SummaryGreater (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae, Galleria mellonella) and Lesser (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae, Achroia grisella) wax moths are ubiquitous pests of honey bee colonies globally. The economic importance of wax moths has led to a number of investigations on wax moth life history, biology, behaviour, ecology, molecular biology, physiology, and control. Despite the importance of wax moths to the apicultural industry, they are investigated considerably more as a model organism for studies in insect physiology, genomics, proteomics, etc. Those studying wax moths from an apicultural perspective typically use only a small number of the total available research methods outlined in the literature. Herein, we describe methods associated with wax moth research that we feel are important from an apicultural research perspective. Ultimately, we hope that this paper will revitalize research on wax moths, since they remain both an important honey bee colony pest and an interesting colony symbiont.Métodos estándar para la investigación de la polilla de la cera Resumen Las polillas de la cera grande (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae, Galleria mellonella) y pequeña (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae, Achroia grisella) son una plaga ubicua de las colonias de abejas al nivel mundial. La importancia económica de las polillas de la cera ha dado lugar a una serie de investigaciones sobre la historia de la vida de la polilla de la cera, la biología, el comportamiento, la ecología, la biología molecular, la fisiología y su control. A pesar de la importancia de la polilla de la cera en la industria apícola, se ha investigado mucho más como un organismo modelo para estudios de fisiología de insectos, genómica, proteómica, etc. Aquellos que estudian las polillas de la cera desde una perspectiva apícola suelen utilizar sólo un reducido número de métodos de investigación del total descrito en la literatura. En este documento, se describen los métodos asociados a la investigación de la polilla de la cera que creemos que son importantes desde una perspectiva de investigación apícola. En última instancia, esperamos que este documento revitalice la investigación sobre las polillas de la cera, ya que siguen siendo una plaga importante de las colonias de la abeja de la miel y un interesante simbionte de las colonias.

The in vitro rearing of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) has become an increasingly important method in honey bee research in general, and in pesticide risk assessment specifically. Authorities from the European Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United States Environmental Protection Agency are requesting data on pesticide impacts on immature bee survivorship prior to registering new crop protection products. Those using the current in vitro rearing protocols have had variable success with immature bee survival and protocol repeatability. Here, we present an improved method for the in vitro rearing of worker honey bees from larvae to adult emergence. We have achieved consistently high survival (>95%) in our control and solvent-control rearing trials. Changes in the proportion of diet components, royal jelly source, maintenance of the developing bee, and rearing environment are the main contributors for our high rearing success and are discussed herein. Our in vitro rearing protocol can be implemented as the standard protocol to determine the impact of pesticides on immature bees because of the protocol's high control survivability, ease in end point determination, and high overall repeatability. Protocolo para la cría in vitro de obreras de Apis melliferaLa cría in vitro de las abejas obreras (Apis mellifera L.) se ha convertido en un método cada vez más importante en la investigació n de la abeja de la miel en general, y específicamente, en la evaluació n del riesgo de los plaguicidas. Las autoridades de la Organizació n Europea para la Cooperació n y el Desarrollo, y la Agencia de Protecció n Ambiental de los Estados Unidos están solicitando datos sobre los efectos de los plaguicidas en la supervivencia de abejas inmaduras antes de registrar nuevos productos para la protecció n de los cultivos. Aquellos que utilizan actualmente los protocolos de la cría in vitro han tenido un éxito variable en la supervivencia de abejas inmaduras y la repetitividad del protocolo. Aquí presentamos un método mejorado para la cría in vitro de las abejas obreras a partir de larvas para la eclosió n de los adultos. Hemos logrado consistentemente una alta supervivencia (>95%) en nuestro control y en los ensayos de cría con el disolvente del control. Los cambios en la proporció n de los componentes de la dieta, la fuente de jalea real, el mantenimiento de las abejas en desarrollo, y el ambiente de cría son los principales constituyentes para nuestro alto éxito de cría y son discutidos en este trabajo. Nuestro protocolo de cría in vitro puede ser implementado como el protocolo estándar para determinar el impacto de los plaguicidas en las abejas inmaduras debido a la alta capacidad de supervivencia del control, la facilidad en la determinació n del punto final, y la alta capacidad de repetitividad.

Airway protection is the prevention and/or removal of material by behaviors, such as cough and swallow. We tested the hypothesis that cough and swallow, in response to aspiration, are a “meta-behavior” and thus are coordinated and have alterations in excitability to respond to aspiration risk and maintain homeostasis. Anesthetized animals were challenged with a protocol that simulated ongoing aspiration and induced both coughing and swallowing. Electromyograms of the mylohyoid, geniohyoid, thyrohyoid, thyroarytenoid, thyropharyngeus, cricopharyngeus, parasternal, rectus abdominis muscles together with esophageal pressure were recorded to identify and evaluate cough and swallow. During simulated aspiration, both cough and swallow intensity increased and swallow duration decreased consistent with a more rapid pharyngeal clearance. A phase restriction between cough and swallow was also observed; swallow was restricted to the E2 phase of cough during chest wall and abdominal motor quiescence. These results support the conclusion that the cough and swallow pattern generators are an airway protective meta-behavior. The resulting alterations in swallow drive during the simulated aspiration protocol also supports the conclusion that the trachea provides feedback on swallow quality, informing the brainstem about aspiration incidences. The overall coordination of cough and swallow led to the additional conclusion that mechanically the larynx and upper esophageal sphincter act as two separate valves controlling the direction of positive and negative pressures from the upper airway into the thorax.

The toxicity of the test pesticides to honey bee larvae from most to least toxic was chlorpyrifos > fluvalinate > coumaphos = imidacloprid > amitraz. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

The treatment of larval diets with clothianidin, dimethoate and imidacloprid did not affect survival, developmental rate, or weight of immature honey bees; however, treatment with chlorpyrifos did. Overall, our results are valuable for evaluating the chronic toxicity of these pesticides to developing honey bees. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.