The New Zealand experience of varroa invasion highlights research opportunities for Australia

The Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) is implicated as a major disease factor in honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations worldwide. Honey bees are extensively relied upon for pollination services, and in countries such as New Zealand and Australia where honey bees have been introduced specifically for commercial pollinator services, the economic effects of any decline in honey bee numbers are predicted to be profound. V. destructor established in New Zealand in 2000 but as yet, Australia remains Varroa-free. Here we analyze the history of V. destructor invasion and spread in New Zealand and discuss the likely long-term impacts. When the mite was discovered in New Zealand, it was considered too well established for eradication to be feasible. Despite control efforts, V. destructor has since spread throughout the country. Today, assessing the impacts of the arrival of V. destructor in this country is compromised by a paucity of data on pollinator communities as they existed prior to invasion. Australia’s Varroa-free status provides a rare and likely brief window of opportunity for the global bee research community to gain understanding of honey bee-native pollinator community dynamics prior to Varroa invasion.     

乙虫腈悬浮剂对新出房意大利蜜蜂的毒性研究

乙虫腈是在我国登记并广泛使用的氟虫腈替代药剂,其商品化制剂为拜尔公司研发的100 g·L~(-1)悬浮剂,目前关于乙虫腈制剂对非靶标生物的毒性研究少有报道。为探究乙虫腈制剂对蜜蜂的毒性作用,采用人工饲喂法分别测定了100 g·L~(-1)乙虫腈悬浮剂对新出房意大利蜜蜂的48 h急性和14 d慢性毒性作用。结果显示:乙虫腈悬浮剂对新出房意大利蜜蜂的48 hLC_(50)值为0.21 mg·L~(-1)(95%置信限0.16～0.26 mg·L~(-1)),相应的48 h-LD50为5.0×10~(-3)μg a.i.·蜂~(-1)(95%置信限1.0×10~(-3)～1.0×10~(-2)μg a.i.·蜂~(-1));在亚致死剂量下,蜜蜂死亡数量随暴露时间的延长而增多,且100 g·L~(-1)乙虫腈悬浮剂会引起蜜蜂显著的氧化应激反应,诱导抗氧化酶SOD和CAT活力、脂质过氧化产物MDA含量、解毒酶GST活力和底物GSH含量的显著变化。研究表明,乙虫腈悬浮剂对意大利蜜蜂毒性较高,即使在亚致死剂量下亦存在显著的影响。田间施用应防止药剂的漂移污染,并避免在作物花期施用;新出房意大利蜜蜂对药剂敏感,未来可探索其作为风险指示生物应用的可能。     

手性氟虫腈对意大利蜜蜂和稻螟赤眼蜂的急性毒性及安全评价

手性农药多以外消旋体形式用于农业生产和卫生害虫防治中。但手性农药对映体通常具有不同的生物活性和毒性,这种现象在农药环境风险评价过程中往往被忽视。本研究以氟虫腈为例,首先用高效液相色谱-手性固定相(HPLC-CSP)技术拆分出氟虫腈的S型和R型2种对映体,分别采用点滴法和药膜法测定了氟虫腈对映体及外消旋体对意大利蜜蜂(Apis mellifera L.)和稻螟赤眼蜂(Trichogramma japonicum Ashmead)的急性毒性。结果显示,S(+)-氟虫腈、R(-)-氟虫腈和外消旋体对意大利蜜蜂的48h-LD50分别为0.00341、0.00396和0.00383μg·蜂-1,对稻螟赤眼蜂的24h-LR50分别为7.56×10-7、8.06×10-7和7.29×10-7mg·cm-2。研究表明,氟虫腈对意大利蜜蜂具有高毒性风险,对稻螟赤眼蜂有极高毒性风险,且氟虫腈对意大利蜜蜂和稻螟赤眼蜂的急性毒性无明显的对映体选择性。因此,使用氟虫腈单一对映体不会降低其对环境生物的毒害风险。     

全氟辛烷磺酸盐(PFOS)替代品对中华蜜蜂的毒性

选用中国蜂种中华蜜蜂工蜂作为受试生物,建立其环境危害评价毒性测试方法,用所建立的方法对全氟辛烷磺酸盐(PFOS)替代品进行了接触急性毒性及经口急性毒性风险评价,并比较了"小烧杯法"和"饲喂管法"两种经口毒性方法的优缺点及对毒性结果的影响。研究结果表明,"小烧杯法"实验中C4织物三防整理剂对中华蜜蜂的24h-LC50为1435mg·L~(-1),48h-LC_(50)为284.67mg·L~(-1);其余替代品在限度实验均未出现蜜蜂死亡,4种PFOS替代品对中华蜜蜂的接触毒性及经口毒性均为低毒,但"小烧杯法"测得的经口毒性结果比"饲喂管法"高。     

Dance precision of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Apis florea</Emphasis>—clues to the evolution of the honeybee dance language?

All honeybee species make use of the waggle dance to communicate the direction and distance to both food sources and potential new nest sites. When foraging, all species face an identical problem: conveying information about profitable floral patches. However, profound differences in nesting biology (some nest in cavities while others nest in the open, often on a branch or a cliff face) may mean that species have different requirements when dancing to advertise new nest sites. In cavity nesting species, nest sites are a precise location in the landscape: usually a small opening leading to a cavity in a hollow tree. Dances for cavities therefore need to be as precise as possible. In contrast, when the potential nest site comprises a tree or perhaps seven a patch of trees, precision is less necessary. Similarly, when a food patch is advertised, dances need not be very precise, as floral patches are often large, unless they are so far away that recruits need more precise information to be able to locate them. In this paper, we study the dance precision of the open-nesting red dwarf bee Apis florea. By comparing the precision of dances for food sources and nest sites, we show that A. florea workers dance with the same imprecision irrespective of context. This is in sharp contrast with the cavity-nesting Apis mellifera that increases the precision of its dance when advertising a potential new home. We suggest that our results are in accordance with the hypothesis that the honeybees’ dance communication initially evolved to convey information about new nest sites and was only later adapted for the context of foraging.     

Do honey bees average directions in the waggle dance to determine a flight direction?

The waggle dance of the honey bee is a recruitment behavior used to communicate the location of a resource to a nest mate. There is, however, significant imprecision communicating the direction across waggle runs in a single dance. In this study, we ask whether honey bee recruits determine the direction of their flight based on an average of many waggle runs, or on a single waggle run. We show that the distribution of recruit flight directions is narrower than the distribution of directions indicated in the dance. We also show that there is a better fit between observed flight directions and the prediction of a multiple-waggle-run-averaging model than a last-waggle-run or other single-waggle-run models. These findings substantially weaken hypotheses about the adaptive nature of imprecision in honey bee recruitment.     

Social regulation of ovary activation in ’anarchistic’ honey-bees (Apis mellifera)

Honey-bee (Apis mellifera) colonies exhibit extreme reproductive division of labour. Workers almost always have inactive ovaries and the queen monopolises egg laying. Although extremely rare, ’anarchistic’ colonies exist in which workers produce male offspring despite the presence of the queen. By comparing the rates of ovary activation in anarchistic and wild-type bees fostered to host colonies of different genotype (i.e. anarchist and non-anarchist) and queen status (i.e. queenless and queenright), we investigated the factors involved in inhibiting ovary activation. Fostered anarchist workers always had a higher level of ovary development than fostered wild-type bees in both anarchist and non-anarchist host colonies. Fostered workers of both genotypes had more active ovaries in anarchistic than in wild-type hosts. Fostered workers of both strains also had more active ovaries in queenless than in queenright hosts. The results suggest that selection for worker reproduction in the anarchistic line has both reduced the effects of brood and queen pheromones on worker ovary inhibition and increased the likelihood that workers of the anarchistic line will develop ovaries compared to wild-type workers. Received: 14 June 2000 / Revised: 26 September 2000 / Accepted: 7 October 2000     

Volatiles of the honey bee larva initiate oogenesis in the parasitic mite Varroa destructor

Summary. Varroa reproduction is closely synchronized to the development of its host. In this study we present a new bioassay for field and laboratory tests to evaluate host factors triggering Varroa oogenesis. Female mites deprived of feeding activated oogenesis when perceiving larval volatiles. In laboratory assays the living L5-larva and pentane extracts of the larval cuticle had a clear activating effect. Wax and larval food did not elicit Varroa oogenesis. The activating components apparently are in the polar fraction of the cuticular volatiles. The consequences of this regulative mechanism for the host parasite relationship and prospects for further research are discussed.     

Food-exchange by foragers in the hive – a means of communication among honey bees?

Dancing and trophallactic behaviour of forager honey bees, Apis mellifera ligustica >Spinola, that returned from an automatic feeder with a regulated flow rate of 50% weight-to-weight sucrose solution (range: 0.76–7.65 μl/min) were studied in an observation hive. Behavioural parameters of dancing, such as probability, duration and dance tempo, increased with the nectar flow rate, though with very different response curves among bees. For trophallaxis (i.e. mouth-to-mouth exchange of food), the frequency of giving-contacts and the transfer rate of the nectar increased with the nectar flow rate. After unloading, foragers often approached other nest mates and begged for food before returning to the food source. This behaviour was less frequent at higher nectar flow rates. These results show that the profitability of a food source in terms of nectar flow rate had a quantitative representation in the hive through quantitative changes in trophallactic and dancing behaviour. The role of trophallaxis as a communication channel during recruitment is discussed. Received: 14 January 1995/Accepted after revision: 14 August 1995     

Differential feeding of worker larvae affects caste characters in the Cape honeybee,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Apis mellifera capensis</Emphasis>

Sections of brood from colonies of the Cape honeybee ( Apis mellifera capensis), the African honeybee ( A. m. scutellata), and hybrid bees of the two races were exchanged between colonies to study the effect of different brood-origin/nurse-bee combinations on development of caste characters. When Cape larvae were raised by African workers the amount of food provided almost doubled in comparison with Cape larvae reared by their own workers. In contrast, African larvae raised by Cape workers were provided with only half the amount they received from their own workers. After the bees emerged, we found a large degree of plasticity in characters related to caste differentiation, which corresponded closely to the amount of food provided. Super-fed Cape bees had enlarged spermathecae, were heavier than normal workers and developed more rapidly, and had reduced pollen combs, all typical for a more queen-like condition. Ovariole numbers did not appear to be enhanced by additional feeding. Cape bees that behave as social parasites in African bee colonies were most queen-like in the characters studied, albeit within the range that was found for Cape bees from normal colonies, suggesting within-colony selection for characters that enhance reproduction.Communicated by R. Page