Nosema ceranaeand queen age influence the reproduction and productivity of the honey bee colony

Abstract

The strength of the honey bee colony and the quality concerning brood production, number of worker bees and honey yield depend substantially upon the characteristics of the queen. Reproductive and productive capacities of the colony, as two important physiological qualities can depend a great deal on the age of the queen. Over the years, the laying ratio of queens could decrease depending on the age; therefore colonies headed by one-year-old queens have proven to be more efficient considering colony population and honey production than ones with older queens. Nosema ceranae infection is a possible reason for the decrease in reproductive capacities and the reduction in the honey production of infected colonies. With the help of numerous pheromones, the queen can preserve colony homeostasis, however exhausted by N. ceranae infection she might compromise the renewal of worker population. The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of N. ceranae on reproduction and productivity of honey bee colonies headed by queens of different age. Experiment was conducted on 27 honey bee colonies equalized with regard to brood, food source, number of worker bees and Nosema infection. In the three year investigation period (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012), Nosema detection, identification and spore load per each colony, as well as parameters of colony reproduction (such as uncapped and capped brood area, queen egg-laying rate and colony strength) and productivity (the total extracted honey and the winter honey stores) were recorded. Concerning the influence of the age of the queens on followed parameters we compared one, two and three-years old queens and found significantly higher reproductive and productive values in favour of younger ones. Significant differences regarding the effects of N. ceranae infection on productive and reproductive characteristics could be explained with a higher capacity of one year old queens to compensate the effects of Nosema infection; a capacity which gradually declines in the second and the third year. Nosema ceranae y la edad de la reina influyen en la reproducción y la productividad de las colonias de abejas de la miel Resumen La fuerza de la colonia de abejas y la calidad en relación con la producción de cría, el número de abejas obreras y la producción de miel dependen sustancialmente de las características de la reina. La capacidad reproductiva y productiva de la colonia, son importantes cualidades fisiológicas que dependen en gran medida de la edad de la reina. Con los años, la proporción de puesta de las reinas podría disminuir en función de la edad; por lo tanto, las colonias gobernadas por reinas de un año de edad, han demostrado ser más eficaces en función de la población de la colonia y la producción de miel que las que tienen reinas mayores. La infección por Nosema ceranae es una razón probable de Downloaded by [New York University] at 01:45 31 May 2015 546 Simeunovic et al. F (2010) Sudden deaths and colony population decline in Greek honey bee colonies. Journal of Invertebrate Pa...

Environmental Effects on Superoxide Dismutase and Catalase Activity and Expression in Honey Bee

“…Given the economical and ecological importance of honey bees, their conservation should be on the top of the priorities. Beside environmental stressors, honey bees in the Republic of Serbia are continuously exposed to parasites, pathogens, and honey bee viruses, all known to contribute to colony weakening, alone or in a combination (Stevanovic et al., , ; Simeunovic et al., ). Understanding the cellular stress response in honey bees is incomplete but very important, because it influences the response of the organism and the whole colony to different stressors that are assumed to play a key role in a significant loss in their number.…”

Nosema ceranae in Apis mellifera: a 12 years postdetection perspective

“…These findings were also reached by applying another model (Russell et al ., ), whereby a colony could fail to display features of colony collapse disorder (CCD). Interestingly, this scenario has been described in several studies of natural N. ceranae infection under field conditions (Higes et al ., ; Botías et al ., ; Bravo et al ., ; Cepero et al ., ; Lodesani et al ., ; Simeunovic et al ., ; Bekele et al ., ).…”

“…Similar results were obtained elsewhere (Botías et al ., ), with a reduction in honey production of between 52% and 67% in N. ceranae ‐infected colonies. Analogous losses in honey production have been observed in colonies headed by three‐year‐old queens with high N. ceranae load as compared to colonies with younger queens (Simeunovic et al ., ). Another interesting side‐effect of N. ceranae infection is the reduction in the effectiveness of strip‐treatment against varroa (Botías et al ., 2012), which is weakened in colonies with high N. ceranae load.…”

“…Since the queen's age has an important role on the evolution of N. ceranae infection and honey bee colony strength (Botías et al, 2012b), replacement of an old queen by a younger one decreases the proportion of Nosema-infected forager and house bees. This practice will maintain the overall infection rate at a level compatible with colony viability and productivity (Simeunovic et al, 2014). Moreover, this feature should be taken into account in field studies of N. ceranae infection and natural or artificial queen renewal must be reported to avoid errors in the interpretation of the results.…”

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Selected Treatments of Nosema Spp. Infection by the Hemocytometric Method and Duplex Pcr

“…In most cases, the disease spreads when healthy and infected colonies are merged and when contaminated hive equipment and food reserves are used. Young queen bees and worker bees from apiaries affected by nosemosis can also be a source of disease [11,12].…”