Register for newsletter
Depiction:
The honey bee is the fifth insect and the first hymenopteran whose genome has been fully sequenced. The DNA analysis was based on males originating from a single queen obtained from the Bee Weaver apiaries in Texas. Since the project began, approximately 14 million individual reads were required to reconstruct the 236 million base pairs that constitute the nearly complete honey bee genome.
The winter months can be used to clean all beekeeping equipment. This may not only help to prevent certain diseases, but it is also a pleasure to find tools in good condition in spring, and above all tools that are not sticky.
by Sophie Bécherel
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in the cerebral reward system and the sensation of pleasure in mammals. While in humans dopamine is a key element in the mechanism of drug addiction, in bees this neurotransmitter is responsible for the departure of foragers from the hive, not only to satisfy their individual desire to feed, but also to search for food in order to meet a social need and provide the colony with the nutritional inputs it requires.
Since antiquity, honey has been consumed for its sweetening properties and used for its therapeutic effects. Today, it has largely been supplanted in the diet by beet sugar. In medicine, however, its bactericidal and wound-healing effects on chronic wounds are being rediscovered. Beeswax is favoured by cosmetic manufacturers, while royal jelly and propolis are recognised in dietetics. The history of the use of honey and products of the beehive is fascinating.
Good apicultural practice: The advantage of spring nucleus colonies over summer nuclei is that they allow a first assessment of queen quality prior to overwintering, owing to an additional month of egg-laying activity.
Within the colony, the role of the drone is often poorly understood or even regarded as secondary. Yet males play a fundamental role in the transmission of genetic diversity. Gathered in so-called drone congregation areas comprising 1,000–15,000 individuals, they originate from many different colonies, sometimes located 10–15 km away. During the so-called drone flight, they mate with queens in succession (often up to 20 consecutive matings), thereby ensuring genetic mixing and preventing inbreeding.
Professor Martin Giufra works at the Center for Research on Animal Cognition in Toulouse, France. He is a specialist in neurobiology, with a particular focus on neurocognition in invertebrates. The research team he leads has investigated the remarkable learning abilities of the honey bee’s small brain.
The drone is the male of the honey bee and the largest insect in the colony. It has a stocky build, with a thorax covered in hair. It is recognisable by its head topped with two large, globular eyes and a pair of antennae; its abdomen is rounded, and its flight is relatively loud and ungainly. Its primary role is to transmit its mother’s genetic heritage during mating.
by R. Prasad
The defense of a society often requires certain specialized members to coordinate in order to repel a threat at the risk of their lives. This is particularly true for honey bees, which defend the hive and may sacrifice their lives when stinging. At the core of this cooperative defensive response lies the sting alarm pheromone, whose main component is isoamyl acetate (IAA).
Winter is undoubtedly the most demanding period for bees. However, nature has provided so-called “winter bees” with characteristics that enable them to withstand the rigours of the cold season. Winter bees have larger fat reserves than summer bees, they possess a more developed hair covering that provides natural insulation, and the contraction of the thoracic muscles generates a significantly greater release of heat than in summer bees. Their constitution, together with their behaviour, allows them to live longer and to cope with the harsh conditions of winter.
The behavioural regulation of thirst, water collection and water storage in honey bee colonies.
This study examined how a honey bee colony detects and quenches its collective thirst when brood hyperthermia (>36°) is observed.
Phacelia, Phacelia tanacetifolia, is an annual herbaceous plant reaching a height of between 50 and 120 cm. It originates from California and Mexico and was introduced into Europe in the 19th century. It occurs near dwellings and on wasteland, where it can even become invasive; however, it is mainly cultivated as a green manure, as a forage crop, or as an intermediate crop.
Like any living organism, the bee is prey to various parasites and pathogenic germs: every colony contains a broad and diverse range of microbes. Yet not every colony becomes ill as a result! This is because, like all living beings, bees have developed various means over the course of evolution to resist them: this is what is known as immunity. Bees, like humans, possess an immune defence system, but with some differences.
The queen’s primary function is to lay eggs, enabling the emergence of all individuals that make up the population of a bee colony. The queen’s many other functions are not addressed in this brief article.
Collecting pollen is no small task : bees therefore use several senses and different techniques to choose it.
Deciduous trees and shrubs with hermaphroditic white to slightly pink flowers that develop into edible fruits of various colours. In Switzerland, the wild cherry (P. avium), plum (P. domestica), sour cherry (P. cerasus), apricot (P. armeniaca), and blackthorn (P. spinosa) are commonly found.
The tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), also known as the Japanese varnish tree, is a tree belonging to the family Simaroubaceae that can reach a height of 25 to 30 metres. It originates from East Asia and was deliberately introduced into Europe in the 18th century for ornamental purposes, but above all in connection with silk production, as the plant served as a food source for a moth, the ailanthus silkmoth (Samia cynthia), which was intended to replace the mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori).
Four types of queen cells are distinguished :
1. Natural swarming queen cells
2. Emergency queen cells
3. Supersedure queen cells
4. Artificial queen cells
The division of a colony is carried out for various reasons :
- increase of the colony stock,
- replacement of a dead colony that has become drone-laying,
- risk of swarming in a very strong colony,
- creation of nuclei for trade,
- or reserve colonies to compensate for expected losses in the following year …
There are many different and very simple methods for dividing hives.
The method described below works well :
Measuring about 1 mm³, the bee’s brain is capable of remarkable feats thanks to highly sophisticated cognitive mechanisms. The bee makes decisions, memorises flight paths by precisely tracking the course of the sun, identifies food sources and evaluates them both qualitatively and quantitatively, and transmits multiple types of information to its nestmates in order to recruit a large number of foragers with differentiated skills.
The parasitic mite is decimating beehives. Biologist Paul Page has shown that an Asian forager has found a countermeasure through a system of “altruistic suicide.” A model that its European cousin could follow?