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The nosem infection is a worldwide spread bee illness caused by two microsporidia (Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae). The aim of this thesis is to follow the occurrence of Nosema spp. and density of infection in the selected bee colonies considering the relation between N. apis, N. ceranae, climatic conditions and the condition of each bee colony concerned. In my thesis, I have used two ways of originator identification. The first was microscopy, using which we have discovered significant changes in the number of spores in one bee colony within one year. After the experiment had finished, we evaluated the number of measured spores in connection with the outside temperature, humidity, number of colonized frames, extenders, gentleness of bees and their sitting on the honey combs. The second way was using the PCR method. Through this method we have identified the percentage of positive bee colonies on the selected locations. Furthermore, we have confirmed the occurrence of each of the originators and evaluated if there is a mutual influence of Nosema spp. between bee colonies.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T14:59:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2007- Marta Rodrigues Pacheco.pdf: 2134632 bytes, checksum: a8aff3b9147f86aa61211a72ac73fd49 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-09-13 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The brazilian sac brood (BSB) is a described disease in Brazil that attacks honey bees when they are fed with the pollen of certain trees as Stryphnodendron (Mimosoidea), commonly known as barbatim?o . These plants contain toxic substances as tannins that lead to a high mortality at the pre-pulps. The crescent loss of hives at different periods and regions of Rio de Janeiro state associated to the difficulty of finding the trees suspected of being intoxicated near the infected apiaries permits suggesting a hypothesis that the disease is not caused by the barbatim?o pollen. It still raises hypothesis that the bee diseases represent a significant cause for the hives losses observed in the state of Rio de Janeiro. To verify the hypothesis it was evaluated a survey of beekeeping losses, it was analyzed the geographical overlap between occurrence of BSB and distribution of S. pollyphyllum and S. adstringens. And also for this reason it was made the check out the pollen consumption of these plants for the Apis at natural conditions and it was initiated microbiological and toxic investigations. For the first approach it was researched the extension, distribution and reasons for the hive losses and its relation to the bees diseases. For this, the 2006 apiarian census was consulted. A comparative study was done in relation to the area of occurrence of BSB and the simultaneous existence of Stryphnodendron and the pollinic types specially of the barbatim?o that were present in the hives samples. Finally it was isolated and identified bacteria, fungi and mycotoxins in the apiarian pollen, bee bread and dead larvae of bee hives with BSB. The results of the census allowed seeing that the bees disease was the main reason for the loss of the hives. There wasn t the superposition between the BSB Stryphnodendron in Rio de Janeiro. It wasn t observed Stryphnodendron pollen in none of the analyzed samples. The results suggest that the disease that occurs in Rio de Janeiro state with similar symptoms to BSB is not caused by barbatim?o pollen. The Anadenanthera pollen was the majority in the study regions. Bacillus was the most frequent bacteria genus and the species were B. thuringiensis, B. alvei, B. apiarius, B. megaterium and B. polymyxa. The mycobiota was mainly composed of Penicillium and Aspergillus, with two potentially pathogenic and toxic species: A. niger and A. parasiticus. Aflatoxins B1 and G1 were presented in apiarian pollen and bee bread samples of a studied apiarian. It is necessary to realize other researches to confirm the etiology of BSB in the state of Rio de Janeiro. / A cria ensacada brasileira (CEB) ? uma doen?a descrita no Brasil que acomete as larvas de abelhas mel?feras quando s?o alimentadas com o p?len de algumas ?rvores tais como Stryphnodendron (Mimosoidea), conhecidas popularmente por barbatim?o . Estas plantas cont?m subst?ncias t?xicas, como os taninos, que provocam uma alta mortalidade nas larvas pr?-pupas. A crescente perda de colm?ias em diferentes ?pocas e regi?es do estado do Rio de Janeiro associada ? dificuldade de encontrar as ?rvores incriminadas como t?xicas nas proximidades de api?rios afetados pela CEB, permite sugerir a hip?tese de que a doen?a n?o ? causada pelo p?len do barbatim?o neste estado. Levanta-se ainda a hip?tese de que as doen?as de abelhas representam uma causa significativa para as perdas de colm?ias observadas no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Para testar estas hip?teses, objetivou-se fazer um levantamento da ocorr?ncia de perdas de colm?ias, analisar a sobreposi??o da CEB com a distribui??o geogr?fica de S. pollyphyllum e S. adstringens, verificar o consumo do p?len destas plantas pelas Apis em condi??es naturais e iniciar investiga??es microbiol?gicas e toxicol?gicas. Na fase preliminar, pesquisou-se a extens?o, distribui??o e causas de perdas de colm?ias e a sua rela??o com as doen?as de abelhas. Para isto, foram levantados dados de perdas relativos ao censo ap?cola elaborado no estado do Rio em 2006. Realizou-se tamb?m um estudo comparativo entre o zoneamento da CEB e o de Stryphnodendron no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Posteriormente, buscaram-se os tipos pol?nicos, especialmente de barbatim?o , presentes em amostras de colm?ias localizadas em regi?es de ocorr?ncia da CEB. Finalmente, isolaram-se e identificaram-se bact?rias e fungos presentes em amostras de p?len ap?cola, p?o de abelhas e larvas mortas de colm?ias com CEB, e investigou-se a presen?a de micotoxinas. Resultados do censo do estado mostraram que as doen?as de abelhas constitu?ram a principal causa de perdas de colm?ias. N?o houve sobreposi??o entre a ocorr?ncia da cria ensacada brasileira e a de Stryphnodendron no estado do Rio de Janeiro e tamb?m n?o foi observado p?len de Stryphnodendron em qualquer amostra analisada, indicando que: a doen?a que ocorre no estado do Rio de Janeiro com sintomas semelhantes a CEB n?o ? causada pelo p?len de barbatim?o . Prevaleceu durante a CEB p?len de Anadenanthera. Bacillus foi a bact?ria mais freq?ente, identificando-se: B. thuringiensis, B. alvei, B. apiarius, B. megaterium e B. polymyxa. A micobiota foi composta principalmente por Penicillium e Aspergillus, este com duas esp?cies potencialmente patog?nicas e tox?genas: A. niger e A. parasiticus. Aflatoxinas B1 e G1 estiveram presentes em amostras de p?len ap?cola e p?o de abelhas de um api?rio pesquisado. Faz-se necess?rio realizar outros estudos para afirmar a etiologia da CEB no estado do Rio de Janeiro.

Les colonies d'abeilles domestiques, Apis mellifera L., sont affectées négativement par plusieurs facteurs. Le manque de diversité florale, dû à l'intensification de l'agriculture, est un des facteurs impliqué dans le dépérissement récent du cheptel d'abeilles domestiques nord américain. Au Québec, les colonies d'abeilles sont de plus en plus sollicitées pour assurer le bon rendement des cultures qui requièrent le service de pollinisateurs telles le bleuet nain et la canneberge. Ces deux cultures, souvent intensives, offrent une flore environnante de faible diversité aux abeilles. Ce projet de recherche visait à évaluer l'importance de la diversité florale sur le développement des colonies d'abeilles introduites de façon consécutive dans les bleuetières et les cannebergières, i.e. pendant la même saison apicole. Les résultats démontrent que les monocultures de bleuets nains ne semblent pas offrir une diversité florale adéquate pour le développement normal du couvain d'abeilles. Cette étude aura aussi permis d'acquérir des techniques d'identification de grains de pollen frais, une expertise rare.

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceived leadership style of the University of Missouri Extension Service county staff and their level of engagement and study the relationship between variables. Administrators with University of Missouri Extension Service can utilize this information to better serve Extension Staff and ultimately people throughout the state of Missouri. The Vannsimpco Leadership Survey was used to measure the perceived leadership style of county level staff. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) was used to measure work engagement on three constructs: vigor, absorption, and dedication engagement. Demographic characterizes of county level staff was also collected. An online survey utilizing Qualtrics achieved a 44% response rate (N = 448). University of Missouri Extension county-level staff were female working in the Youth and Family discipline. These individuals were between 51 and 60 years of age and had worked for University of Missouri Extension for less than five years. Participants reported democratic leadership as the most perceived leadership style while laissez-faire leadership was the least perceived style. Autocratic and autocratic-transformational leadership was significantly impacted by length of service with the Extension service. Participants aged between 41-50 years old showed increased democratic-transformational leadership perceptions. Additionally, an increase in length of service resulted in a decrease in transformational leadership. Research found that county level staff maintained strong levels of engagement while performing their duties. Also, research found there were no significant relationships between perceived leadership styles and levels of work engagement. The implications from this study include potential in-service trainings to provide county Engagement Specialists with approaches to improve leadership traits and employee engagement. The themes gained from this research may offer definitions of leadership and employee engagement which could be utilized in future research.

La production de paquets d’abeilles (abeilles adultes et une jeune reine) et de nucléi (petite colonie avec du couvain, des abeilles adultes et une jeune reine) assure la création de nouvelles colonies et le remplacement des colonies faibles ou mortes. Bien que ce travail soit réalisé par les apiculteurs à l’aide de diverses méthodes à travers le monde entier, les études scientifiques sur ce sujet sont rares. Au Canada, il y a besoin croissant de colonies pour remplacer et agrandir les cheptels afin de satisfaire la demande en service de pollinisation et combler les importantes pertes hivernales de colonies. L’objectif principal de notre étude était de développer une méthodologie pour produire de nouvelles colonies à la fois plus structurée et plus adaptée pour répondre au défi actuel de l’industrie apicole canadienne. Une technique de paquet d’abeilles et deux techniques de nucléi sur cadres ont été testées au Centre de Recherche en Sciences Animales de Deschambault en 2014: A) 1kg d’abeilles adultes + une jeune reine fécondée; B) un cadre de couvain + les abeilles adultes adhérentes à ce cadre + une jeune reine fécondée; et C) deux cadres de couvain + les abeilles adultes adhérentes à ces cadres + une jeune reine fécondée. Au total, 38 nouvelles colonies ont été produites. Ces colonies ont été évaluées de juillet 2014 à juin 2015, selon un ensemble de paramètres pour estimer leur force et l’infestation en varroa et nosémose. Les résultats démontrent que le développement des colonies était similaire peu importe la technique employée. Cependant, c’est la technique à un cadre de couvain (B) qui présente le meilleur potentiel de multiplication. Ce projet a également permit de confirmer que le prélèvement d’abeilles ou de couvain assure un meilleur contrôle du parasite varroa et réduit l’essaimage chez les colonies mères. / Producing package bees (adult bees and a young queen) and nuclei (small colonies, each with brood, adult bees and a young queen) is one strategy for establishing new colonies and replacing those that are weak or dead. Although beekeepers around the world commonly engage in this work using various methods, scientific literature on the subject is scarce. In Canada, there is a growing need to replace and increase colony numbers to satisfy the demand for pollination services and compensate for high winter colony mortality. The main objective of our study was to develop a methodology for producing new colonies that is both more structured and better adapted to the challenges facing today’s Canadian beekeeping industry. One package bee and two nuclei-making techniques were compared at the Deschambault Research Center for Animal Sciences in 2014: A) 1 kg of adult bees + young mated queen, B) one brood frame + adult bees covering frames + young mated queen, C) two brood frames + adult bees to covering frames + young mated queen. In total, 38 new colonies were produced. These colonies were monitored from July 2014 to June 2015, measuring a set of parameters designed to evaluate their strength as well as levels of varroa mite infestation and nosema disease infection. Results showed no significant statistical differences in the development of these colonies. However, the findings confirm that technique B) represents the best multiplication potential and that retrieving bees or brood in hives for making nuclei controls both varroa mite infestations and swarming.

Les abeilles sauvages contribuent significativement au service de pollinisation et connaissent présentement un déclin important. L’une des causes de ce déclin serait la compétition par l’abeille domestique. L’apiculture urbaine, une pratique assez récente, devient rapidement populaire. On ne connait pas de quelle façon la compétition entre les abeilles sauvages et domestiques s’exprime en milieu urbain, d’autant plus que ce milieu a déjà des impacts importants sur les abeilles, sauvages comme domestiques, notamment par la présence d’îlots de chaleur. Les objectifs de ce projet étaient de déterminer comment les paramètres environnementaux (abondance de l’abeille domestique, proportion des îlots de chaleur à l’intérieur de 1500 m, quantité et diversité des ressources florales) expliquent les communautés d’abeilles sauvages en milieu urbain. Nous avons émis les hypothèses : 1) que la compétition avec l’abeille domestique influence négativement les abeilles sauvages, 2) que les sites avec des ressources florales abondantes soutiennent des communautés d’abeilles sauvages plus diversifiées et abondantes et que ces ressources minimisent l’impact négatif de la compétition et 3) que l’urbanisation a des impacts variables sur les abeilles sauvages en fonction de leurs traits fonctionnels. Nous avons testé ces hypothèses à l’aide d’un jeu de données récoltées à Montréal en 2012 et 2013 sur 25 sites où les abeilles furent échantillonnées à l’aide de pièges-bols colorés. Nous avons étudié les patrons des communautés de 166 espèces d’abeilles sauvages ainsi que de l’abondance des espèces les plus communes après avoir tenu compte de la probabilité de détection. Nos analyses n’ont pas permis de détecter de compétition entre les abeilles sauvages et domestiques. Nos résultats indiquent cependant des effets variables des îlots de chaleur et positifs des ressources florales. Les villes permettent potentiellement la cohabitation harmonieuse entre l’apiculture urbaine et les abeilles sauvages à des densités modérées de ruches. / Wild bees are currently declining at a global scale. One of the possible contributors to this decline is the competition with domesticated honey bees for floral resources. Urban beekeeping, a fairly new activity, is rapidly gaining popularity. Competition between domesticated honey and wild bees occurs in some agricultural and natural settings. However, the extent of such potential competition in urban setting is unclear, given that this environment imposes pressures on bees, both wild and domesticated, namely by the presence of impervious surfaces and urban heat islands. The objectives of this project were to determine how environmental parameters (abundance of honey bees, proportion of urban heat islands within 1500 m, and availability and diversity of floral resources) affect wild bee communities in Montreal, Canada. We hypothesized that: 1) competition with honey bees influences wild bees negatively, 2) that high floral resources support abundant and diversified wild bee communities and mitigate the negative impacts of competition with honey bees, and 3) that urbanization has variable impacts on wild bees depending on their functional traits. We tested these hypotheses using an extensive data set collected in 2012 and 2013 on 25 sites where bees were sampled with pan-traps. Floral resources were sampled along transects at 15 of the 25 sites in 2016 and 2017. We investigated community patterns and abundance after accounting for imperfect detection probability. We found no evidence of competition between wild and domesticated bees. However, results indicate mixed effects of the proportion of urban heat islands and positive effects of floral resources. Thus, cities potentially allow the coexistence of urban beekeeping and wild bees under moderate hive densities. However, it will be important to further investigate the competitive interactions between wild and honey bees as urban beekeeping is rapidly gaining in popularity.

Beekeepers in Appalachia market varietal honeys derived from particular species of deciduous trees; however, finding places in a mountainous landscape to locate new beeyards is difficult. Site selection is hindered by the high up-front costs of negotiating access to remote areas with limited knowledge of the available forage. Remotely sensed data and species distribution modeling (SDM) of trees important to beekeepers could aid in locating apiary sites at the landscape scale. The objectives of this study are i) using publicly available forest inventory data, to model the spatial distribution of three native tree species that are important to honey producers in eastern Kentucky: American Basswood, Sourwood and Tulip Poplar, and to assess the accuracy of the models, ii) to incorporate a method for discounting the value of a nectar resource as a function of distance based on an energetic model of honeybee foraging, and iii) to provide an example by ranking potential apiary locations around the perimeter of a mine site in the study area based on their proximity to probable species habitat using a GIS model. Logistic regression models were trained using presence-absence records from 1,059 USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) sub-plots distributed throughout a 9,000 km2 portion of the Kentucky River watershed. The models were evaluated by applying them to a separate dataset, 950 forest inventory sub-plots distributed over a 40.5 km2 research forest maintained by the University of Kentucky. Weights derived from an energic model of honeybee foraging were then applied to the probabilities of tree species occurrence predicted by the SDM. As an example, 24 potential apiary locations around the perimeter of a reclaimed mine site were selected and then ranked according to a site suitability index. Three tributary areas corresponding to different honeybee flight ranges were considered: 500m, 700m, and 1,200m. Results confirm that rankings are dependent on the foraging range considered, suggesting that the number of colonies at an apiary location would be an important factor to consider when choosing a site. However, the methodology makes assumptions that are only anecdotally supported, notably i) that colonies will forage preferentially at the target species when it is in bloom and, ii) that foragers will exhaust resources closest to the hive first, regardless of patch size. Additional study of how bees deplete the nectar resources surrounding an apiary is needed to verify the usefulness of SDM in site selection for varietal honey production.

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.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2006. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.