A b s t a c t Honey bees have good thermoregulation and rapidly respond to any changes in

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The aim of the study was to detect the infection level of honey bees with and/or using microscopic and molecular analysis from indigenous honeybee race of eight Saudi Arabian geographical regions. A detailed survey was conducted and fifty apiaries were chosen at random from these locations. Infection level was determined both by microscope and Multiplex-PCR and data were analyzed using bioinformatics tools and phylogenetic analysis. Result showed that was the only species infecting indigenous honeybee colonies in Saudi Arabia. As determined by microscope, spores were found to be in 20.59% of total samples colonies, while 58% of the samples evaluated by PCR were found to be positive for , with the highest prevalence in Al-Bahah, a tropical wet and dry climatic region, whereas low prevalence was found in the regions with hot arid climate. Honeybees from all eight locations surveyed were positive for. This is the first report about the detection, contamination level and distribution pattern in Saudi Arabia.

Many of the components, which render honey its specific aroma, flavor, and biological activity, are unstable over time and thermolabile. This study was aimed to compare the chemical composition, effect of heating as well as the time of heat exposure, and storage period on the quality of honey samples from Apis mellifera ( A.m. ) and Apis florea ( A.f. ). Methods of the Association of the Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) were used in this study. The mean values for both A.m. and A.f . honeys were, respectively: moisture (18.5, 13.7%); glucose (35.2, 36.3%); fructose (33.7, 33.8%); sucrose (7.3, 2.9%); invert sugar (68.9, 70.4%); ash (0.26, 1.1%); acidity (51.8, 98.4 meq/kg); pH (3.6, 4.4) and Hydroxy methyl furfural (HMF) (3.78, 3.17 mg/100 g). Honey from A. florea contained less moisture, have higher acidity and ash contents than A. mellifera honey. Significant alterations ( P < 0.05) in glucose, fructose, sucrose, and acidity were noticed after six months. Honeys exposed to heating for 15 and 30 min at 50 and 80 °C have shown increased thermo-generated HMF after 15, 30, and 45 days. HMF reached 16.30 ± 1.1 in A. mellifera and 7.41 ± 1.4 mg/100 g in A. florea honeys that exposed for 30 min at 80 °C. Honey from A. florea showed more heat tolerance to thermo-generation of HMF than honey from A. mellifera .

The probiotic effects of seven newly isolated gut bacteria, from the indegenous honey bees of Saudi Arabia were investigated. bioassays were used to investigate the effects of each gut bacterium namely, (T1), (T2), (T3), (T4), (T5), (T6), and (T7) on mortality percentage of honey bee larvae infected with spores along with negative control (normal diet) and positive control (normal diet spiked with spores). Addition of gut bacteria to the normal diet significantly reduced the mortality percentage of the treated groups. Mortality percentage in all treated groups ranged from 56.67% up to 86.67%. T6 treated group exhibited the highest mortality (86.67%), whereas T4 group showed the lowest mortality (56.67%). Among the seven gut bacterial treatments, T4 and T3 decreased the mortality 56.67% and 66.67%, respectively, whereas, for T2, T6, and T7 the mortality percentage was equal to that of the positive control (86.67%). Mortality percentages in infected larval groups treated with T1, and T5 were 78.33% and 73.33% respectively. Most of the mortality occurred in the treated larvae during days 2 and 3. Treatments T3 and T4 treatments showed positive effects and reduced mortality.