Racial mixing in South African honeybees: the effects of genotype mixing on reproductive traits of workers

To test the hypothesis that the honeybee hybrid zone in South Africa is a tension zone due to increased reproductive conflict in colonies that contain both Apis mellifera capensis and Apis mellifera scutellata worker genotypes, we constructed mixed subspecies and hybrid colonies via a combination of artificial and natural matings. We measured emergence weight, ovary activation, and the presence/absence of a spermatheca on workers of different genotypes. We show that the measured characteristics were all affected by genotype with some traits also affected by the social environment in which the worker was reared. Workers with both an A. m. capensis mother and father had the highest emergence weight. When workers had an A. m. capensis mother, paternity affected emergence weight with A. m. capensis fathers producing heavier workers. When the queen was A. m. scutellata, paternity had less effect on weight. Presence of spermatheca was highest in mixed colonies irrespective of maternity and colonies containing pure A. m. capensis workers only. Paternity had a significant effect on the presence of a spermatheca within mixed colonies, with workers that had an A. m. capensis father being more likely to possess a spermatheca. Rates of ovary activation were highest in colonies with an A. m. scutellata queen mated to drones of both genotypes, suggesting that mixed subspecies colonies likely suffer increased reproductive strife among workers. Our results provide support for the hypothesis that the South African honeybee hybrid zone is a tension zone arising from reduced fitness of genetically mixed colonies.     

Effect of long chain fatty acids removal as a pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of food waste

This study investigated the effect of long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) removal as a pretreatment prior to anaerobic digestion on the production of methane from food waste. The results showed that the anaerobic digestion of food waste containing 1.6 g COD/L of LCFAs was not inhibited (4 days lag-time, 78.3 % methane recovery in 35 days) compared to that of lipid free food waste (3 days lag time, 72.5 % methane recovery in 35 days); however, some unsaturated LCFAs, which are toxic to microorganism, were accumulated in the batch anaerobic digestion reactor. Meanwhile, in a methanogenic activity study, the activity of methanogens was observed to be linearly inhibited by the presence of more than 1 g COD/L of LCFAs. The possibility of the accumulation of unsaturated LCFAs in the reactor should be considered when operating a large-scale continuous system.     

Reuse of washing effluent containing oxalic acid by a combined precipitation–acidification process

This study aims at evaluating the reuse feasibility of effluent produced by the soil washing of mine tailings with oxalic acid. Alkaline chemicals such as NaOH, Ca(OH)₂, and Na₂CO₃ are used for the precipitation of arsenic and heavy metals in the effluent containing oxalic acid. All of the target contaminants are removed with very high efficiency (up to 100%) at high pH. The precipitation using NaOH at pH 9 is determined to be the most cost-effective method for the removal of arsenic as well as heavy metals in the effluent. The effluent decontaminated by NaOH is consecutively reused for the soil washing of raw mine tailings, resulting in considerable efficiency. Furthermore, even more arsenic and heavy metals are extracted from raw mine tailings by acidifying the decontaminated effluent under the alkaline condition, compared with direct reuse of the decontaminated effluent. Here, the oxalic acid, which is a weak complex-forming ligand as well as a weak acid, has noticeable effects on both soil washing and effluent treatment by precipitation. It extracts efficiently the contaminants from the mine tailings without adverse change of soil and also makes possible the precipitation of the contaminants in the effluent unlike strong chelating reagent. Reuse of the washing effluent containing oxalic acid would make the existing soil washing process more environment-friendly and cost-effective.     

Electrophoretic studies on muscle myogens of some penaeid prawns

The muscle myogen patterns of some penaeid prawns studied by electrophoresis in cellulose acetate membrane are presented. Each pattern was species specific and appears to be independent of sex. The results suggest that muscle myogen patterns could be useful in taxonomic studies of penaeid prawns. Specimens preserved in phenoxyethanol were compared with fresh specimens. Preservation resulted in some losses of protein zones and, in cases where sufficient zones are preserved, the method could be used to advantage for solving taxonomic problems. Mr. Lim unfortunately passed away in November 1969.