Chalk brood in honey bee is a fungal brood disease caused by Ascosphaera apis. It is very difficult to reproduce chalk brood in a homogeneous way in a large number of colonies, therefore appropriate methods to experimentally induce and evaluate the disease would be useful for research. We inoculated experimentally the colonies, using three treatments: spores sprayed over combs, spores mixed with pollen and sugar syrup with spores. The collection of mummies in traps in the hive entrance, bottom board and combs showed a lack of efficacy in the quantification of the disease. A controlled chilling of the brood yielded very satisfactory results. Using this last technique, spores mixed with water sprayed over combs reached 90.63% of mummification, while colonies fed with spores mixed up with pollen reached 86.32%. The use of sugar syrup with spores (60.13% of mummification) proved to be less effective.
Chalkbrood in honeybees (Apis mellifera L. Himenoptera: Apidae) is a fungal disease caused by Ascosphaera apis (Maassen ex Claussen) Olive and Spiltoir. This disease requires the presence of fungal spores and a predisposing condition in the susceptible brood for the disease to develop. In this study we examined the role of pollen in the development of chalkbrood disease under two experimental conditions: (i) pollen combs were transferred from infected to uninfected beehives and (ii) colonies were deprived of adequate pollen supplies to feed the brood. The results of both treatments confirmed that pollen is an element that should be taken into account when controlling this honeybee disease.
Chalkbrood in honeybees (Apis mellifera L. Himenoptera: Apidae) is a fungal disease caused by Ascosphaera apis (Maassen ex Claussen) Olive and Spiltoir. This disease requires the presence of fungal spores and a predisposing condition in the susceptible brood for the disease to develop. In this study we examined the role of pollen in the development of chalkbrood disease under two experimental conditions: (i) pollen combs were transferred from infected to uninfected beehives and (ii) colonies were deprived of adequate pollen supplies to feed the brood. The results of both treatments confirmed that pollen is an element that should be taken into account when controlling this honeybee disease.
The growth of different strains of Pleurotus spp. on sugar cane agrowastes was evaluated. Three hybrid strains with good production outcomes and yields exceeding 17% were selected. Strain 184 ( P . ostreatus x P. pulrnonarius) showed the best results. Three spawn materials (wheat grain, millet grain and milled corn cob) at different spawning levels were tested and a significant influence was found. The obtained results were best explained in terms of total nitrogen content of the initial mixture (spawn + substrate), suggesting a probable nitrogen limited growth of the mushroom on sugar cane residues. A 10% millet grain spawn was found to be a reasonable compromise. Productive responses decreased with an increase in bag's capacity (8-10-12 kg), even though the same diameter was maintained in order to avoid pronounced temperature profiles. Smaller bag's capacities (8-10 kg) were recommended.It was also shown that the utilization of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) mixed S0/50 with sugar cane residues as substrate caused a twofold increase of crop responses, confirming the advantages of this substrate supplementation.The obtained results identified sugar cane agrowastes as a feasible substrate for Pleurotus spp. production with yields and biological efficiencies comparable and to some extent better than others reported with conventional lignocellulosic residues such as cereal straw.
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