Bee Products

Schmidt, Justin O.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-9371-0_2

Cited by 34 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) is an important insect that generates high economic and ecological values for humans as a key pollinator of crops ( Morse and Calderone, 2000 ; Klein et al , 2007 ) and producer of bee products, including honey, royal jelly (RJ), pollen, propolis and beeswax ( Schmidt, 1997 ). A published genome ( The Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium, 2006 ) and its biological characteristics have also contributed to the recent emergence of honey bees as a new model organism for research in diverse areas of learning and memory ( Zhang et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of genes related to high royal jelly production in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) using microarray analysis

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

China is the largest royal jelly producer and exporter in the world, and high royal jelly-yielding strains have been bred in the country for approximately three decades. However, information on the molecular mechanism underlying high royal jelly production is scarce. Here, a cDNA microarray was used to screen and identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) to obtain an overview on the changes in gene expression levels between high and low royal jelly producing bees. We developed a honey bee gene chip that covered 11,689 genes, and this chip was hybridised with cDNA generated from RNA isolated from heads of nursing bees. A total of 369 DEGs were identified between high and low royal jelly producing bees. Amongst these DEGs, 201 (54.47%) genes were up-regulated, whereas 168 (45.53%) were down-regulated in high royal jelly-yielding bees. Gene ontology (GO) analyses showed that they are mainly involved in four key biological processes, and pathway analyses revealed that they belong to a total of 46 biological pathways. These results provide a genetic basis for further studies on the molecular mechanisms involved in high royal jelly production.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of genes related to high royal jelly production in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) using microarray analysis

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There are multiple honey bee products, such as nectar and pollen, that bees produce which contribute to social immunity and have a direct impact on colony health. Worker bees derive these vital substances from plant materials in their local environment (Schmidt, 1997). Nectar and pollen from the plants serve as food sources for honey bees in exchange for their pollination service, an exchange driven by the coevolution of flowers and pollinators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Pollination: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) as Zootherapy Keystone Species

Easton‐Calabria¹,

Demary

Oner³

2019

Front. Ecol. Evol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The keystone species concept is a useful ecological concept to explain how some species exert a strong force on their community structure; this paper strives to expand the definition to include species that are used in zootherapy, i.e., the use of animals for medicinal purposes. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) can be considered a zootherapy keystone species that exerts a strong impact on other trophic levels through their products that relate to disease resistance. Honey bee products (i.e., honey, propolis, venom, beeswax, bee bread, and royal jelly) confer pathogen/pest resistance. Each of these products have been shown to exhibit antipathogenic properties and to act as a colony-level defense mechanism against disease. The phenomenon of a collective immune defense in social insects, termed social immunity, has evolved for defense against pathogens which spread easily in highly dense eusocial systems, such as that of honey bees. In apitherapy, a type of zootherapy, humans can use honey bee products to improve their health via pathogen resistance. The implication of these phenomena is that honey bees, through their products, can manipulate the microbial community structure both within the hive and outside the hive when these products are used in apitherapy. Because of their importance to human health, zootherapy keystone species should be a top priority in terms of conservation.

show abstract

“…Both of which are important for ensuring food security (Bommarco et al, 2013). In addition, honey bees represent an important source of income for beekeepers (Formato and Smulders, 2011;Mizrahi and Lensky, 2013;Schmidt, 1997) contributing to an increase in economic value of rural areas (Deloitte, 2013). In the last few decades managed honey bees have faced a widespread decline (Brodschneider et al, 2016;Genersch et al, 2010;Jacques et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2015;Porrini et al, 2016;Steinhauer et al, 2014;VanEngelsdorp et al, 2011) raising concerns for the sustainability of the beekeeping sector (Potts et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards the development of an index for the holistic assessment of the health status of a honey bee colony

Gilioli

Sperandio

Hatjina³

et al. 2019

Ecological Indicators

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Honey bees play an important role in the maintenance of both, biodiversity and food security through pollination services and also represent an important source of income for rural areas. Despite several studies and monitoring projects gathering a large amount of data on the main factors/stressors influencing honey bee colonies, there is a lack of holistic and multidimensional statistical tools integrating different aspects which define honey bee colony health. Such tools are important to support the sustainable management of honey bees. In this study, we designed and tested a methodological framework based on Structural Equation Models for the development of a honey bee Health Status Index. The index accounts for the main abiotic (e.g. pesticide contamination, landscape characteristics) and biotic (e.g. parasitosis, virosis) factors influencing honey bee health, including the beekeepers role in managing the colony. The proposed methodology was validated against a dataset representing seven scenarios generated through Expert Knowledge Elicitation. The validation procedure showed that the Health Status Index integrates different sources of data and it can quantify the health status of a honey bee colony based on the characteristics of each scenario. Furthermore, it allows the investigation of the influence of different drivers/stressors on the health of the honey bee colony. The Health Status Index provides flexibility in the selection of variables, making it a valuable tool for holistic and harmonised assessment of honey bee health. Once validated, the index can support the evaluation at different spatial (from local-to area-wide management) and temporal (medium-to long-term management) scales to support stakeholders' (e.g. beekeepers, risk assessors, risk managers) decision-making.

show abstract

Bee Products

Cited by 34 publications

References 17 publications

Identification of genes related to high royal jelly production in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) using microarray analysis

Identification of genes related to high royal jelly production in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) using microarray analysis

Beyond Pollination: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) as Zootherapy Keystone Species

Towards the development of an index for the holistic assessment of the health status of a honey bee colony

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About