BACKGROUND: Honeybee viruses have been recognized as being among the most important factors leading to colony losses worldwide. Colony food and faeces are regarded as possible sources of infectious viruses able to contaminate the environment and equipment of apiaries. Thus, methods for elimination of viruses are required. No cell culture assay for testing the effect of disinfectants on honeybee viruses is yet available. Therefore, surrogate virus was employed for testing of the efficacy of iodophor- and peracetic acid-based disinfectants in combination with six organic contaminants at +6 °C and +22 °C. Moreover, we evaluated the persistence of the surrogate in honey at +6 °C, +22 °C, and +50 °C. RESULTS: Iodophor-based disinfectant showed a maximum reduction of virus titre of 3.4 log10 . Peracetic acid reduced the titre (≥4 log10 ) only at 22 °C and without yeast extract/bovine serum albumin. After 25 days of incubation of the virus - honey mix, no decrease of virus titre was observed at +6 °C, whereas a significant reduction (3.5 log10 ) was found at +50 °C already after 1 day. CONCLUSIONS: Both tested disinfectants can serve as appropriate virucides in apiaries. The effect of peracetic acid significantly depended on temperature and organic contaminants. The iodophor-based disinfectant showed a stable antiviral effect at different temperatures and with different contaminants. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

• Klíčová slova
• beekeeping, enterovirus, iodophor, peracetic acid, stability, surface, virucidal efficacy,
• MeSH
• antivirové látky farmakologie   MeSH
• dezinficiencia farmakologie   MeSH
• Enterovirus účinky léků   fyziologie   MeSH
• včelařství MeSH
• včely fyziologie   virologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• antivirové látky MeSH
• dezinficiencia MeSH

Bee health is influenced by multiple factors, including nutrition, immunity, and parasitic pressures. Since the spread of Varroa destructor, overwintering survival has significantly declined, making it one of the most serious threats to honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) populations worldwide. Natural acaricides, such as oxalic acid (OA), are widely employed for managing Varroa mites; however, their pharmacodynamics, particularly their impacts on honey bee physiology and immunity, remain insufficiently understood. We studied effects of oxalic acid on honey bee workers. The study compared three treatments: flumethrin, OA-glycerine strips (OA-G), and OA trickling (OA-T). Twelve colonies were divided into four groups, with samples collected at five time points (0, 24, 48, 72, and 192 h). Physiological changes were assessed through markers of oxidative stress, longevity, and immune parameters. Exposure to oxalic acid via glycerine strips induced a humoral immune response in adult bees. The antimicrobial activity of hemolymph and levels of antimicrobial peptides (abaecin, apidaecin, defensin, and hymenoptaecin) were elevated between 48 and 192 h after OA-G treatment compared to the control group. In contrast, these parameters were not influenced by OA-T or flumethrin treatment. These findings suggest that OA-G strips activate the honey bee's immune system, providing insights into broader implications of OA use in beekeeping. It is crucial to determine whether the activation of humoral immune systems has positive or negative effects, as well as to develop standardized and reliable treatment protocols that ensure both - health of colonies and their effectiveness in controlling Varroa mite infestations.

• Klíčová slova
• Beekeeping, Integrated Pest management, Oxalic acid, Pharmacodynamics, Treatment, Varroa,
• MeSH
• akaricidy farmakologie   MeSH
• antiinfekční látky farmakologie   MeSH
• glycerol * farmakologie   MeSH
• hemolymfa účinky léků   MeSH
• kyselina oxalová * farmakologie   MeSH
• oxidační stres účinky léků   MeSH
• včely imunologie   účinky léků   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• akaricidy MeSH
• antiinfekční látky MeSH
• glycerol * MeSH
• kyselina oxalová * MeSH

Harvested honey is usually replaced by an alternative sugar to overwinter honeybee colonies. Supplementation of winter stores with beet or cane sucrose is safe for colonies and does not cause winter mortality. Despite this, there are hypotheses that supplementation of inverted sugars has the potential to give better results in overwintering, spring growth, and honey production of the colonies, because bees are consuming already cleaved feed. Therefore, we compared the condition parameters and honey production in 70 colonies at four apiaries overwintered with stores from sucrose or inverted sugars. No statistically significant differences in dependence on the type of the supplemental feed were found. Inverted sugar was more expensive than sucrose for feeding colonies. Economic efficiency, physiological consequences, and other disadvantages of using invert syrups are discussed.

• Klíčová slova
• beekeeping, feeding, growth, honeybee colony, inverted sugar, strength, sucrose, syrup,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Melissopalynology is an important analytical method to identify botanical origin of honey. Pollen grain recognition is commonly performed by visual inspection by a trained person. An alternative method for visual inspection is automated pollen analysis based on the image analysis technique. Image analysis transfers visual information to mathematical descriptions. In this work, the suitability of three microscopic techniques for automatic analysis of pollen grains was studied. 2D and 3D morphological characteristics, textural and colour features, and extended depth of focus characteristics were used for the pollen discrimination. In this study, 7 botanical taxa and a total of 2482 pollen grains were evaluated. The highest correct classification rate of 93.05% was achieved using the phase contrast microscopy, followed by the dark field microscopy reaching 91.02%, and finally by the light field microscopy reaching 88.88%. The most significant discriminant characteristics were morphological (2D and 3D) and colour characteristics. Our results confirm the potential of using automatic pollen analysis to discriminate pollen taxa in honey. This work provides the basis for further research where the taxa dataset will be increased, and new descriptors will be studied.

• MeSH
• barva MeSH
• med analýza   MeSH
• mikroskopie metody   MeSH
• počítačové zpracování obrazu metody   MeSH
• pyl klasifikace   MeSH
• včelařství * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH

• Klíčová slova
• BEES *, OCCUPATIONAL DERMATITIS *,
• MeSH
• Ascomycota * MeSH
• dermatitida z povolání * MeSH
• ekzém * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• propolis * MeSH
• včely MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• propolis * MeSH

BACKGROUND: Traditional apiculture has been practised in Ethiopia over a long historical period and still remains a benign means to extract direct benefits from natural ecosystems. While its contribution to economic development and watershed protection is increasingly recognized its cultural significance is however, seldom noticed. This study was conducted using an ethnobotanical study approach to document the honey bee flora and associated indigenous knowledge of local communities in Borena Sayint National Park (BSNP), north eastern Ethiopia. METHODS: Data were collected from 170 informants through semi-structured interviews and guided field walks, focus group discussion with 37 informants and 14 key informants and analyzed using standard analytical tools including ranking, comparisons and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: In total, 152 bee forage species in 133 genera and 74 families were documented. The Asteraceae and Rosaceae were represented with six species each over the other plant families. Percentage of mentions per species ranged between 76.9 and 13.5% for the most salient bee forage species. Dombeya torrida, Erica arborea, and Olinia rochetiana captured high community consensus as measured by rank order of popularity and designated as local appellation names of honey. Cluster analysis of priority ranking data showed relationships between key informants with respect to preferences, but ordination analysis did not indicate environmental proximity as a determinant of their responses. Five honey harvesting seasons occur each corresponding to the floral calendar of a dominant bee forage species that stipulate relocation of hives to appropriate locations within the national park. CONCLUSION: The apicultural tradition is iconic with economic value and forming part of the local peoples' cultural identity apt to be preserved as a bequest for posterity.

• MeSH
• biodiverzita MeSH
• etnobotanika MeSH
• květy MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• med MeSH
• roční období MeSH
• rostliny klasifikace   MeSH
• včelařství * MeSH
• včely MeSH
• veřejné parky * MeSH
• zachování přírodních zdrojů * MeSH
• znalosti * MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Etiopie MeSH

Essential oils and their components are generally known for their acaricidal effects and are used as an alternative to control the population of the Varroa destructor instead of synthetic acaricides. However, for many essential oils, the exact acaricidal effect against Varroa mites, as well as the effect against honey bees, is not known. In this study, 30 different essential oils were screened by using a glass-vial residual bioassay. Essential oils showing varroacidal efficacy > 70% were tested by the complete exposure assay. A total of five bees and five mites were placed in the Petri dishes in five replications for each concentration of essential oil. Mite and bee mortality rates were assessed after 4, 24, 48, and 72 h. The LC50 values and selectivity ratio (SR) were calculated. For essential oils with the best selectivity ratio, their main components were detected and quantified by GC-MS/MS. The results suggest that the most suitable oils are peppermint and manuka (SR > 9), followed by oregano, litsea (SR > 5), carrot, and cinnamon (SR > 4). Additionally, these oils showed a trend of the increased value of selective ratio over time. All these oils seem to be better than thymol (SR < 3.2), which is commonly used in beekeeping practice. However, the possible use of these essential oils has yet to be verified in beekeeping practice.

• Klíčová slova
• Varroa mite, acaricidal effect, complete exposure bioassay, honey bee, screening,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Malnutrition is one of the main problems related to the global mass collapse of honey bee colonies, because in honey bees, malnutrition is associated with deterioration of the immune system and increased pesticide susceptibility. Another important cause of mass bee colonies losses is the use of pesticides. Therefore, the goal of this study was to verify the influence of polyphenols on longevity, food consumption, and cytochrome P450 gene expression in worker bees intoxicated by thiacloprid. The tests were carried out in vitro under artificial conditions (caged bees). A conclusively lower mortality rate and, in parallel, a higher average food intake, were observed in intoxicated bees treated using a mixture of phenolic acids and flavonoids compared to untreated intoxicated bees. This was probably caused by increased detoxification capacity caused by increased expression level of genes encoding the cytochrome P450 enzyme in the bees. Therefore, the addition of polyphenols into bee nutrition is probably able to positively affect the detoxification capacity of bees, which is often reduced by the impact of malnutrition resulting from degradation of the environment and common beekeeping management.

• Klíčová slova
• cage experiments, cytochrome P450, detoxification, food intake, mortality rate,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Honey bees are globally important pollinators threatened by many different pathogens, including viruses. We investigated the virome of honey bees collected at the end of the beekeeping season (August/September) in Czechia, a Central European country. Samples were examined in biological replicates to assess the homogeneity, stability, and composition of the virome inside a single hive. By choice of healthy workers from colonies, where Varroa destructor was under control, we could identify ubiquitous bee viruses. Deformed wing virus (DWV) was highly prevalent, even though the bees were healthy, without any noticeable disease signs. The overall virome composition (consisting of honey bee-, plant-, and bacterium-infecting viruses) was driven primarily by the hive and its location. However, honey bee-specific viruses showed an uneven distribution within the same hive. In addition, our results point to an unusual cooccurrence between two rhabdoviruses and reveal the presence of five distinct lineages of Lake Sinai viruses (LSVs) clustering with other LSV strains described globally. Comparison of our results with the virome of Australian honey bees, the last truly Varroa- and DWV-free population, showed a strong difference with respect to DWV and a set of diverse members of the Picornavirales, of which the latter were absent in our samples. We hypothesize that the occurrence of DWV introduced by Varroa strongly affects the virome structure despite the mite being under control. IMPORTANCE The Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, is a vital part of our ecosystem as well as cultural heritage. Annual colony losses endanger beekeeping. In this study, we examined healthy bees from the heart of Central Europe, where honey bee colonies have been commonly affected by varroosis over 5 decades. Our virome analysis showed the presence of ubiquitous viruses in colonies where the mite Varroa destructor was under control and no honey bee disease signs were observed. Compared to previous studies, an important part of our study was the analysis of multiple replicates from individual hives. Our overall results indicate that the virome structure (including bee-infecting viruses, plant-infecting viruses, and bacteriophages) is stable within hives; however, the bee-infecting viruses varied largely within interhive replicates, suggesting variation of honey bee viruses within individual bees. Of interest was the striking difference between the viromes of our 39 pools and 9 pools of honey bee viromes previously analyzed in Australia. It could be suggested that Varroa not only affects DWV spread in bee colonies but also affects diverse members of the Picornavirales, which were strongly decreased in Czech bees compared to the Varroa- and DWV-naive Australian bees.

• Klíčová slova
• Apis mellifera, Lake Sinai virus, Picornavirales, metagenomics, rhabdovirus, viruses,
• MeSH
• bakteriofágy * MeSH
• ekosystém MeSH
• RNA-viry * MeSH
• Varroidae * MeSH
• včely MeSH
• virom MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Austrálie MeSH

Plants and pollinators are mutually beneficial: plants provide nectar as a food source and in return their pollen is disseminated by pollinators such as honeybees. Some plants secrete chemicals to deter herbivores as a protective measure, among which is caffeine, a naturally occurring, bitter tasting, and pharmacologically active secondary compound. It can be found in low concentrations in the nectars of some plants and as such, when pollinators consume nectar, they also take in small amounts of caffeine. Whilst caffeine has been indicated as an antioxidant in both mammals and insects, the effect on insect immunity is unclear. In the present study, honeybees were treated with caffeine and the expression profiles of genes involved in immune responses were measured to evaluate the influence of caffeine on immunity. In addition, honeybees were infected with deformed wing virus (DWV) to study how caffeine affects their response against pathogens. Our results showed that caffeine can increase the expression of genes involved in immunity and reduce virus copy numbers, indicating that it has the potential to help honeybees fight against viral infection. The present study provides a valuable insight into the mechanism by which honeybees react to biotic stress and how caffeine can serve as a positive contributor, thus having a potential application in beekeeping.

• Klíčová slova
• caffeine, deformed wing virus (DWV), honeybee, immune gene,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH