The daily patterns of task performance in honey bee colonies during behavioral development were studied to determine the role of circadian rhythmicity in age-related division of labor. Although it is well known that foragers exhibit robust circadian patterns of activity in both field and laboratory settings, we report that many in-hive tasks are not allocated according to a daily rhythm but rather are performed 24 h per day. Around-the-clock activity at the colony level is accomplished through the performance of some tasks by individual workers randomly with respect to time of day. Bees are initially arrhythmic with respect to task performance but develop diel rhythmicity, by increasing the occurrence of inactivity at night, prior to becoming foragers. There are genotypic differences for age at onset of rhythmicity and our results suggest that these differences are correlated with genotypic variation in rate of behavioral development: genotypes of bees that progressed through the age polyethism schedule faster also acquired behavioral rhythmicity at an earlier age. The ontogeny of circadian rhythmicity in honey bee workers ensures that essential in-hive behaviors are performed around the clock but also allows the circadian clock to be engaged before the onset of foraging.

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Forager honey bees exhibit a robust time memory, based on an endogenous circadian clock, enabling them to schedule their flights to coincide with the nectar presentation of known food sources. They retain this time memory for several consecutive days even in the absence of nectar rewards. Recent work has identified 2 classes of forager: "persistent" foragers that reconnoiter a known food source to ascertain its status and "reticent" foragers that apparently wait in the hive for a waggle dance confirming source availability. Surprisingly, a foraging group contains 40-90% persistent foragers, depending on experience at the source. What is the benefit in sending so many foragers to investigate a source when only a few foragers are required to reactivate the entire group? We used an agent-based software model to test the energetics underlying several different ratios of persistent and reticent individuals in the foraging group while varying 6 ecological factors: forager group size, source distance, source sucrose concentration, source availability in hours, number of days the source is known to the colony, and the rate at which new unemployed foragers appear on the dance floor. Our model demonstrates 2 primary explanations. First, a large number of persistent foragers are needed to ensure that at least some foragers will reconnoiter their source early in its availability, thus enabling the group to effectively exploit the source. Second, the cost of a reconnaissance flight is negligible compared with even a single successful foraging trip.

Classical experiments demonstrated that honey bee foragers trained to collect food at virtually any time of day will return to that food source on subsequent days with a remarkable degree of temporal accuracy. This versatile time-memory, based on an endogenous circadian clock, presumably enables foragers to schedule their reconnaissance flights to best take advantage of the daily rhythms of nectar and pollen availability in different species of flowers. It is commonly believed that the time-memory rapidly extinguishes if not reinforced daily, thus enabling foragers to switch quickly from relatively poor sources to more productive ones. On the other hand, it is also commonly thought that extinction of the time-memory is slow enough to permit foragers to 'remember' the food source over a day or two of bad weather. What exactly is the time-course of time-memory extinction? In a series of field experiments, we determined that the level of food-anticipatory activity (FAA) directed at a food source is not rapidly extinguished and, furthermore, the time-course of extinction is dependent upon the amount of experience accumulated by the forager at that source. We also found that FAA is prolonged in response to inclement weather, indicating that time-memory extinction is not a simple decay function but is responsive to environmental changes. These results provide insights into the adaptability of FAA under natural conditions.

Forager honey bees can associate the time of day with the presence of food at locations outside the hive. It is thought that this time-memory enables the bee to make a spatio-temporal match between its behavior and floral nectar secretion rhythms. Despite a long tradition of research, the mechanisms by which the time-memory becomes established are unknown. We investigated the influences of two experiential factors on the acquisition of time-memory: (1) the number of collecting visits made by the forager within a feeding bout during a restricted time of day and (2) the number of days of exposure to the restricted feeding time. Our results indicate that these two factors control different processes. The number of days of experience influences the temporal accuracy of reconnaissance behavior to the food source. The cumulative number of collecting visits within the feeding bouts has no apparent effect on time-accuracy but, instead, determines the probability of exhibiting food-anticipatory behavior and, if that overt behavior is performed, the intensity of its expression.

The most important indigenous bee plant in South Africa is the winter flowering Aloe greatheadii var davyana, with a widespread distribution across the summer rainfall region. Beekeepers commonly move their hives to the "aloe fields" during winter, using the strong pollen and nectar flow for colony growth, queen rearing and honey production. In spite of its importance for the bee industry, no complete pollen analysis is available and, except for the popular bee literature, little is known about nectar production or pollinators. The aim of the study was therefore to evaluate the floral rewards of this aloe and to investigate the importance of these resources for honeybees. We analysed fresh, bee-collected and stored aloe pollen for its nutritional content (not previously done for any plant species). Addition of nectar and glandular secretions leads to an increase in water and carbohydrate content and a decrease in protein and lipid content. All the essential amino acids, except tryptophan, met or exceeded the minimum levels for honeybee development. In worker bees in queenright colonies, ovarian development is greater on aloe than on sunflower pollen, which may be explained by the exceptionally high protein content and high extraction efficiency during digestion. In assessing the nectar resource, we investigated the nectary structure and nectar presentation of two species belonging to different sections of the genus Aloe, A. castanea and A. greatheadii var davyana, but anatomical differences were not related to the nectar production. We looked at variation in nectar volume and concentration of A. greatheadii var davyana on various levels, from within the flowers to across the summer rainfall area. Nectar was continuously available and, although dilute (mean concentration 18.6%), the nectar of A. greatheadii var davyana is more concentrated than that of other Aloe species, making it an ideal source of energy and water for honeybees. Utilisation of dilute nectar by bees requires elimination of much excess water. We sampled crop contents of nectar foragers to determine if changes in nectar concentration occurred after collection and before unloading in the hive. Contrary to the common assumption that nectar is either unchanged or slightly diluted during transport, we observed a dramatic increase in concentration and a decrease in volume between the flowers and the hive. Bees may be foraging primarily to get enough water for their physiological needs. Using miniaturised data loggers, we showed that bees are able to adjust nest humidity within sub-optimal limits, in addition to efficient regulation of hive temperature. Humidity levels are influenced by trade-offs with regulation of temperature and respiratory gas exchanges. Although the dilute nectar and pinkish red tubular flowers are characteristic of bird-pollination, exclusion experiments showed that bees are the primary pollinators of A. greatheadii var davyana. This contrasts with other Aloe species which are pollinated by sunbirds and other passerine birds, but highlights the two-way interaction between the bees and the aloes. / Thesis (PhD (Entomology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

La empresa Bee-beer surge de la idea de implementar un insumo tan preciado en la sierra peruana que es la miel de abeja. Asimismo, la idea nació gracias a un integrante de nuestro grupo, quien cuenta con familia en Abancay y conoce a al presidente de la asociación de apicultores de Abancay- Apurímac que nos proveerá la miel para la elaboración de la cerveza. Bee-beer desea que sus clientes tengan una buena experiencia al consumir una cerveza 100% peruana con los insumos de primera calidad y la combinación de lo dulce de la miel con el toque amargor caracterizado por las cervezas artesanales. La empresa incursionará en el mundo del e-commerce vendiendo las cervezas en presentación de “six pack” a todos sus clientes a través de las redes sociales Facebook e Instagram. Por otro lado, se contará con una planta de producción de la cerveza artesanal con una capacidad de producción mensual de 2109 “six packs”. Asimismo, se contará con 8 fermentadores que usaremos para que la cerveza pueda cumplir el proceso de fermentación de aproximadamente de 4 a 5 días. Como medio de distribución, contaremos con un servicio de delivery que vamos a tercerizar con la empresa Olva Courier que llegará a diferentes distritos de Lima, escogimos esta empresa por ser una compañía segura para el tema de envíos a nivel local y provincias. Para nuestro personal, contaremos con un administrador, dos operarios, un community manager y un asistente que estarán en planilla y contarán con todos sus derechos laborales. En el presente trabajo hemos hecho una proyección de 3 años para la empresa Beebeer. / The Bee-beer company arises from the idea of implementing an input so precious in the Peruvian highlands that it is honey. Likewise, the idea was born thanks to a member of our group, who has a family in Abancay and knows the president of the Abancay-Apurímac association of beekeepers who will provide us with honey for making beer. Bee-beer wants customers have a good experience consuming a 100% Peruvian beer with the highest quality inputs and the combination of the sweetness of honey with the bitter touch characterized by craft beers. The Company will enter the world of e-commerce by selling the beers in the presentation of "six pack" to all its customers through social networks Facebook and Instagram. On the other hand, there will be a craft beer production plant with a monthly production capacity of 2109 "six packs". Likewise, there will be 8 fermenters that we will use so that the beer can complete the fermentation process of approximately 4 to 5 days. As a means of distribution, we will have a delivery service that we will outsource with the company Olva Courier that will reach different districts of Lima, we chose this company because it is a safe company for the issue of shipments at the local level and provinces. For our staff, we will have an administrator, two operators, a community manager and an assistant who will be on the payroll and will have all their labor rights. In this work we have made a projection of 3 years for the Bee-beer company. / Trabajo de investigación

Honungens terapeutiska egenskaper utgör en grund för dess användning vid behandling av svårläkta sår vilket kan vara ett alternativ till andra konventionella metoder. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka vetenskaplig litteratur för att belysa vilka effekter användning av honung kan ha i samband med svårläkta sår samt patienters tillfredställelse med behandlingen. En systematisk modell med sju steg användes som metod för denna studie. Litteratursökningen genomfördes i databaserna PubMed, CINAHL, Medline och Cochrane Library. Relevanta artiklar granskades med hjälp av protokoll modifierad av författarna. Resultatet av 8 inkluderade studier (9 artiklar) visar att behandling med honung möjligtvis är likvärdig konventionell behandling vid svårläkta bensår. Mer forskning av hög kvalitet behövs för att säkert fastställa effektiviteten avseende behandling med honung.Nyckelord: honung, komplementär medicinsk behandling, litteraturstudie, svårläkta bensår, sårläkning. / Therapeutic properties of honey forms a basis for its use in the treatment of recalcitrant wounds which can be an alternative to other conventional methods. The purpose of this study was to examine the scientific literature to illustrate which effects the use of honey may be associated with regarding ulcers and patients' experience of treatment. A systematic model with seven stages was used as a method for this study. The literature search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, Medline and the Cochrane Library. Relevant articles were reviewed according to protocol modified by the authors. The results of the eight included studies (nine articles) show that honey is probably equal treatment to other conventional treatments for healing of recalcitrant leg wounds. More high quality research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of honey treatment. Keywords: honey, complementary medical treatment, literature review, recalcitrant leg ulcers, wound healing.

Honey is a naturally sweet substance produced by honeybees from water, pollen, and nectar. Due to its unique nutritional and therapeutic benefits, which are ascribed to the interaction of the various chemical groups it contains, natural honey is one of the most popular consumed products. Modern-day individuals consume a lot of refined granulated sugar, either directly through foods or indirectly from other sources. The consumption of large amounts of refined granulated sugar alters hematological and physiological changes in the body. According to several scientific studies, honey can be a healthier alternative to refined granulated sugar because it does not threaten human health. Consuming natural honey raises serum iron levels and red blood cell counts since it is known that the iron in honey serves as a precursor to hemoglobin. Overconsumption of refined granulated sugar has been identified as a risk factor for metabolic disorders such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This study, therefore, investigated the effect of the golden liquid from honeybees (natural honey) and refined granulated sugar on the blood glucose and serum iron levels of 25 Wistar albino rats. The experimental animals used in this study were grouped into five treatments based on the dose of natural honey and refined granulated sugar administered namely: T1 (1.02 g of honey /kg BW), T2 (1.40g of honey /kg BW), T3 (1.02 g of refined granulated sugar /kg BW), T4 (1.40g of refined granulated sugar /kg BW), rats in T5 were not administered honey, and refined granulated sugar served as the control. The blood glucose concentration of the albino rats was measured using the glucose strips with a glucometer while the serum iron analysis was conducted using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The result revealed that the mean blood glucose level of the rats was highest in T3 (112.95mg/dl), followed by T5 (92.20mg/dl) while the least value was recorded in T2 (74.86mg/dl). There was a significant difference in the blood glucose levels of albino rats orally administered natural honey and refined granulated sugar at varying levels (P0.05) among treatments. It was found that the highest serum iron level was recorded in T5 (1.31±0.395 ppm) followed by T2 (1.22± 0.115 ppm), while the least serum iron level was recorded in T1 (0.88±1.319ppm). It was observed that there were no significant differences in the serum iron levels of the albino rats (p>0.05) among treatments The use of natural honey is recommended since albino rats orally administered honey at varying doses had lower blood glucose levels than those given refined granulated sugar. This work will be a useful tool for understanding the role of honey over granulated sugars, especially among prediabetic and diabetic patients in order to control their sugar levels using diet as a source. This implies that the consumption of natural honey did not significantly increase blood glucose levels. It was therefore recommended that physicians and dietitians should advocate for natural honey use over refined granulated sugar which could be safe for consumption by diabetic patients.

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