Occurrence and status of bee-eaters,Meropsspp. (Coraciiformes: Meropidae), and their attacks on honey bee colonies in Kerbala Province, Iraq

Abstract

SummaryThis study investigated the frequency of visits by bee-eaters, Merops spp., and their attacks on honey bee colonies in Iraq during 2010-2011.The blue-cheeked bee-eater, M. persicus, was a common summer breeder at the study site in Kerbala province, 100 km southwest of Baghdad. The European bee-eater, M. apiaster, was a passage migrant only during the spring. Between the first arrival of these birds in the spring and the end of the major honey bee activity period (around early July), attacks by M. persicus on apiaries were negligible in both years. ResumenEn este estudio se investigó la frecuencia de visitas de abejarucos, Merops spp., y de sus ataques a colonias de abejas melíferas en Irak durante los años 2010-2011. El abejaruco persa, M. persicus, fue un reproductor estival común en el lugar de estudio en la provincia de Kerbala, 100 km al suroeste de Bagdad. El abejaruco europeo, M. apiaster, fue un migrante de paso únicamente durante la primavera. Entre la primera llegada de estos pájaros en la primavera y el final del periodo de mayor actividad apícola (a principios de Julio), los ataques de M. persicus en los colmenares durante los dos años del estudio fueron poco importantes. Se produjeron únicamente algunos ataques de M. apiaster en el 2010, pero en el año 2011, esta especie cometió un número notable de ataques en varias ocasiones. Las condiciones climáticas inestables en la primavera del 2011 podrían haber causado este alto número de ataques de M. apiaster, aunque éstos únicamente se dieron durante un periodo de tiempo relativamente corto. En el periodo posterior a su época de cría, las tasas de ataques de M. persicus en los colmenares fueron mucho mayores que los registrados con anterioridad.

Consumption of honey bees byMerops apiasterLinnaeus, 1758 (Aves: Meropidae) in Mediterranean semiarid landscapes: a threat to beekeeping?

“…Later, during the feeding of chicks, parents are expected to save energy by hunting easy prey near the colony, which can explain the increased consumption of bees along the breeding season (Sánchez-Guzmán, 2007), although other authors relate the increased presence of larger prey with the requirements of chicks (Inglisa et al, 1993). Such requirements probably explain the temporal pattern of variation in honey bee predation detected in this study, albeit weather conditions can also affect predation rate (Glaiim, 2014). Regarding spatial variation, the proportion of different taxa can reflect the influence of land use on the local geomorphological and landscape features.…”

Review of the diet specialisation of the Blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus)

“…In addition to habitat differences, there may also be seasonal and geographical components to the observed variation in feeding preferences (Table 1). For example, it was found that attacks of M. persicus on honey bee colonies in Iraq were negligible in the pre-breeding and breeding seasons but increased significantly in the post-breeding season (Glaiim 2014). Such variation is likely to be directly linked to the relative abundances of different prey types as well as inter-and intraspecific competition for available food resources.…”

An essay on ecosystem availability of Nicotiana glauca graham alkaloids: the honeybees case study

“…The proposed analytical methodology succeeded to detail the alkaloid content of the extracts and to provide qualitative and quantitative definition of the alkaloids residues in bees. The feeding bioassay provided indications of low to medium toxicity of the extracts but more importantly defined the alkaloid content of the dead bees, though in nature consumption by other organisms, is sparingly documented, focused to bee-eater birds (Coraciiformes: Meropidae) [60]. The impacts of Nicotiana alkaloids in honeybees were explicitly summarized by Stevenson et al (2017) [61], identifying foraging repellent and attractive impacts depending on concentration a null impact on the survival of adult bees, which agrees with present findings, but also a reduced larvae survival rate both in vivo and in vitro.…”