assess the possible impact of pesticides on the appearance of this syndrome,we conducted a study aimed at evaluating the impact of pesticide use on the emergence of this syndrome through a year-long survey involving 160 beekeepers in the Beni Mellal–Khenifra Region(BKR)who also experienced an unprecedented desertion of hives during the same period.The majority of surveyed beekeepers practice mixed(45%)or migratory beekeeping(42%)and provide supplementary feeding(83.75%)to support their bees.Nearly 37.5%of the hives are located near crops treated with pesticides,exposing the bees to these chemicals.The results showed that the majority of beekeepers reported a cessation of queen laying(74.38%),high mortality rates among worker bees(81.25%),drones(65.63%),and queens(61.88%).Abnormal behaviors such as immobility with trembling(42.50%),reduced flights(47.50%),and disoriented navigation(28.75%)were also observed.Correlation analyses indicate that proximity to treated crops significantly increases the risk of queen laying cessation(Odds Ratio 6.0)and a reduction in waggle dances(Odds Ratio 2.41).Extended foraging flights show a borderline statistical significance(Odds Ratio 2.33),suggesting a disruption of natural food sources.These results highlight the potential impact of pesticides on colony health and bee behavior,pointing out the need to adapt beekeeping practices and implement protective measures against pesticides.
文摘Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are important pollinators of flowering plants and agricultural crops contributing annually to billions of dollars in revenues to crop production. Honeybees have an average lifespan between 8 weeks to 5 years. Dead honeybees are abundantly available in beehives and can be utilized as an alternative source to synthesize nanoparticles. In recent years, biologically synthesized nanoparticles have been preferred over their chemical counterparts. However, honeybee-based-green synthesis of nanoparticles has not been explored yet. Herein, we report the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles from honeybees and its antibacterial activity. The synthesis of silver nanoparticles was monitored visually through a gradual change in color. Furthermore, the biosynthesized nanoparticles were confirmed and characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy. Scanning Electron Microscope was utilized to analyze the average size and morphologies of the biosynthesized nanoparticles. Subsequently, the antibacterial potential of the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles was tested against selected Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. It was found that a distinct color change from yellow to brown in the reaction solution suggested the formation of silver nanoparticles. The biosynthesized nanoparticles exhibited absorption maxima at 430 nm. The SEM analysis confirmed the spherical and cuboidal shape of the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles with a size range between 10 - 40 nm. Furthermore, the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles exhibited strong antimicrobial potential against tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria strains by aggregating on the cell surface. This study showcases the biomedical and agricultural applications of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles from honeybee wings. .
基金supported by the Yunnan Government(2009CI119)Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System(Honeybee)(CARS-45-kxj14)
文摘In honeybee （Apis mellifera） colonies, queens and workers are altemative forms of the adult female honeybee that develop from genetically identical zygotes but that depend on differential nourishment. Queens and workers display distinct morphologies, anatomies and behavior, better known as caste differentiation. Despite some basic insights, the exact mechanism responsible for this phenomenon, especially at the molecular level, remains unclear although some progress has been achieved. In this study, we examined mRNA levels of the TOR （target of rapamycin） and Dnmt3 （DNA methyltransferase 3） genes, closely related to caste differentiation in honeybees. We also investigated mRNA expression of the S6K （similar to RPS6-p70-protein kinase） gene linked closely to organismal growth and development in queen and worker larvae （1-day and 3-day old）. Last, we investigated the methylation status of these three genes in corresponding castes. We found no difference in mRNA expression for the three genes between 1st instar queen and worker larvae; however, 3rd instar queen larvae had a higher level of TOR mRNA than worker larvae. Methylation levels of all three genes were lower in queen larvae than worker larvae but the differences were not statistically significant. These findings provide basic data for broadening our understanding of caste differentiation in female honeybees.
文摘Plant-pollinator in teractio ns have a fundame ntal in fluence on flower evolution. Flower color signals are frequently tuned to the visual capabilities of important pollinators such as either bees or birds, but far less is known about whether flower shape in fluences the choices of pollinators. We tested European honeybee Apis mellifera pref ere nces using novel achromatic (gray-scale) images of 12 insect-pollinated and 12 bird-pollinated native Australian flowers in Germany;thus, avoiding in flue nces of color, odor, or prior experie nee. In depende nt bees were tested with a number of parameterized images specifically desig ned to assess pref ere nces for size, shape, brightness, or the number of flower-like shapes prese nt in an image. We show that honeybees have a pref ere nee for visiti ng images of in sect-polli nated flowers and such a pref ere nee is most-likely mediated by holistic in formati on rather than by in dividual image parameters. Our results in dicate an giosperms have evolved flower shapes which in fluence the choice behavior of importa nt pollinators, and thus suggest spatial achromatic flower properties are an important part of visual signaling for plantpollinator in teractions.
基金Taif University Researchers are supporting project number(TURSP-2020/211),Taif University,Taif,Saudi Arabia.
文摘Cloud computing is a collection of disparate resources or services,a web of massive infrastructures,which is aimed at achieving maximum utilization with higher availability at a minimized cost.One of the most attractive applications for cloud computing is the concept of distributed information processing.Security,privacy,energy saving,reliability and load balancing are the major challenges facing cloud computing and most information technology innovations.Load balancing is the process of redistributing workload among all nodes in a network;to improve resource utilization and job response time,while avoiding overloading some nodes when other nodes are underloaded or idle is a major challenge.Thus,this research aims to design a novel load balancing systems in a cloud computing environment.The research is based on the modification of the existing approaches,namely;particle swarm optimization(PSO),honeybee,and ant colony optimization(ACO)with mathematical expression to form a novel approach called PACOHONEYBEE.The experiments were conducted on response time and throughput.The results of the response time of honeybee,PSO,SASOS,round-robin,PSO-ACO,and P-ACOHONEYBEE are:2791,2780,2784,2767,2727,and 2599(ms)respectively.The outcome of throughput of honeybee,PSO,SASOS,round-robin,PSO-ACO,and P-ACOHONEYBEE are:7451,7425,7398,7357,7387 and 7482(bps)respectively.It is observed that P-ACOHONEYBEE approach produces the lowest response time,high throughput and overall improved performance for the 10 nodes.The research has helped in managing the imbalance drawback by maximizing throughput,and reducing response time with scalability and reliability.
文摘The sting of Giant Asian honeybee(Apis dorsata) or Bambara in Sinhala and Kanmge Kulavi in Tamil is a common environmental hazard in Sri Lanka known to cause immediate allergic reactions,which could be fatal in sensitized individuals.We reported myocardial infarction, bowel gangrene and fatal anaphylaxis in a prospectively proven case series and the association of these uncommon complications with delayed removal of stingers from the patients’skin.
基金supported by the National Science Foundation of China(91132307)the K.C.Wong Education Foundation,Hong Kong
文摘In learning and memory studies on honeybees （Apis mellifera）, cold-induced narcosis has been widely used to temporarily immobilize honeybees. In this study, we investigated the effects of cold narcosis on the associative memories in honeybees by using the proboscis extension response （PER） paradigm. Severe impairments in memory acquisition was found when cold narcosis was performed 30 rain, instead of 1 h before training. Locomotor activities were reduced when honeybees were tested 15 min, instead of 30 rain after cold narcosis. These results indicate that cold narcosis impairs locomotor activities, as well as memory acquisition in a time-dependent manner, but by comparison no such effects on memory retrieval have yet been observed.[0]
文摘Mite （Varroa destructor） is one of the most serious parasite threats to the honey bee （Apis mellifera） reared in China. The beekeepers mainly use the drug to control and kill the mite in the past years, but the honey products may be contaminated and the mite is becoming drug-resistant. The main idea of this paper is to research the possibility of mite-resistant honeybee rearing by nutritional crossbreed. The larvae （Apis mellifera ligustica） are bred with the royal jelly of Apis carana carana, and then the morphological index of the worker generation, genotypic frequency and gene frequency of the MDH Ⅱ, genetic resemblance, and mite resistance are measured. The results show that： compared to the parent workers, the proboscis length, anterior wing area, the total length of the third and fourth dorsal plate of the abdomen, the length of the fourth dorsal plate of the tuberculum, the area of the sixth abdominal segment, and the area of wax mirrors are significantly different, but the differences in the brachium index, dactylus index, and wing claw are not significant. Moreover, there are some mutations in the genotypic frequency and gene frequency of the MDH Ⅱ. The mite resistance of the nutritional crossbreed worker is significantly higher. The morphological, physical, and biochemical characters, genetic resemblance, and the mite-resistant ability of the worker generation can be changed by nutritional crossbreeding. Nutritional crossbreeding can be a new way to breed the honeybee.
文摘The aim of our study was to explore whether honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) could be used as a reliable alternative to the standard mechanical devices for monitoring of air quality, in particular with respect to the concentration of the heavy metals cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and vanadium (V). We therefore tested whether the concentrations of these metals in adult honeybees and in ambient air were positively correlated, and whether differences in concentration between locations were similar for bees and air. On the basis of our measurements, conducted over a two-month period at three distinct locations in the Netherlands with each three replicate honeybee colonies placed next to mechanical monitoring devices, we concluded that a significant positive relationship between the concentrations in bees and in air could only be established for V. Also, only in the case of V, the differences between the three locations in mean concentration were similar for bees and air. Both outcomes were probably due to the relatively large range over which the concentrations of V varied, both in bees and in air, as compared to Cd and Pb. However, for V, as well as for Cd and Pb, the concentrations in ambient air were about two orders of magnitude below the established air quality standards. We therefore conclude that in the Netherlands, both variation and levels of the atmospheric concentrations of these metals are too low to establish a relationship between the concentration in bees and in air that is useful to present honeybees as an alternative to mechanical devices in monitoring of air pollution. However, in countries with larger variation and higher levels of the atmospheric concentrations of these metals, further exploration of the potential of honeybees in biomonitoring of air pollution may be worthwhile.
文摘The injection to emerging adult workerbees with fluvalinate doses ranging from 1 femtomol to 1 nanomol per individual resulted in a reduction of haemolymph carbohydrate concentrations, particularly at the lowest dose 1 hour after injections. At the same time, a large increase was observed for triacylglycerols and to a much lesser extent for steroids and phospholipids with 0.1 picomol per bee. By contrast, fatty acids, steroids and triacylglycerols exhibited a depress at the higher dose. Most responses were thus biphasic, showing that much attention should be paid to the effects of very low doses of pesticide.
