To identify the active components of honeybee venom in production of inflammation and pain-related behaviors, five major peptidergic subfractions were separated, purified and identified from the whole honeybee venom. Among them, four active peptidergic components were characterized as apamin, mast-cell degranulating peptide (MCDP), phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2))-related peptide and melittin, respe...

Honeybees secrete 2-heptanone (2-H) from their mandibular glands when they bite. Researchers have identified several possible functions: 2-H could act as an alarm pheromone to recruit guards and soldiers, it could act as a chemical marker, or it could have some other function. The actual role of 2-H in honeybee behaviour remains unresolved. In this study, we show that 2-H acts as an anaesthetic...

24 25 Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) – gated chloride channel receptors are abundant in the 26 central nervous system where their physiological role is to mediate fast inhibitory 27 neurotransmission. In insects, this inhibitory transmission plays a crucial role in olfactory 28 information processing. In an effort to understand the nature and properties of the ionotropic 29 receptors involved i...

Queen fecundity is a critical issue for the health of honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies, as she is the only reproductive female in the colony and responsible for the constant renewal of the worker bee population. Any factor affecting the queen's fecundity will stagnate colony development, increasing its susceptibility to opportunistic pathogens. We discovered a pathology affecting the ovari...

As in many other locations in the world, honeybee colony losses and disorders have increased in Belgium. Some of the symptoms observed rest unspecific and their causes remain unknown. The present study aims to determine the role of both pesticide exposure and virus load on the appraisal of unexplained honeybee colony disorders in field conditions. From July 2011 to May 2012, 330 colonies were m...

BACKGROUND Immunoglobulin (Ig) E-mediated reactions to honeybee venom can cause severe anaphylaxis, sometimes with fatal consequences. Detailed knowledge of the allergic potential of all venom components is necessary to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment of allergy and to gain a better understanding of the allergological mechanisms of insect venoms. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to undertake...

The existence of honeybees in the ecosystem has a significant effect worldwide agricultural production. While searching for food, honeybee is often exposed to several contaminants or poisoning materials such as plant protection products like pesticides.

The identification of honeybee viruses is of serious importance, particularly considering the lack of information on the natural incidence of viral infections in honeybee populations worldwide. Moreover, the global spread of Varroa destructor in honeybee colonies has a significant effect on the viral infection. In the present study, 160 samples of adult bee from apparently healthy colonies but ...

The binding interactions of two neonicotinoids, imidacloprid (IMI) and thiacloprid (THI) with the extracellular domains of cockroach and honeybee α6 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits in an homomeric receptor have been studied through docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The binding mode predicted for the two neonicotinoids is validated through the good agreement obse...

Axis formation is a key step in development, but studies indicate that genes involved in insect axis formation are relatively fast evolving. Orthodenticle genes have conserved roles, often with hunchback, in maternal anterior patterning in several insect species. We show that two orthodenticle genes, otd1 and otd2, and hunchback act as maternal anterior patterning genes in the honeybee (Apis me...