Ying-Shin Peng

The resistance mechanism of the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana Fabr., to an ectoparasitic mite, Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans

Abstract A behavioral and physiological resistance mechanism of the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana) to an ectoparasitic mite, Varroa jacobsoni, which causes severe damage to the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) in the beekeeping industry worldwide, is reported here for the first time. Parasitism by the mite induced Asian worker bees to perform a series of cleaning behaviors that effectively removed the mites from the bodies of the adult host bees. The mites were subsequently killed and removed from the bee hives in a few seconds to a few minutes. The grooming behavior consists of self-cleaning, grooming dance, nestmate cleaning, and group cleaning. Worker bees can also rapidly and effectively remove the mites from the brood. The European bee showed cleaning behavior at low frequency and generally failed to remove the mites from both the adult bees and the brood.

The digestion of dandelion pollen by adult worker honeybees

ABSTRACT. The digestion of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) pollen by adult worker honeybees (Apis mellifera Linn.; Hymenoptera: Apidae) was initiated at the germination pores. 30 min after feeding, pollen had reached the anterior midgut and the germination pores had become swollen. This permitted further removal of protoplasm during the next 2 h of digestion as the pollen passed into the middle portion of the midgut. 3 h after feeding, pollen grains had reached the posterior midgut where some had ruptured to release both ‘naked’ protoplasm and masses of protoplasm but many remained intact or were only partially digested; undigested pollen grains passed unchanged to the rectum. The lipid‐rich pollenkitt layer was removed from the exine during digestion. Our studies indicate that dandelion pollen was not utilized completely by honeybees.

Preservation of Honeybee Spermatozoa in Liquid Nitrogen

SummaryHoneybee (Apis mellifera) semen was stored for 359 days at −196°C in liquid nitrogen. Eleven semen diluents were tested. Use of a mixture of 40% semen and 60% Kiev diluent containing 10% dimethylsulphoxide, combined with freezing of samples at the rate of 3–4°/min produced relatively good post-thaw sperm motility. Fifteen queens were inseminated instrumentally with semen stored for 305–359 days. Thirteen survived and produced a brood area of 345 ± 60 cm2, of which 47·3 ± 6·42% were worker progeny from the frozen spermatozoa. Four queens were superseded by their daughters which mated naturally and built up strong colonies.

The effects of drone age, semen storage and contamination on semen quality in the honey bee (Apis mellifera)

Abstract. The effect of semen storage time, drone age and semen contamination on honey bee semen quality was investigated using assays for motility and viability of semen in vitro. Four age groups (1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks) and five storage times (0, 1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks) were examined. As storage time increased, sperm viability and motility significantly decreased. However, motility patterns of unstored semen samples were significantly lower than those samples that were stored up to 2 weeks. Sperm viability decreased significantly with increasing drone age, but motility patterns did not change. Those semen samples that were found to be contaminated with foreign particles or microorganisms had a significantly lower mean viability than uncontaminated samples.

A Washing Technique for Collection of Honeybee Semen

SummaryA simple and fast method for collecting honeybee semen in large quantity is described. Semen and mucus of many drones, everted and ejaculated by hand, were scraped into Kiev diluent in a semen-washing funnel and a collecting tube. The semen-mucus-diluent mixture was centrifuged at 2500 rpm for 10 min to separate semen from mucus and the diluent. The collecting tube containing semen was incorporated into a special large-capacity syringe, and the semen was used to inseminate queen honeybees.No significant differences were found in the amount of brood produced between 31 queens instrumentally inseminated with semen collected by this method, queens inseminated with semen collected by the conventional Mackensen technique, and open-mated queens (P > 0·05 in all cases). However, significant differences were observed in the onset of oviposition (P < 0·05 in all cases). There was a delay before oviposition by all the instrumentally inseminated queens, which was greatest for queens inseminated with semen col...

A supravital staining technique for honey bee spermatozoa

ABSTRACT A new supravital staining technique is described for honey bee, Apis mellifera L., spermatozoa using the fluorochromes, propidium iodide and Hoechst 33342 (H342), a bis‐benzimidazole derivative. Propidium iodide binds to the DNA of sperm which lack membrane integrity and H342 binds to the DNA of all sperm. This assay is a simple and rapid method for determining the percentage nonviabiiity of a male honey bees sperm. The recommended staining procedure is to incubate sperm in a solution of 5 μ.g/ml H342 and 10 μ.g/ml propidium iodide in modified Kiev solution for 15–20 min. After incubation, wet mounts of the sperm‐stain suspension are examined using fluorescence microscopy. Percentage nonviabiiity is determined by the ratio of propidium iodide stained sperm to H342 stained sperm.

Effects of insemination on the initiation of oviposition in the queen honeybee.

SummaryThe number of days from emergence to the onset of oviposition in 7 groups of queens was as follows: naturally mated queens, 10·33 ± 0·68; free-flying queens treated with CO2, 11·00 ± 0·36; queens instrumentally inseminated by the Mackensen technique, 13·8 ± 1·94; virgin queens treated with CO2, 14·00 ± 0·77; queens instrumentally inseminated, using the washing technique, 14·58 ± 0·53; queens injected with washing fluid, 15·82 ± 1·42; queens injected with Kiev solution, 17·77 ± 1·24. The number of spermatozoa in the spermatheca of naturally mated queens, of queens inseminated by the Mackensen technique, and of queens inseminated by the washing technique, was 4·54 ± 0·7, 3·83 ± 0·47, and 3·02 ± 0·52 millions, respectively. Naturally mated queens started laying eggs earlier than the instrumentally inseminated queens.

Filtering mechanism of the honey bee proventriculus

ABSTRACT. The fine structure and function of a honey bees (Apis mellifera Linn.) proventriculus were studied by scanning electron microscopy and video‐recording. Our observations revealed that the proventriculus is used to engulf pollen and other particles which contaminate the nectar carried into the crop. The four lips are closed and opened, pulled backwards and straightened by the external circular muscles and internal longitudinal muscles. Combs of filiform‐hairs (70 μm in length) located on the margins of the lips ‘catch’ and filter particles from the fluid. By repeated filtering, opening and closing actions of the hairs and lips, particles are filtered and collected in pouches between the ventricular folds to form boluses and are eventually passed into the midgut. In the present experiment, particle sizes ranging from 0.5 to 100 μm in diameter, including dandelion pollen (Taraxacum officinale Web.), Torula yeast (Candida utilis Lodder et Kreger‐Van Rij), bee disease spores of Nosema apis Zander and Bacillus larvae White, and man‐made particles can be filtered by the hairs. Small particles (0.23 μm in diameter) filter through the hair and return back to the fluid. Large particles (100–200 μm in diameter) are caught between the stylets of the mouthparts and are not ingested. These observations suggest that the particle size plays an important role in determining what can be taken by the mouthparts and the proventriculus and what can later be utilized as a food source by the bee. The role of the proventriculus in disease transmission is also discussed.

Differential staining for live and dead sperm of honey bees.

ABSTRACT Seven staining techniques were modified and tested for differentially staining the live and the dead sperm cells for the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.). The eosin Y staining method was found to be a simple technique by which the live cells stain bluish purple whereas the dead cells stain bright yellow to greenish yellow. Therefore, it produces a strong contrast between the dead and live sperm cells, and appears to be the most suitable supravital staining method for evaluating the viability of honey bee sperm cells. The significance of supravital staining techniques in assessing the quality of sperm cells during cryopreserving sperm cells is discussed.

Conservation of nutrients in larval tissue by cannibalizing honey bees

ABSTRACT. 14C‐phenylalanine appeared in royal jelly secreted by worker honey bees (Apis mellifera, L.) directly after eating 14‐phenyl‐alanine labelled larvae. The amount of labelled phenylalanine in royal jelly was associated directly with the volume of jelly produced. Loss of radio‐label from the workers, in the form of O214C, increased when royal jelly secretion ended. These patterns show that conservation of nutrients in cannibalized tissue is enhanced when the cannibal bees are producing royal jelly. Specific activity of radiolabel in worker bee hypopharyngeal glands was higher than in thoracic muscle, showing selective movement within the bees of a nutrient acquired by cannibalism.