Propolis – Creating and using an immersive 2D honey bee environment to educate children between the ages of 3-10, about the importance of honey bees. This capstone project will showcase this researcher's skills in graphic design, spatial sound, architecture, exhibition design, and character illustration. Within this structure, individuals will be able to observe, determine, and make comparisons between a healthy bee colony and one that is fragile and dying. / Master of Fine Arts / "Honey bees have been on the decline. As of 2016, eight species of bees made it on the United States (U.S.) endangered species list. It reported that the decline of pollinators is due to industrial agriculture, parasites, pathogens, and climate change" (Contributors 2020). The loss of habitat and lack of nectar is due to monocultures and bee-killing pesticides. These are significant threats to honey bees and wild pollinators. There is a need for good, clean food providing for a healthy existence for the honey bee. When bees have proper nutrients, the result is a healthy hive that gives mature bees a better chance to fight off diseases. To showcase the life of a honey bee, this researcher created an immersive environment that simulates a hive structure. The structure, along with the motion graphics and critical takeaway printed pieces, is to help children between the ages of 3-10 understand the importance of honey bees. By comparing healthy and unhealthy bees in their natural habitat in an illustration format, the children could empathize with the honey bees. Hopefully, they will one day change the fate of these amazing creatures. The immersive environment will emulate a spatial audio, 2D character illustration, and animation projected onto a honeycomb structure. Custom seed packets and a brochure will accompany the immersive environment to allow the children to plant a bee-friendly garden and to learn more about the honey bees. This capstone project will showcase the researcher's skills in graphic design, spatial sound, architecture, exhibition design, and character illustration. This structure will allow individuals to observe, determine, and make comparisons between a healthy colony and one that is fragile and dying.

As operárias de Apis mellifera realizam diferentes tarefas de acordo com a sua idade (polietismo etário), sendo que operárias jovens cuidam da cria e quando mais velhas forrageiam. Entretanto, tal transição não segue uma cronologia fixa, mas se ajusta às necessidades da colônia, especialmente as condições nutricionais, tanto da colônia quanto dos indivíduos. Nesse sentido, abordamos a questão de como o metabolismo oxidativo no corpo gorduroso das operárias, i.e., o centro do metabolismo intermediário destes insetos, está relacionado com alterações da função das operárias na colônia e como o mesmo responde a um estresse nutritivo imposto individualmente em duas fases, na fase larval e na fase adulta. Como métodos para avaliar a atividade mitocondrial e o estado redox das células do corpo gorduroso utilizamos um sistema de respirometria de alta resolução para medir o consumo de O2, e realizamos ensaios bioquímicos para quantificar a geração de espécies reativas de oxigênio (EROs), os níveis de óxido nítrico, o número de unidades mitocondriais, e eventuais danos oxidativos resultantes. Ademais, por meio de PCR quantitativa medimos a expressão relativa de genes ligados à biogênese mitocondrial, ao sistema antioxidante e à via de sinalização por hipóxia. Na comparação destes parâmetros entre operárias nutridoras e forrageiras avaliamos separadamente os três principais compartimentos do corpo (cabeça, tórax e abdômen) uma vez que esses estão diferencialmente relacionados a tais funções. Para os tecidos da cabeça observamos que as amostras de nutridoras apresentaram maior consumo de O2, associado a uma maior produção de EROs e expressão elevada dos genes da via de hipóxia, enquanto forrageiras apresentaram maiores quantidades de transcritos dos genes do sistema antioxidantes e menores níveis de danos oxidativos. Para os tecidos do tórax observamos nas forrageiras uma maior capacidade de produção de ATP, acompanhada de uma elevada expressão de genes codificadores de enzimas do sistema antioxidante e menores níveis de danos oxidativos. Com relação aos tecidos abdominais, as abelhas nutridoras apresentaram maior atividade mitocondrial, enquanto as amostras de forrageiras apresentaram maior número de unidades mitocondriais, elevados níveis EROs e também uma expressão elevada dos genes do sistema antioxidante e da via de hipóxia. Assim, os dados revelaram uma clara mudança na atividade mitocondrial e nos padrões redox teciduais associados a esta transição de polietismo etário. Também notamos diferenças nestes parâmetros para cada compartimento do corpo analisado, refletindo uma demanda energética diferencial em cada tecido. A segunda parte do projeto teve como objetivo avaliar os mesmos parâmetros redox em uma situação de restrição alimentar em três situações distintas. O primeiro grupo experimental foi constituído de larvas que sofreram restrição calórica por umperíodo de 10 horas. O segundo grupo foi composto por abelhas recém emergidas que sofreram ou não tal restrição calórica no período larval. O terceiro grupo consistiu de abelhas que sofreram ou não restrição calórica no período larval, e após emergirem foram mantidas em caixas até atingirem a idade de 7 dias, quando foram submetidos novamente a uma restrição calórica. Para o primeiro grupo, as larvas, verificamos que após o período de restrição calórica os genes relacionados com a biogênese mitocondrial e o sistema antioxidante apresentaram níveis de expressão menores comparadas com larvas controle. Observamos também que larvas que sofreram restrição calórica apresentaram menor consumo de O2 e menores níveis de EROs. Para o segundo grupo, as abelhas recém emergidas, não observamos nenhuma diferença na expressão de genes mitocondriais e do sistema antioxidante entre as que sofreram ou não restrição calórica na fase larval, demostrando uma recuperação nestes parâmetros após o período de metamorfose. No terceiro grupo, as abelhas de 7 dias foram submetidas a uma nova restrição calórica para observar se indivíduos que passaram por a situação de estresse no período larval apresentariam uma resposta mais imediata a um estresse nutricional na fase adulta. Os resultados do terceiro grupo revelaram que abelhas que haviam sido expostas a uma situação prévia de restrição calórica, apresentaram uma redução dos transcritos de genes ligados a biogênese mitocondrial e do sistema antioxidante quando comparados ao grupo que sofreu restrição calórica apenas na fase adulta. Em conjunto nossos dados sugerem que a restrição calórica é capaz de diminuir o metabolismo oxidativo e que existe uma resposta aparentemente adaptativa em indivíduos adultos que passaram por essa situação previamente durante o desenvolvimento larval. Assim, esses resultados podem servir para direcionar estudos futuros sobre a relação entre restrição calórica, metabolismo oxidativo e longevidade nesses insetos sociais. / Apis mellifera workers perform different tasks according to their age (age polyethism), where young workers care for the brood and older ones become foragers. However, this a transition does not follow a fixed chronology, but is fitted to the needs of the colony, especially the nutritional conditions of both, the colony and the individual bee. In this sense, we address the question of how oxidative metabolism in the fat body of the workers, e.g., the center of the intermediary metabolism of these insects, is related to changes in the function of the workers in the colony, and how these parameters responds to a nutritional stress imposed individually in two stages, in the larval and adult phase. For evaluating mitochondrial activity and the redox status of fat body cells we used a high resolution respirometry system to measure O2 consumption, and we performed biochemical assays to measure the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), levels of nitric oxide, the number of mitochondrial units, and eventual oxidative damages. Furthermore, using quantitative PCR, we measured the relative expression of genes linked to mitochondrial biogenesis, to the antioxidant system, and to the hypoxia signaling pathway. In the comparison of these parameters between nurse and forager workers, we evaluated separately the three main body compartments (head, thorax and abdomen), since these are differentially related to these functions. For the head tissues, we observed that nurses showed higher O2 consumption, associated with higher ROS production and elevated expression of hypoxia pathway genes, while foragers presented higher amounts of transcripts of the antioxidant system genes and lower levels of oxidative damages. For the thorax tissues we found in the foragers a greater capacity of ATP production, accompanied by a higher expression of genes encoding enzymes of the antioxidant system and lower levels of oxidative damage. With respect to the abdominal tissues, nurse bees presented higher mitochondrial activity, while foragers had a higher number of mitochondrial units, elevated ROS levels, and also a higher expression of genes related to the antioxidant system and hypoxia pathway. Thus, these data revealed a clear change in mitochondrial activity and redox tissue patterns associated with this transition of age polyethism. We also noticed differences in these parameters for each of the analyzed body compartment, reflecting a differential energy demand in each tissue. The second part of the project aimed to evaluate the same redox parameters in a food restriction condition in three distinct situations. The first experimental group consisted of larvae that experienced caloric restriction for a 10 hour period. The second group consisted of newly emerged bees that had or not experienced such a caloric restriction in the larval period. The third group consisted of bees that had experienced or not caloric restriction during the larval period, and after emergence were kept in boxes until reaching 7 days old, when they were resubmitted to another caloricrestriction. For the first group, the larvae, we found that after the period of caloric restriction, genes related to mitochondrial biogenesis and the antioxidant system presented lower levels of expression compared to control larvae. We also observed that larvae that had experienced caloric restriction presented lower O2 consumption and lower ROS levels. For the second group, newly emerged bees, we did not observe any differences in the expression of mitochondrial genes and the antioxidant system among those individuals that had experienced or not caloric restriction in the larval phase, indicating a recovery in these parameters after the period of metamorphosis. In the third group, the 7-day-old bees had experienced a new caloric restriction to see whether individuals that had been in a stressful situation during larval period would respond more readily to nutritional stress in adulthood. The results for this group showed that bees that had been exposed to a previous caloric restriction presented a reduction in the transcript levels of genes related to mitochondrial biogenesis and the antioxidant system when compared to the group that experienced caloric restriction only in adulthood. Taken together, our data suggest that caloric restriction is able to diminish the oxidative metabolism, and that there is a seemingly adaptive response in adult individuals that had previously experienced this situation during larval development. Thus, these results can serve to direct future studies on the relationship between caloric restriction, oxidative metabolism and longevity in these social insects.

Dans un monde dynamique la survie des animaux dépend de leur capacité à intégrer des signaux environnementaux afin d'adapter leur comportement à la survenue de conséquences positives (nourriture) ou négatives (dangers) c'est-à-dire de leurs capacités d’apprentissages associatifs appétitif et aversif. Pendant ce travail de thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés aux bases comportementales, moléculaires et génétiques de l'apprentissage aversif et aux relations existant entre apprentissages aversif et appétitif au sein d'un groupe social. L'abeille est un insecte eusocial qui constitue un modèle de choix pour cette étude grâce à l'existence des protocoles de conditionnement appétitif de la réponse d'extension du proboscis (REP) et de conditionnement aversif de la réponse d'extension du dard (RED). Jusqu'à présent, le renforcement utilisé dans le conditionnement aversif de la RED était un choc électrique. Ce stimulus traversant la majeure partie du corps de l'abeille, il est peu aisé d'étudier les structures responsables de sa détection. Dans un premier chapitre, nous avons donc testé l’effet d’une forte température (65°C) sur la RED. Nous montrons qu’une stimulation thermique au niveau des pièces buccales, des pattes ou des antennes induit une RED. De plus, les abeilles parviennent à associer une odeur à la présentation concomitante d'une forte température. Dans un deuxième chapitre, nous avons cartographié la sensibilité thermique du corps des abeilles en mesurant la RED. Ce travail a montré que la stimulation de presque toutes les parties du corps induit une RED. De plus, ces stimulations peuvent jouer le rôle de renforcement aversif lors d’un conditionnement olfactif de la RED. Nous nous sommes ensuite intéressés aux récepteurs périphériques potentiellement impliqués dans la détection des fortes températures, et en particulier à HsTRPA (Hymenoptera specific Transient Receptor Potential A). Nous montrons que l’injection d'inhibiteurs exogènes de HsTRPA réduit les RED à la température. Ces résultats suggèrent l’implication possible d’HsTRPA dans la détection de la température chez l’abeille. Dans un troisième chapitre, nous nous sommes intéressés aux relations existant entre les capacités d’apprentissages aversif et appétitif des abeilles. En nous appuyant sur le protocole aversif thermique, combiné au protocole de conditionnement de la REP existant, nous avons étudié la distribution des capacités hédoniques appétitive et aversive au sein d'une ruche. La reine étant fécondée par 15-20 mâles, la ruche est segmentée génétiquement en autant de lignées paternelles différentes. Nos données montrent que la sensibilité des individus aux renforcements aversif (chaleur) et appétitif (sucre) détermine leurs performances d'apprentissage au sein de chaque modalité hédonique. Nous montrons de plus l’existence d’un trade-off, sous déterminisme génotypique, entre les capacités cognitives appétitive et aversive au sein de la colonie. Le quatrième chapitre a étudié la plasticité comportementale induite par les deux types de conditionnement. La REP et la RED étant des réponses de type "tout ou rien", nous nous sommes demandé si les mouvements antennaires des abeilles pouvaient procurer une mesure fine et intégrer des apprentissages appétitif et aversif. Nous avons développé un système de capture vidéo enregistrant les mouvements antennaires à haute vitesse. Nous montrons que les abeilles modifient leur réponse antennaire à une odeur après un apprentissage appétitif mais pas après un apprentissage aversif. Durant ce travail de thèse, nous avons ainsi développé deux nouveaux protocoles comportementaux en contention, et avons procuré de nouvelles données sur l’apprentissage aversif chez l’abeille. Nous avons observé un trade-off au sein de la ruche entre les capacités hédoniques appétitive et aversive, sous déterminisme génétique. De telles spécialisations cognitives pourraient jouer un rôle prépondérant dans l'évolution des groupes sociaux. / In a dynamic world, animals constantly face environmental changes that may affect them (Alock, 1997). Their survival depends on their ability to integrate this information in order to adapt their behaviors to subsequent positive or negative outcomes, in other words to their appetitive and aversive learning abilities. This thesis investigates the behavioral, molecular and genetic basis of aversive learning and its putative relationship with appetitive learning in a social group. The honeybee is a social insect which constitutes a profitable model for this study thanks to appetitive conditioning of the proboscis extension response (PER) and aversive conditioning of the sting extension response (SER) protocols that have been developed. To date, aversive conditioning of the SER has involved the use of electric shocks as a negative reinforcement. However, this stimulus is ecologically irrelevant for honeybees and electric currents pass through almost every part of the bee’s body making it difficult to study the dedicated structures and sensory pathways responsible for its detection. In the first chapter, we assessed the impact of high temperatures on SER, a stimulus that is also highly aversive. We showed that a SER may be triggered by heat stimulation of mouthparts, forelegs and antennae. In addition, we demonstrated that honeybees are able to associate an odor with high temperatures, resulting in the odor alone triggering the SER after conditioning. In the second chapter, we mapped the heat sensitivity of the bee’s body recording SER subsequent to heat stimulation. This work revealed that heat stimulation of almost every body structures (beside the wings and the tip of the abdomen) induces a SER. Furthermore, these stimulations may act as aversive reinforcement during an olfactory conditioning of the SER. We then focused on putative peripheral receptors involved in high temperature detection, specifically focusing on HsTRPA (Hymenoptra specific Transient Receptor Potential). Using a neuropharmalogical approach, we showed that HsTRPA exogenous inhibitor injections decrease SER triggered by high temperatures yet have no impact on sucrose PER. These results suggest a putative involvement of HsTRPA in the detection of high temperatures in honeybees. In the third chapter, we investigated the relationship between appetitive and aversive learning. By combining thermal aversive conditioning with the PER conditioning protocol, we studied the distribution of hedonic learning abilities in the hive. Since the queen mates with 15-20 males, the hive is, thus, genetically segmented in as many different patrilines. Our data shows that individual sensitivity to aversive (heat) and appetitive reinforcement varies among workers and determines their learning success in each hedonic modality. In addition, we observed that the better an individual (and therefore a patriline) is at appetitive learning, the less successful it will be in aversive learning, and vice versa. The forth chapter focused on the behavioral plasticity induced by the two types of conditioning. PER and SER are binary responses in an “all or nothing” fashion and subtle behavioral variations are difficult to observe. We therefore investigated if honeybee antennal movements may yield a finer measurement to integrate appetitive and aversive learning. We developed a motion capture system that records antennal movements at high speed. We showed that honeybees modify their antennal response to an odor previously associated with sucrose reward however thermal aversive conditioning did not induce any antennal movement modifications. During this PhD work, we developed two new behavioral assays in harnessed individuals, furthering our understanding on aversive learning in the honeybee. Within the hive, we observed a trade-off between appetitive and aversive hedonic learning, which was genetically influenced. Such cognitive specialization could play a key role in social evolution.

Les abeilles en libre vol montrent des capacités cognitives visuelles remarquables mais les bases neurales sous-jacentes ne peuvent pas être étudiées chez des insectes en vol. À l'inverse, le cerveau des abeilles immobilisées est accessible mais ne permet pas d'explorer l'apprentissage visuel. Pour dépasser cette limite, notre objectif a été d'établir un dispositif de réalité virtuelle pour pouvoir tester l'apprentissage visuel sur des abeilles attachées. Dans un premier temps, les abeilles ont été testées sur leur capacité à discriminer des couleurs en s'appuyant sur les renforcements positifs ou négatifs qui leur étaient associés. Ces expériences ont permis de mettre en évidence le rôle de la vision active dans la réalité virtuelle et l'importance de la phototaxie dans ce type de système. Grâce à ce dispositif, un apprentissage non élémentaire en réalité virtuelle, le patterning négatif, a été mis en place. Ainsi il a été montré que les abeilles étaient capables de résoudre cette tache en réalité virtuelle malgré sa complexité. Enfin, en s'appuyant sur le protocole de discrimination de couleurs, l'activation du cerveau a été étudiée au cours d'un test de mémoire des couleurs en analysant l'expression de gènes considérés comme des marqueurs de l'activité neurale. Les résultats de cette thèse, fournissant deux protocoles de réalité virtuelle solides pour étudier les apprentissages visuels élémentaires et non élémentaires, constituent une avancée considérable vers la possibilité de comprendre les bases neurales sous-jacentes à ces apprentissages chez l'abeille qu'ils soient simples ou complexes. / Free flying bees are known for their impressive visual cognition abilities, but the neural bases underlying those are poorly studied because of the difficulty to explore the brain in a flying insect. Conversely, it is possible to have access to the brain with tethered bees but, until now, no studies explored visual learning. To bypass this limitation, our aim was to establish a virtual reality device to test visual learning in tethered bees. First, bees were tested for their abilities to learn to discriminate colors according to the reinforcement associated to each of them. These experiments allowed to highlight the role of the active vision in virtual reality and the importance of phototaxis in this kind of device. Driven by these good results, we explored the non- elementary visual learning in bees and, more specifically, the negative patterning. The results suggest that bees were able to resolve this task in virtual reality despite its complexity. Finally, using the protocol of color discrimination, the brain activation has been explored during a color memory recall thanks to a quantification of immediate early genes considered as neural markers. This thesis provides two solid virtual reality protocols to study elementary and non-elementary visual learning in honey bees. This constitutes a huge advance and will allow to go further towards the understanding of the neural bases of simple and complex visual learning.

The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) has been present in Australia for approximately 150 years. For the majority of that time it was assumed this species could only be of benefit to Australia‘s natural ecosystems. More recently however, researchers and conservationists have questioned this assumption. Honey bees are an introduced species and may be affecting native fauna and flora. In particular, native bees have been highlighted as an animal that may be experiencing competition from honey bees as they are of similar sizes and both species require nectar and pollen for their progeny. Most research to date has focused on indirect measures of competition between honey bees and native bees (resource overlap, visitation rates and resource harvesting). The first chapter of this thesis reviews previous research explaining that many experiments lack significant replication and indirect measures of competition cannot evaluate the impact of honey bees on native bee fecundity or survival. Chapters two and four present descriptions of nesting biology of the two native bee species studied (Hylaeus alcyoneus and an undescribed Megachile sp.). Data collected focused on native bee fecundity and included nesting season, progeny mass, number of progeny per nest, sex ratio and parasitoids. This information provided a picture of the nesting biology of these two species and assisted in determining the design of an appropriate experiment. Chapters three and five present the results of two experiments investigating the impact of honey bees on these two species of native bees in the Northern Beekeepers Nature Reserve in Western Australia. Both experiments focused on the fecundity of these native bee species in response to honey bees and also had more replication than any other previous experiment in Australia of similar design. The first experiment (Chapter three), over two seasons, investigated the impact of commercial honey bees on Hylaeus alcyoneus, a native solitary bee. The experiment was monitored every 3-4 weeks (measurement interval). However, beekeepers did not agist hives on sites simultaneously so measurement intervals were initially treated separately using ANOVA. Results showed no impact of honey bees at any measurement interval and in some cases, poor power. Data from both seasons was combined in a Wilcoxon‘s sign test and showed that honey bees had a negative impact on the number of nests completed by H. alcyoneus. The second experiment (Chapter 5) investigated the impact of feral honey bees on an undescribed Megachile species. Hive honey bees were used to simulate feral levels of honey bees in a BACI (Before/After, Control/Impact) design experiment. There was no impact detected on any fecundity variables. The sensitivity of the experiment was calculated and in three fecundity variables (male and female progeny mass and the number of progeny per nest) the experiment was sensitive enough to detect 15-30% difference between control and impact sites. The final chapter (Chapter six) makes a number of research and management recommendations in light of the research findings.

Diss. (sammanfattning)--Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksUniversity, 2001. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / As abelhas africanizadas encontram nas flores suas principais fontes de alimento, sendo possível observar que em condições ambientais desfavoráveis há uma diminuição na população e conseqüentemente uma menor produção de mel nas épocas de florada. Em Roraima a produção de mel esta concentrada após o período de chuvas, motivo pelo qual é importante o fornecimento de uma suplementação alimentar durante as chuvas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o desenvolvimento de colônias de abelhas africanizadas A. mellifera com diferentes suplementações alimentares, para manter e/ou melhorar a produção apícola. A pesquisa foi realizada de 12 de abril a 5 de agosto de 2011 no Apiário Experimental do departamento de Zootecnia da Universidade Federal de Roraima. Foram utilizadas vinte colônias em caixas modelo Langstroth, suplementadas com alimentação energética e escolhidas aleatoriamente para receberem três diferentes rações isoprotéicas com 23% de proteína bruta. Os quatro tratamentos foram: T1 = testemunha (sem suplementação alimentar protéica); T2 = farelo de milho + farelo de soja tostada + farelo de arroz (em quantidades iguais); T3 = 30% de farelo de soja tostada + 19% de leite de soja desidratado + 20% farelo de milho + 31% açúcar cristal; T4 = 45% de farelo de soja + 40% farinha de pupunha + 15% açúcar cristal. O desempenho das dietas foi determinado pelo consumo do alimento protéico e o desenvolvimento das colônias quanto ao ganho de peso, áreas de cria e áreas de alimento, sendo que foram analisadas separadamente áreas abertas e fechadas de operárias e zangões, além de áreas com alimento (cm). O consumo de alimento e o ganho de peso foram obtidos por meio de pesagens; as áreas ocupadas nos favos foram analisadas por meio de fotografias digitais e processadas com ajuda do programa computacional Adobe Photoshop CS2. Foram encontradas diferenças significativas para o consumo de ração e o ganho de peso, sendo que, o maior consumo de ração foi observado nas colônias do tratamento 4 e o maior ganho de peso nas colônias do tratamento 1, que receberam unicamente alimentação energética e apresentaram as maiores áreas de cria e alimento. Em relação às variáveis ambientais houve correlação negativa da temperatura e umidade com o ganho de peso das colônias do tratamento 2. / Africanized bees find in the flowers their main source of food; as a result, it has been shown a reduction in population under unfavourable environmental conditions and, consequently, a lower honey production during the early spring. In Roraima, the highest honey production rates occur after the rainy season, the reason for which is important the bees be given supplement during the rainy period. This research was carried out to analyze the development of Africanized honeybee A. mellifera colonies according to different kinds of food supplements offered in order to maintain and/or increase the apicultural production rates. The research was conducted from April 12th to August 5th, 2011, in the Experimental Apiary of Zootechny Department of Federal University. It has been used twenty Langstroth beehives, provided with energetic food and chosen at random to be given three different isoproteinaceous feed containing 23% of raw protein. The four treatments were: T1 = witness (without any proteinaceous supplement); T2 = corn flour + toasted soybean flour + rice flour (in equal parts); T3 = 30% of toasted soybean flour + 19% of soybean dry milk + 20% corn flour + 31% crystal sugar; T4 = 45% of soybean flour + 40% of peach palm fruit flour+ 15% of crystal sugar. The diets performances were determined by the consumption of the proteinaceous feed; the development of the colonies, in turn, as regards weight gain, brood area and food area, being analyzed separately the uncapped and capped worker and drone areas, as well as the food area (cm). The food consumption and the weight gain were obtained by weighing; the honeycomb area was analyzed by taking digital photographs of it and processing the data using the software Adobe Photoshop CS2. It has been found significant differences for feed consumption and weight gain, showing the colonies of T4 the highest feed consumption, and the colonies of T1, which were only given energetic food, the highest weight gain; it has also been observed in the latter the biggest brood and food areas. It has occurred a negative correlation of temperature and humidity with the weight gain in one of the colonies of T2.

As an essential and indispensable contributor to pollinating the world's crops and plants, the honey bee is key to the sustainability of humans' and our ecosystems' continued survival. Following in the footsteps of the companies TietoEvry and Beelabs project, this report also works towards monitoring bees during their daily activities. This project aims to investigate the feasibility of using wireless, battery-driven devices inside beehives to detect the sound of bees using machine learning for edge devices. Beelab has focused on measurements in and around the beehive regarding weight, temperature, barometric pressure and humidity. Sound analysis is still in its infancy with few finished working alternatives; therefore, this project will focus on the sound attribute by implementing machine learning and classification algorithms and applying it to a prototype—the progress is thoroughly documented in this report. The device records a snippet of sound and prepares to send it over a wireless transmission medium. By streamlining the code and optimizing the hardware, the device runs continuously for a month using a small, cheap battery.

In this study, the effects of the neonicotinoid pesticide, thiamethoxam, are examined through the Proboscis Extension Response (PER) in honey bees (Apis mellifera). PER is a form of classical conditioning applied to honey bees through scent and reward association which quantifies learning rates. Results between groups treated with thiamethoxam did not differ significantly from untreated control groups. Potential reasons for these results are discussed. The method and experimental apparatus for testing the PER assay are also discussed.

This project examined multiple aspects of the reproductive biology of the wetland invasive species, purple loosestrife (<i>Lythrum salicaria</i> L.), in central Saskatchewan. An examination of insect taxa visiting the three floral morphs of <i>Tristylous</i> L. <i>salicaria</i>, as well as a ranking of the pollination efficiency of individual insect species, an apparent first for L salicaria, was undertaken. Surface features of the floral nectary of L. <i>salicaria</i>, as well as floral nectar secretion dynamics, were also investigated. This project also re-visited some of the previous work done on this invasive species, including various floral organ morphometrics in relation to heterostyly, and aspects of the tristylous breeding system including self-fertilization, and fertilization potential of both illegitimate pollination and legitimate pollination.<p>The trimorphic nature of the sexual floral organs of L. <i>salicaria</i> were well defined in Saskatchewan. Significant differences in length (long-, intermediate- and short-style lengths) exist between all three floral morphs. Lengths of the staminal filaments (long, intermediate, and short) were also significantly different. Also the floral nectary in L. <i>salicaria</i> is located in a depression formed at the interface of the hypanthium and the gynoecium. Several stomata are located at regular intervals along the nectary surface, and may constitute the escape route for floral nectar. No morphological differences in nectary structure were apparent among the three floral morphs.<p>Nectar secretion dynamics of L. <i>salicaria</i> were examined between the three floral morphs throughout two summer days in 2006. Peak average nectar volumes and nectar sugar quantities were detected at 3:00 pm, and, interestingly, no significant differences were detected between floral morphs, in accordance with nectary morphology. The estimated secretion rates for L. <i>salicaria</i> ranged from 61 83 µg of nectar sugar per flower per hour.<p>Hand-pollination experiments carried out over the summers of 2006 and 2007 at three field sites in and around Saskatoon have verified the strong self-incompatibility in the breeding system of this tristylous species. Intramorph pollination, using illegitimate pollen, did not result in fertilisation, whereas legitimate hand-pollination experiments yielded multiple pollen tubes at the style base, without exception.<p><i>Lythrum salicaria</i> in central Saskatchewan was visited by several bee taxa including honeybees (<i>Apis mellifera</i> L.), bumblebees (Bombus spp.), leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.), and sweat bees (Lasioglossum spp.). A single visit by <i>Anthophora furcata</i> (Panzer) was also recorded in 2007. Generally, bee visits led to high levels of pollination success as determined by fluorescence microscopy of pollen tubes following single insect visits to previously-unvisited flowers. However, most visits by hoverflies (Syrphidae) were non-pollinating. Visits by Pieris rapae (L.), yellowjacket wasps (Vespidae) and some non-syrphid flies (Diptera) also yielded no pollen tubes at the style base.<p>A study of the ultrastructure and development of the floral nectary of the purple loosestrife cultivar Morden Gleam (<i>Lythrum virgatum</i> L. x L. alatum Pursh.) showed that starch build up in pre-secretory nectary tissues declined throughout secretion, and is virtually absent in post-secretory nectary tissues. The lack of a direct vascular supply to the floral nectary suggests that the starch breakdown products likely make up most of the floral nectar carbohydrates. Surface features of the floral nectary in Morden Gleam closely resembled those of L. salicaria, located in the valley formed between the hypanthium and gynoecium. Nectary stomata, occasionally in pairs, likely serve as outlets for nectar in this cultivar.