Previous studies have shown that exposing young worker bees (Apis mellifera) to queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) reduces their aversive learning performance, while enhancing their attraction to QMP. As QMP has been found to reduce the rate of juvenile hormone (JH) synthesis in worker bees, we examined whether aversive learning in 2-day old workers exposed to QMP from the time of adult emergence...

BACKGROUND Numerous surveys reveal high levels of pesticide residue contamination in honey bee comb. We conducted studies to examine possible direct and indirect effects of pesticide exposure from contaminated brood comb on developing worker bees and adult worker lifespan. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Worker bees were reared in brood comb containing high levels of known pesticide residues (...

For their normal living, honey bees (Apis mellifera) require proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and minerals. It is well known that Co and vitamin B12 are two nutrients that have been reported in pollen and plants that have had positive results in bees feeding. In this respect, the aim of the study is to determine the influence of feeding of the bee families with CoSO4 as a supplement on...

The evolution of advanced sociality in bees is associated with apparent modifications in juvenile hormone (JH) signaling. By contrast to most insects in which JH is a gonadotropin regulating female fertility, in the highly eusocial honey bee (Apis mellifera) JH has lost its gonadotrophic function in adult females, and instead regulates age-related division of labor among worker bees. In order t...

Honey bees are important model systems for the investigation of learning and memory and for a better understanding of the neuronal basics of brain function. Honey bees also possess a rich repertoire of tones and sounds, from queen piping and quacking to worker hissing and buzzing. In this study, we tested whether the worker bees' sounds can be used as a measure of learning. We therefore conditi...

Nosema ceranae infection is ubiquitous in western honey bees, Apis mellifera, in the United States and the pathogen has apparently replaced Nosema apis in colonies nationwide. Displacement of N. apis suggests that N. ceranae has competitive advantages but N. ceranae was significantly less infective and less virulent than N. apis in commercially available lineages of honey bees in studies conduc...

The sound or `buzzing response' from groups of ®fteen worker honey bees, Apis mellifera L., to the presentation of isopentyl acetate, an alarm pheromone component, was recorded through a microphone connected via a digital±analogue converter into a computer. The effects of ingested biogenic amine precursors 5-hydroxytryptophan, L-DOPA and tryptophan were tested on three variables measurable from...

Honey bees (Apis melliferaL.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) have been selectively bred for varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH), which is the removal of pupae that are infested byVarroa destructor Anderson&Trueman fromcappedbrood cells. This hygienic behavior is a complex interactionof bees and brood inwhich brood cells are inspected, and then brood is either removed or recapped. Previous work has shown that...

Alarm pheromone and its major component isopentylacetate induce stress-like responses in forager honey bees, impairing their ability to associate odors with a food reward. We investigated whether isopentylacetate exposure decreases appetitive learning also in young worker bees. While isopentylacetate-induced learning deficits were observed in guards and foragers collected from a queen-right col...

In most species of social insect the queen signals her presence to her workers via pheromones. Worker responses to queen pheromones include retinue formation around the queen, inhibition of queen cell production and suppression of worker ovary activation. Here we show that the queen signal of the Brazilian stingless bee Friesella schrottkyi is a mixture of cuticular hydrocarbons. Stingless bees...