Honey bee, Apis mellifera L., hygienic behavior is a mechanism of disease resistance and a mode of defense against the parasitic mite Vm-roajacobsoni Oudemans. Hygienic bees uncap and remove diseased and parasitized brood from the nest. The propagation of colonies that demonstrate resistance to chalkbrood and American foulbrood and that remove pupae infested by Varroa mites is becoming increasingly important in apiculture. This study evaluates 2 commonly used field assays used to screen colonies for hygienic behavior: the freeze-killed brood and the pierced brood assays. Both involve determining the time required for worker bees to remove dead capped brood from a section of comb. Colonies in the experiment displayed a wide range of removal rates and were grouped as hygienic, nonhygienic, or intermediate. The results of experiments 1 and 2 indicated that neither the age nor the source of the frozen brood had a significant effect on the removal rate by hygienic colonies (i.e., those colonies that consistently uncapped and removed freeze-killed brood within 48 h). In experiment 3, only a weak correlation was found between the removal of young freeze-killed and pierced pupae, but a significant correlation existed between the removal of pre-eclosion freezekilled and pierced pupae. Experiment 4 examined cues that elicit removal behavior by hygienic and non hygienic colonies. When pupae were pierced with an insect pin through the base of the cell (without piercing the wax cell capping), there was no difference in the number of pupae removed by the hygienic and nonhygienic colonies. On average, 30% of all pierced pupae survived the treatment, which considerably diminished the accuracy and reproducibility of the test. When pupae were treated with hemolymph extracted from either a live or freeze-killed pupa, there was also no difference in the rate of removal by hygienic and nonhygienic colonies. These results indicate that bees from nonhygienic lines can be induced to express hygienic behavior only if a sufficiently strong stimulus is present. Both hygienic and nonhygienic colonies removed significantly more pupae treated with hemolymph from a dead pupa than hemolymph from a live pupa, indicating that the cue that stimulates removal behavior is stronger in dead pupae. It is concluded that the freeze-killed brood assay is the most conservative and reliable screening procedure for hygienic behavior. The following procedures are recommended: Randomly selected comb sections (5 by 6 cm each) of capped brood should be cut from 1 healthy colony, frozen, and introduced into the test colonies. The assay should be repeated at least twice. Only colonies that remove >95% of freeze-killed brood within 48 h in both tests should be considered hygienic. When developing hygienic breeder stock, the hygienic colonies should be challenged with the American foulbrood or chalkbrood pathogen to ensure resistance.

1 Traps of four new designs were tested against the conventionally used multiplefunnel trap to determine whether trapping of large wood-boring insects can be improved in western Canada. All four new traps used a large collecting receptacle containing detergent-laced water, and three presented a prominent visual silhouette above the receptacle. 2 In total, 27 336 large woodborers were captured from 10 June to 30 September in an experiment in the southern interior of British Columbia, and 4737 from 6 June to 27 July in an experiment in northern Alberta. The woodborers captured in the British Columbia experiment were mainly beetles in the families Cerambycidae (79%) and Buprestidae (15%), and woodwasps in the family Siricidae (6%). Most woodborers, e.g. three Monochamus spp. and Xylotrechus longitarsus (the predominant cerambycids), were captured throughout the summer, with peak captures in August. 3 Cross-vane, pipe and stacked-bottomless-¯ower-pot traps were generally superior to pan and multiple-funnel traps for insects in nine taxa, but cross-vane traps were the most effective overall, trapping 32% of all insects captured. 4 The large number of target insects captured in a relatively small number of traps in the two experiments suggests that employment of an ef®cacious trap with a large vertical silhouette and a wide, escape-proof collecting receptacle could make mass trapping of large woodborers in timber processing areas operationally feasible. 5 Because the most effective traps were unstable in the wind, and the detergentlaced water captured unacceptably high numbers of small mammals, design mod-i®cations are necessary. We are currently developing a wind-®rm trap, with a prominent vertical silhouette, a wide collecting surface, and an escape-proof, but dry collecting receptacle.

The onset of foraging, proportion of pollen collectors, and weight of pollen loads were compared in individual honey bees (Apis mellifera) infested by zero, one (Acarapis woodi, the honey bee tracheal mite, or Varroa jacobsoni,varroa), or both species of parasitic mites. Phoretic varroa host choice also was compared between bees with and without tracheal mites, and tracheal mite infestation of hosts was compared between bees parasitized or not by varroa during development. The proportion of pollen collectors was not significantly different between treatments, but bees parasitized by both mites had significantly smaller pollen loads than uninfested bees. Mean onset of foraging was earliest for bees parasitized by varroa during development, 15.9 days. Bees with tracheal mites began foraging latest, at 20.5 days, and foraging ages were intermediate in bees with no mites and both, 17.6 and 18.0 days respectively. Phoretic varroa were found equally on bees with and without tracheal mite infestations, but bees parasitized by varroa during development were almost twice as likely to have tracheal mite infestations as bees with no varroa parasitism, 63.9% and 35.5%, respectively. These results indicate that these two parasites can have a biological interaction at the level of individual bees that is detrimental to their host colonies.

-Colony mortality and productivity were compared between honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies infested by zero, one or both species of parasitic mites (Acarapis woodi or Varroa destructor). Mortality, bee and mite populations, sealed brood, and stores were monitored for 16 months, beginning in May. By the following March, 5 out of 6 colonies with both mites were dead, but no other colonies died until September, when 3 out of 4 V. destructor colonies were dead. Dually infested colonies initially had more honey stores, but were dead by March. At that point V. destructor colonies had significantly less worker brood, fewer adult bees and more honey than colonies with no mites or tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi). The colonies with tracheal mites (n = 9) and no mites (n = 8) did not differ in any productivity parameter measured. These results suggest a synergistic interaction between tracheal and V. destructor mites, treatments against tracheal mites should be applied in dually infested colonies, even if tracheal mites alone are not having an impact.Varroa destructor / Acarapis woodi / colony productivity / colony mortality

-Honey bees, Apis mellifera , in the Hawaiian Islands are geographically isolated from honey bees in mainland United States. We conducted a study on the mitochondrial DNA genetic diversity of honey bees from seven of the Hawaiian Islands by sequencing the intergenic region between the Cytochrome Oxidase I and Cytochrome Oxidase II genes (COI-COII). We observed a total of 10 haplotypes from 235 samples collected from 2009 to 2014. Haplotypes belonged to the A. mellifera C lineage (64 %), M lineage (35 %), and O lineage (1 %). Four of the five C lineage haplotypes found were common among queen breeders in continental United States (C1, C2, C11, C19) and accounted for 99 % of the C lineage bees. Haplotype C33 (1 %) has been observed in feral honey bee populations in continental United States. For the M lineage, which includes the dark honey bee, A. m. mellifera , four haplotypes were observed (M3, M4c^', M7 and M70), with a novel haplotype unique to Hawaii, M70, being the second most common. Five islands had M lineage haplotypes, with their frequency ranging from 70 % on Maui to 22 % on Molokai. Two individuals of the O lineage, haplotype O1, were found on Oahu. Among the islands, Oahu and Maui, had the greatest amount of haplotypic diversity (haplotypic diversity (H d ) =0.76 and 0.75). Lanai and Kahoolawe had only one haplotype, C1, present.Apis mellifera / mtDNA / genetic diversity / island biogeography

A study was conducted on the mitochondrial DNA genetic diversity of feral colonies and swarms of Apis mellifera from ten counties in Utah by sequencing the intergenic region of the cytochrome oxidase (COI-COII) gene region. A total of 20 haplotypes were found from 174 honey bee colony samples collected from 2008 to 2017. Samples belonged to the A (African) (48%); C (Eastern Europe) (43%); M (Western Europe) (4%); and O (Oriental) lineages (5%). Ten African A lineage haplotypes were observed with two unique to Utah among A lineage haplotypes recorded in the US. Haplotypes belonging to the A lineage were observed from six Utah counties located in the southern portion of the State, from elevations as high as 1357 m. All five C lineage haplotypes that were found have been observed from queen breeders in the US. Three haplotypes of the M lineage (n=7) and two of the O lineage (n=9) were also observed. This study provides evidence that honey bees of African descent are both common and diverse in wild populations of honey bees in southern Utah. The high levels of genetic diversity of A lineage honey bee colonies in Utah provide evidence that the lineage may have been established in Utah before the introduction of A lineage honey bees from Brazil to Texas in 1990.

No abstract

Small hive beetle, Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), is considered a serious threat to beekeeping in the Western Hemisphere, Australia, and Europe mainly due to larval feeding on honey, pollen, and brood of the European honeybee, Apis mellifera L. Control methods are limited for this pest. Studies were conducted to provide information on the radiobiology of small hive beetle and determine the potential for sterile insect releases as a control strategy. Adult males and females were equally sensitive to a radiation dose of 80 Gy and died within 5-7 d after treatment. In reciprocal crossing studies, irradiation of females only lowered reproduction to a greater extent than irradiation of males only. For matings between unirradiated males and irradiated females, mean reproduction was reduced by >99% at 45 and 60 Gy compared with controls, and no larvae were produced at 75 Gy. Irradiation of prereproductive adults of both sexes at 45 Gy under low oxygen (1-4%) caused a high level of sterility (>99%) while maintaining moderate survivorship for several weeks, and should suffice for sterile insect releases. Sterile insect technique holds potential for suppressing small hive beetle populations in newly invaded areas and limiting its spread.