The causative agent of the most devastating honeybee disease, American foulbrood (AFB), is the spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. To prevent AFB outbreaks beekeepers prophylactically treat their hives with antibiotics even though it decreases the overall health of uninfected hives. A new treatment for AFB is needed due to recent legislation against using antibiotics, antibiotic resistance developing in P. larvae, and the resilience of P. larvae spores. Bacteriophages, or phages, are an attractive alternative to traditional antibiotics because of their specificity and ability to evolve alongside their target bacterium. In this study, two phage cocktails were developed for the treatment of AFB. The first cocktail was comprised of Brevibacillus laterosporus phages. B. laterosporus is a commensal microbe in most honeybee guts. When treated with B. laterosporus phages, B. laterosporus is induced to produce an antimicrobial toxin to which P. larvae is highly sensitive. Treating AFB infected hives with B. laterosporus phages was able to clear active infections at a rate of 75% as opposed to untreated hives that did not recover. However, B. laterosporus phages did not clear latent P. larvae spores and recovered hives relapsed after treatment. The second cocktail was comprised of P. larvae phages and hives treated with the second cocktail recovered at a rate of 100%, protected 100% of at-risk hives, and treated hives did not relapse with AFB suggesting neutralization of P. larvae spores. A P. larvae phage used in the second cocktail was examined to identify any spore-phage interactions. Results from modified plaque assays, fluorescence from FITC-labeled phages bound to spores, and electron microscopy images all confirm that phages bind to P. larvae spores. Phage therapy for the treatment of AFB is an exciting avenue not only as an alternative to chemical antibiotics, but rather a treatment that can neutralize P. larvae spores.

Endocannabinoids, and the fatty acid amides from which they are a member, have garnered greater scientific interest in the last two decades due to the cannabimimetic properties of these endogenous molecules. The most well-known of these is Anandamide, which has thus far been discovered in several species of animal ranging from C. elegans, fruit flies, to bovine and humans. Because of the importance and increasing impact of these compounds a brief overview is first presented herein, with a major focus on the N-acyldopamines due to the direct impact they potentially pose to human physiology. Secondly, the detection and quantitative analysis of these molecules was conducted in the recently fully genome sequenced honeybee and red flour beetle, due in part to recent research showing the existence of these molecules in D. melanogaster, to which no known cannabinoid receptors had been found to date. Interest in these potentially new model organisms may provide additional insight not only into the endocannabinoids but also as potential targets for protection of honeybees and pest control of red flour beetles. Utilizing established HPLC-MS methods for the detection and quantification of these compounds provided a series of endogenous results for these molecules within both farmed and feral honeybees and the red flour beetle. Additionally, a protein sequence and motif homology study with a newly discovered acyltransferase from Fruit flies shows strong evidence that a similar enzyme is expressed in both honeybees and red flour beetles. Therefore providing future steps for the continuation of this research to better elucidate and quantify the endocannabinoids as well as determine the biosynthetic metabolism within these organisms.

In recent years honeybees have attracted a great deal of attention, an attention that seems to be rather unlikely when one looks at the general relationship between humans and the environment, which is often taken for granted. This study aims to look into one kind of corporate initiative in urban apiculture to reconnect humans and nature again. In particular the focus is on motivation, implementation and the impact these initiatives have on sustainable development. A transdisciplinary approach has been adopted that combines different perspectives of beekeepers in the field, scholars and business. It is thereby important to note that adopting apiculture as part of a corporate sustainability strategy is a rather recent trend, which reflects both the scope and the results of the study. This study has found the primary motivation behind apiculture projects for corporations to be raising awareness about the fate of honeybees (Apis mellifera) and supporting honeybee population numbers. This also reflects in the impact on sustainable development. Not only does the urban environment offer an ideal habitat that shows benefits for honeybee health and their honey, but honeybees also benefit the urban environment through their pollination services. And although the connection between corporations and apiculture seems to be alien at first glance, benefits also extend to the corporations themselves, including a greater identification with the corporation by its employees, more cooperation both within one corporation and with other corporations and more publicity. Urban apiculture can thus help reconnecting society and nature in different ways. However, the greater the abundance of honeybees the more limited seem their benefits and initially positive impacts might even turn negative. To prevent this, the study therefore concludes that it is important to decide about the extent in which urban apiculture is adopted on a case by case basis that is possibly supplemented by planting additional forage.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:30:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 1380587 bytes, checksum: 96680ca0026b6f9b3f2cd4f9bac738a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-07-31 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Pollen collected from flower anther is essential for the nutrition of Apis mellifera honeybees, providing protein resource, especially to larvae and adults. Honeybee pollen is important to human nutrition for its high protein content, which varies among the plant species. This study was developed in Vicosa (UFV Apiary), and Paula Candido (Mesmel Apiary), Minas Gerais and aimed to characterize the local polliniferous flora with beekeeping potential, to study forage behavior and the nutritional composition of the trophic resources collected by the bees Five Africanized honeybee (Apis mellifera) hives were installed in each apiary. The plants, which were under observation during flowering, were harvested and identified. The pollen grains collected by the bees were harvested from August to December 2005 with the help of an intermediary pollen collecting device coupled to each hive. The microscopy laminas for melissopalynology analyses were prepared using the standard European method of Maurizio & Louveaux. In order to assess the nutritional composition of the pollen, routine analyses were carried out to determine percentage of dry matter, organic matter, mineral matter, raw protein, ether extract and total carbohydrates. The pollen-bearing plants were mainly located in flower gardens, cultivation and pasture areas. The pollinic types collected were grouped differently by the apiaries and among the hives studied, both in terms of months and collection times. The time of highest pollen collection and richest in pollinic types collected was between 6:00 pm and 12:00 am. The results suggest that the major factors influencing honeybee collection behavior are previous learning intrinsic to each colony, genetic characteristics, availability of trophic resources and different levels of competition. Nutritional composition of the pollen collected seems to be related to predominance of specific pollinic types; thus, honeybees should collect pollen from several sources to obtain a more balanced diet. / O pólen coletado das anteras de flores é essencial para a nutrição de abelhas Apis mellifera, provendo recurso de proteína principalmente para larvas e adultos. Para a nutrição humana, o pólen apícola vale pelo seu alto teor de proteína que varia entre as espécies vegetais. Com o objetivo de caracterizar a flora polinífera regional com potencial apícola, conhecer o comportamento forrageiro e a composição nutricional dos recursos tróficos coletados pelas abelhas, este estudo foi desenvolvido nos municípios de Viçosa (apiário UFV) e de Paula Cândido (Apiário Mesmel), Minas Gerais. Em cada apiário foram instaladas cinco colméias de abelhas africanizadas (Apis mellifera). As plantas observadas em floração foram coletadas e identificadas. As bolotas de pólen coletadas pelas abelhas foram recolhidas de agosto a dezembro de 2005, com o auxílio de um coletor intermediário de pólen acoplado em cada colméia. As lâminas de microscopia para análise melissopalinológica foram preparadas utilizando o método padrão europeu de Maurizio & Louveaux. Para conhecer a composição nutricional do pólen foram realizadas análises de rotina para percentagem de matéria seca, matéria orgânica, matéria mineral, proteína bruta, extrato etéreo e carboidratos totais. As plantas que contribuíram com pólen para as abelhas estiveram, principalmente, localizadas em jardins, áreas de cultivo e pasto sujo. Os tipos polínicos coletados foram agrupados de maneira diferente entre os apiários e entre as colméias estudadas, tanto nos meses quanto nos horários de coleta. O horário de maior coleta de pólen e maior riqueza em tipos polínicos coletados, foi entre 18:00 e 12:00 horas. Os resultados sugerem que os principais fatores influentes no comportamento de coleta pelas abelhas são, aprendizagem anterior intrínseca de cada colônia, características genéticas, disponibilidade de recursos tróficos e níveis de competição diferentes. A composição nutricional do pólen coletado parece estar relacionada com a predominância de tipos polínicos específicos, desta maneira, é importante para as abelhas a coleta em diversas fontes de alimento para a obtenção de uma dieta mais equilibrada.

Microsporidia are a unique phylum of ubiquitous fungal pathogens that are able to infect a wide variety of hosts, including economically and ecologically important organisms. Recently, global declines of the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) have been associated with infections of the microsporidian pathogen Nosema ceranae. This species was originally described in the Asiatic honeybee (A. cerana), and its identification in global A. mellifera hives could result from a recent host transfer. Recent genome studies have found that global populations of this parasite from A. mellifera hives are polyploid and that humans may have fueled their global expansion. In this thesis, I investigate the genetic diversity of N. ceranae populations from within their native range (Thailand) and among different hosts (A. mellifera, A. cerana), putting them in context with other previously sequenced global populations. Using both PCR and genome-based methods, my findings reveal that Thai populations of N. ceranae exhibit interesting genetic differences from other global pathogen populations but also have some similarities. Thai N. ceranae populations share many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with other global populations and appear to be clonal. However, in stark contrast with previous studies, these populations carry many SNPs not found in other global populations of this parasite, indicating that these populations have evolved in their current geographic location for some time. This genome analysis also indicates the potential presence of diploidy within Thai populations of N. ceranae and possible host-specific loss of heterozygosity. Overall, my findings begin to reveal interesting patterns of genetic diversity in N. ceranae populations that bring us one step closer to understanding the biology and genetics of this important honeybee pathogen.

Apis mellifera L. is the only commercially cultivated bee species in Bangladesh nowadays and has been practicing for migratory beekeeping since 1990. Notably, without taking initiatives to improve the bee stocks, intensified beekeeping has been making the species vulnerable to different threats of diseases, pests and inbreeding depression. Reproductive potentiality of the queens has been declining severely. The investigation was carried out to diagnose present problems regarding reproductive potentiality of the queen bees and finding out the possible solutions. Firstly, 56 numbers of naturally mated queens (Apis mellifera L.) were collected from problematic and non-problematic hives from three districts of Bangladesh. Samples were weighed, body length and thorax width were measured, and dissected to study spermathecae appearance. Average queen body weight (160.75±3.65 mg) was found much lower than the earlier studies in different countries. Moreover, 32.33% spermathecae of the queens were found poor in appearance. Again, 3 different queen rearing and mating procedures were applied in 12 replications each: naturally mated queen (NM), grafted and naturally mated queen (GNM) and grafted and artificially inseminated queen (AIQ). NM and GNM queens were allowed to mate naturally where AIQ queens were inseminated artificially in the laboratory. Interestingly, GNM (196.65±3.13 mg) and AIQ(196.55±2.41 mg) queens were significantly heavier than the NM (159.07±6.94 mg) queens. Likewise, their spermathecae radius, respective workers, drones, brood occupation area showed much better strength than the NM queens, though, latency period of AIQ queens were higher. Since grafted queens were reared with good larvae and implemented in artificial queen cups with increased brood support, hence that could make the queens heavier and reproductively more potential, whereas NM queens were left to grow naturally and found less potential. The findings will encourage beekeepers for practicing grafting procedure as the better queen rearing procedure in field condition. However, the procedure of AIQ queens also could be used for stock improvement and bee research because of its control mating system. / <p>My degree project was external, carried out in Sher e Bangla Agricultural University, Bangladesh, therefore, my presentation was done through skype from Bangladesh.</p>

abstract: The most advanced social insects, the eusocial insects, form often large societies in which there is reproductive division of labor, queens and workers, have overlapping generations, and cooperative brood care where daughter workers remain in the nest with their queen mother and care for their siblings. The eusocial insects are composed of representative species of bees and wasps, and all species of ants and termites. Much is known about their organizational structure, but remains to be discovered. The success of social insects is dependent upon cooperative behavior and adaptive strategies shaped by natural selection that respond to internal or external conditions. The objective of my research was to investigate specific mechanisms that have helped shaped the structure of division of labor observed in social insect colonies, including age polyethism and nutrition, and phenomena known to increase colony survival such as egg cannibalism. I developed various Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) models in which I applied dynamical, bifurcation, and sensitivity analysis to carefully study and visualize biological outcomes in social organisms to answer questions regarding the conditions under which a colony can survive. First, I investigated how the population and evolutionary dynamics of egg cannibalism and division of labor can promote colony survival. I then introduced a model of social conflict behavior to study the inclusion of different response functions that explore the benefits of cannibalistic behavior and how it contributes to age polyethism, the change in behavior of workers as they age, and its biological relevance. Finally, I introduced a model to investigate the importance of pollen nutritional status in a honeybee colony, how it affects population growth and influences division of labor within the worker caste. My results first reveal that both cannibalism and division of labor are adaptive strategies that increase the size of the worker population, and therefore, the persistence of the colony. I show the importance of food collection, consumption, and processing rates to promote good colony nutrition leading to the coexistence of brood and adult workers. Lastly, I show how taking into account seasonality for pollen collection improves the prediction of long term consequences. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Applied Mathematics 2018

Abstract In social insects a major cost of social life is the high number of pathogens found in large societies and the greater likelihood of transmission of pathogens among closely related individuals. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effect of high pathogen pressure on the molecular evolution of genes involved in the innate immune system in social insects. In addition, the transmission dynamics of the intracellular bacteria Wolbachia in wood ants was examined. By comparing DNA sequences from diverse species of ants and honeybees it was shown that the immune genes in hymenopteran social insects have evolved rapidly. However, by using codon-based likelihood models of evolution positive selection was detected in only two ant genes. This may reflect behaviourally based colony-level defences that can reduce selective pressure on the immune genes. The transmission modes of Wolbachia were studied by comparing DNA sequence variation of the bacteria with that of the host ants. First, it was found that all the studied ants carry Wolbachia. Second, Wolbachia have been transmitted both vertically from mother to offspring and horizontally between individuals of the same as well as of different species. / Tiivistelmä Yhteiskuntahyönteisten (muurahaiset, ampiaiset, mehiläiset ja termiitit) ekologisen menestyksen kääntöpuolena on ollut jatkuva riesa taudinaiheuttajista, joita suurissa yhteisöissä tavataan runsaammin kuin yksittäin elävissä eliöissä. Taudinaiheuttajien tuoman paineen myötä yhteiskuntahyönteisille on kehittynyt käyttäytymiseen perustuvia puolustusmekanismeja täydentämään kaikille monisoluisille eliöille yhteistä synnynnäistä, fysiologista immuniteettia. Nämä puolustusmekanismit ovat todiste siitä, että taudeilla on ollut suuri merkitys yhteiskuntahyönteisten käyttäytymisen evoluutiossa. Toisaalta taudinaiheuttajien vaikutuksista synnynnäiseen immuunipuolustukseen tiedetään hyvin vähän. Väitöstutkimuksen ensisijainen kohde oli taudinaiheuttajien merkitys yhteiskuntahyönteisten synnynnäisen immuunipuolustuksen evoluutiossa. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin, miten immuunijärjestelmän geenit ovat ajan mittaan muuttuneet. Tulokset osoittivat että muutoksia, jotka johtavat proteiinien aminohappojen vaihtumiseen on tapahtunut tiuhempaan tahtiin muurahaisilla ja mehiläisillä kuin yksittäin elävällä banaanikärpäsellä. Merkkejä erityisen voimakkaasta luonnonvalinnasta löydettiin kuitenkin yllättävän pienestä määrästä geenejä. Tämä voi johtua siitä, että käyttäytymiseen perustuvat puolustusmekanismit lieventävät taudinaiheuttajien vaikutusta synnynnäiseen immuunipuolustukseen. Väitöstutkimukseen sisältyi myös hyönteisten solunsisäisen bakteerin, Wolbachian, siirtymismekanismien kartoitus kekomuurahaisilla. Wolbachia on loinen, joka siirtyy yleensä äidiltä jälkeläisille munasolussa. Leviäminen voi tapahtua myös horisontaalisesti lajitoverien ja jopa eri lajien edustajien kesken. Geenisekvensseihin perustuvassa tutkimuksessa kaikista muurahaisista löytyi Wolbachia-bakteereja, ja samasta yksilöstä saattoi löytyä useaa eri bakteerikantaa. Koska muurahaislajien väliset geneettiset erot olivat paljon suurempia kuin erot niissä elävien bakteerien välillä, voitiin päätellä että bakteerien pääasiallinen leviämistapa tutkituilla muurahaisilla on ollut horisontaalinen.

Honeybees are an essential part of our ecosystem as they take care of most of the pollination in the world. They also produce honey, which is the main reason beekeeping was introduced in the first place. As the production of honey is affected by the living conditions of the honeybees, the beekeepers aim to maintain the health of the honeybee societies. TietoEVRY, together with HSB Living Lab, introduced connected beehives in a project named BeeLab. The goal of BeeLab is to provide a service to monitor and gain knowledge about honeybees using the data collected with different sensors. Today they measure weight, temperature, air pressure, and humidity. It is known that honeybees produce different sounds when different events are occurring in the beehive. Therefore BeeLab wants to introduce sound monitoring to their service. This project aims to investigate the possibility of detecting deviations in beehives based on sound analysis and machine learning. This includes recording sound from beehives followed by preprocessing of sound data, feature extraction, and applying a machine learning algorithm on the sound data. An experiment is done using Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) to extract sound features and applying the DBSCAN machine learning algorithm to investigate the possibilities of detecting deviations in the sound data. The experiment showed promising results as deviating sounds used in the experiment were grouped into different clusters.

O conhecimento da qualidade do pólen apícola e a sua influência sobre o desenvolvimento de colônias pode contribuir, principalmente, para a melhoria da atividade apícola e para o controle de qualidade do pólen comercializado para o consumo animal e humano. O presente trabalho objetivou caracterizar o pólen quanto a origem botânica, determinar parâmetros físicoquímicos e, relacionar com o desenvolvimento de colônias de abelhas africanizadas (Apis mellifera L.), medido pelo tamanho da área ocupada com pólen, mel e cria dentro da colméia (cm²) e a assimetria flutuante das asas de abelhas operárias. O experimento de campo foi realizado no apiário do Departamento de Entomologia e Acarologia da Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz em Piracicaba, SP, onde foram instaladas cinco colméias de A. mellifera com um coletor de pólen tipo frontal. As coletas foram realizadas nas quatro estações climáticas do ano: outono (02/abr. a 28/maio/2008), inverno (09/jul. a 03/set./2008), primavera (07/out. a 02/dez./2008) e verão (09/jan. a 06/mar./2009). O local de instalação do apiário apresenta domínio de vegetação de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual (Mata Atlântica), porém com amplas áreas antropizadas, onde existem cultivos agrícolas e canteiros ornamentais com árvores e ervas. Ao longo do ano foram encontrados 81 tipos polínicos nas cargas de pólen interceptadas, pertencentes a 32 famílias botânicas. Pão de abelhas apresentou 86 tipos polínicos, pertencentes a 34 famílias botânicas, sendo Fabaceae, Asteraceae e Malvaceae as famílias com maior freqüência de tipos polínicos ( 5 tipos polínicos) e, Myrtaceae, a família com alta freqüência de grãos de pólen. As médias anuais de matéria seca (67,41%), proteína bruta (27,02%), extrato etéreo (3,66%), matéria mineral (3,34%) e carboidratos totais (65,41%) de cargas e, matéria seca (78,80%) e proteína bruta (25,89%) de pão de abelhas estão de acordo com o regulamento técnico para comercialização do pólen no Brasil. A composição polínica apresentou relação com os valores de matéria seca (Piper sp. e Vernonia polyanthes), proteína bruta (Eucalyptus sp., Fabaceae tipo 2 e Myrcia sp.), extrato etéreo (Astrocaryum sp., Parthenium sp. e V. polyanthes), matéria mineral (Myrcia sp.) e, com carboidratos totais (Parthenium sp. e V. polyanthes). Proteína bruta e extrato etéreo tenderam em se relacionar com indivíduos mais simétricos. A área ocupada dentro da colméia esteve relacionada com a quantidade de pólen coletado, riqueza e equitabilidade da composição polínica (n=45; p-valor<0,05). Com base nos resultados obtidos, conclui-se que, as famílias botânicas Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Malvaceae e Myrtaceae são as mais importantes fontes poliníferas em Piracicaba. A origem botânica do pólen apícola tem efeito sobre a sua qualidade físico-química. Os valores de proteína bruta, extrato etéreo, quantidade de pólen coletado, riqueza e equitabilidade da composição polínica influenciam positivamente o desenvolvimento de colônias. / The knowledge of the apiarist pollen and its influence on the colonies development could contribute mainly for the improvement of the apiarist activity and for the quality control of the commercialized pollen for animal and human consumption. This assignment had as a goal to characterize the pollen in respect of the botanical origin, to determine physicochemical parameters and to relate it with the africanized bee colonies development (Apis mellifera L.), measured by the area size occupied with pollen, honey and breed inside the beehive (cm²) and the wings fluctuating asymmetry from the worker bees. The outside experiment was performed in the apiary of the Entomology and Acarology Department from the Agriculture College Luiz de Queiroz in Piracicaba, SP, where there were mounted five beehives of A. mellifera with a frontal pollen collector. The swabs were done in the four year seasons: fall (02/april to 28/may/2008), winter (09/july to 03/september/2008), spring (07/october to 02/december/2008) and summer (09/january to 06/march/2009). The apiary installation place presents predominance of Semidecidual Seasonal Forest vegetation (Atlantic Forest), but with wide cultivated areas, where it exist several agricultural crops and ornamental sites with trees and herbs. During the year, there were found 81 pollinical types in the intercepted pollen load, which belong to 32 botanical families. Bees bread presented 86 pollinical types, which belong to 34 botanical families, in that Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Malvaceae are the families with higher frequency of pollinical types ( 5 pollinical types) and, Myrtaceae, the family with high frequency of pollen seeds. The annual averages of dry matter (67.41%), crude protein (27.02%), ether extract (3.66%), mineral matter (3.34%) and total carbohydrates (65.41%) of loads and, dry matter (78.80%) and crude protein (25.89%) of bees bread are in accordance with the technical regulation for pollen commercialization in Brazil. The pollinical composition presented relation with the values of dry matter (Piper sp. and Vernonia polyanthes), crude protein (Eucalyptus sp., Fabaceae type 2 and Myrcia sp.), ether extract (Astrocaryum sp., Parthenium sp. and V. polyanthes), mineral matter (Myrcia sp.) and with total carbohydrates (Parthenium sp. and V. polyanthes). Crude protein and ether extract tended to relate to individuals more symmetrical. The area occupied within the hive was related to the amount of pollen collected, richness and evenness of pollen composition (n=45; p-value<0.05). According the results, it is concluded that the Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Malvaceae and Myrtaceae botanical families are the most important polliniferous sources in Piracicaba. The botanical origin of apiarist pollen has effect on its physicochemical quality. The values of crude protein, ether extract, collected pollen quantity, richness and evenness of pollinical composition have positive influence in the colonies development.