Bee research

Bee decline already having dramatic effect on pollination of plants
By Richard Alleyne
Telegraph - September 6, 2010
A decline in bees and global warming are having a damaging effect on the pollination of plants, new research claims. Researchers have found that pollination levels of some plants have dropped by up to 50 per cent in the last two decades. The "pollination deficit" could see a dramatic reduction in the yield from crops. The research, carried out in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, is the first to show that the effect is real and serves as a "warning" to Britain which if anything has seen an even greater decline in bees and pollinators. "This serves as a warning to other countries," said Professor James Thomson at the University of Toronto, who carried out the research.
Link to article in the Telegraph

New study on the effects of pesticides on the bee population
Rural Enterprise Solutions - August 17, 2010
The study, published in the journal Toxicology, suggests that the effects on bees, of two particular neonicotinoid pesticides, known as imidacloprid and thiacloprid, have been previously underestimated. Even low concentrations of the pesticides may be more deadly than previously thought, due to their high persistence in soil and water, suggesting that these pesticides may play a significant role in the death of bees.
Link to article on Rural Enterprise Solutions

Oregon State University entomologist looks to uncover what's killing honeybees
By Eric Mortenson
Oregon Live - July 12, 2010
Honeybees communicate in such complex fashion that they make the jaw drop. With a dance of vigorous waggles and figure-8 patterns, they tell hive mates the direction and distance to food in geometric relationship to the sun. With an array of released pheromones, they signal which intruder to sting, which eggs to tend and who is doomed to be thrown from the hive.
Link to article on Oregon Live

University law research to help honeybees
University of Greenwich - July 8, 2010
The health and welfare of UK honey bees is under threat from a combination of pests, pathogens and pesticides. Yet some of the problems facing honey bees and leading to the collapse of many hives may be made worse if there are no adequate laws and regulations in place to protect them. Now the University of Greenwich has launched a new research programme to review the current legal framework relating to bee conservation and biosecurity across the UK.
Link to article on University of Greenwich

£10m funding for Insect Pollinators - Projects announced
BBSRC - June 22, 2010
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), along with its co-funders have announced 9 projects to be funded through the Insect Pollinators Initiative. Among those projects specifically targeted to the honeybee:

• Dr Giles Budge, Fera - 'Modelling systems for managing bee disease: the epidemiology of European Foulbrood'
• Dr Eugene Ryabov, University of Warwick - 'Unravelling the impact of the mite Varroa destructor on the interaction between the honeybee and its viruses'

Click here for more details of all projects on BBSRC
Link to article, comment and debate in Guardian
Link to article on BBC

New insights into honey bee (Apis mellifera) pheromone communication.
Is the queen mandibular pheromone alone in colony regulation?
7th Space Interactive - June 18, 2010
In social insects, the queen is essential to the functioning and homeostasis of the colony. This influence has been demonstrated to be mediated through pheromone communication. However, the only social insect for which any queen pheromone has been identified is the honey bee (Apis mellifera) with its well-known queen mandibular pheromone (QMP). Although pleiotropic effects on colony regulation are accredited to the QMP, this pheromone does not trigger the full behavioral and physiological response observed in the presence of the queen, suggesting the presence of additional compounds.
Link to article on 7th Space Interactive
Link to abstract on Frontiers in Zoology

The bee lab at Sussex University gets ready to greet the new queens
LASI - Sussex University - June 16, 2010
As part of Project 1 of the Sussex Plan for honey bee health and wellbeing, queen's reared from colonies already identified as having hygienic workers, were today moved to the incubator for the final few days prior to hatching. Hygienic worker bees remove dead or infected larvae and pupae from their cells. This reduces the spread of diseases within a colony.
Link to article on LASI - Sussex University

2009 report on the impacts and sustainable use of pesticides
UK Pesticides Forum - June 17, 2010
The report demonstrates the work of the UK Pesticides Forum in 2009. It contains both 'annual report' items and the 'report of indicators reflecting impacts of pesticide use'. The report draws together the work of Government, Industry and other important stakeholders to find ways of reducing the impact from the use of pesticides. The report has been structured around the UK Pesticides Strategy. It covers progress with the action plans: human health; availability of products and techniques; water; biodiversity; amateur use; and amenity use. These items are prefaced by background information on the use of pesticides.
Link to article on UK Pesticides Forum
Click here for ebook version
Click here for pdf version

The University of Worcester has teamed up with the BBC

The University of Worcester has teamed up with the BBC and the National Trust to launch a major campaign to investigate the plight of honeybees in Britain. The University’s National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit (NPARU) will be taking samples of pollen, dead bees and honey across the season for analysis, as part of the Bee Part Of It! campaign.
Link to University of Worcester

Important Survey:
Bee Husbandry Practices 2009/2010

The National Bee Unit are once again conducting a national survey to obtain information on current honey bee husbandry practices. This is now the second year that they have carried out this survey and they intend to gather this data regularly to allow the monitoring of trends in UK beekeeping and to help with beekeeper training. The survey takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete and will be of great value to beekeeping in the UK.
Link to Bee Husbandry Practices 2009/2010 on Beebase

Investigating Honey Bee Colony Losses in England and Wales
Fera - February, 2009
Historically colony losses have fluctuated greatly in the UK, with severe weather increasing colony losses. However, the last 9 years have seen a trend of slowly rising colony losses. The NBU responded by securing funding to investigate all reported abnormal colony losses.
Download Colony losses summary 2010 from Fera

Virtually understanding bumble bees
By Laura Joint
BBC Spotlight Devon - February 16, 2010
A Devon PhD student [from University of Exeter] has shed new light on the behaviour of bumble bees and pollination by creating a 'virtual' bee. Daniel Chalk has used artificial intelligence to provide information about real-life bumble bees. It is thought to be the first study of its kind and will inform policy-makers about cross-pollination between GM and non-GM crops.
Link to BBC Spotlight article
Link to research news on University of Exeter

In Situ Hybridization Analysis of the Expression of Futsch, Tau, and MESK2 Homologues in the Brain of the European Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.)
PLoS One - February 16, 2010
The importance of visual sense in Hymenopteran social behavior is suggested by the existence of a Hymenopteran insect-specific neural circuit related to visual processing and the fact that worker honeybee brain changes morphologically according to its foraging experience.
Link to article in PLoS One

LASI hosts the networking meeting: 'What's the buzz? Bees, land use and the community'
LASI - February 15, 2010
How good is the British countryside for foraging honey bees?
A day of seminars, workshops and discussion forums focussing on the decline of honey bees and the impact of this on land use and the community as a whole.
Link to on LASI (University of Sussex Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects)

BBKA to fund a PhD project into investigating the genetic basis of hygienic behaviour in honeybees
BBKA - January 16, 2010
The British Beekeepers’ Association, which represents more than 16,000 of the country’s amateur beekeepers, will give a £36,000 grant to support the work of a post graduate student over the next three years, in the prestigious Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI) at Sussex University.

Apidologie
Peer-reviewed journal devoted to the biology of insects belonging to the superfamily Apoidea. The main topics include: behavior, ecology, pollination, genetics, physiology, toxicology and pathology. Systematic research can also be submitted to the extent that it concerns the Apoidea. Also accepted are research papers, including economic studies, on the rearing, exploitation and practical use of Apoidea and their products, as far as they relate to bees or to the beekeeping industry.
www.apidologie.org

The Journal of Apicultural Research
incorporating Bee World, publishes original research articles, original theoretical papers, notes, comments and authoritative reviews on scientific aspects of the biology, ecology, natural history and culture of all types of bee (superfamily Apoidea).

Link to www.ibra.org.uk

Journal of Experimental Biology
is the leading journal in comparative animal physiology. It publishes papers on the form and function of living organisms at all levels of biological organisation, from the molecular and subcellular to the integrated whole animal. It plays a major role in increasing cross-fertilisation of techniques and knowledge across specialisation boundaries. Our authors and readers reflect a broad interdisciplinary group of scientists who study molecular, cellular and organismal physiology in an evolutionarily and environmentally based context.

Click here to Search the Journal of Experimental Biology

Nature
International weekly journalof science
www.nature.com

Click here to view Video of Honeybee Genome research