المؤلفون: Shiqing Zhong, Luxia Pan, Zilong Wang, Zhijiang Zeng

المصدر: Insects, Vol 15, Iss 4, p 263 (2024)

مصطلحات موضوعية: queen bee, ovary, hemolymph, metabolomics, Science

الوصف: The queen bee is a central and pivotal figure within the colony, serving as the sole fertile female responsible for its reproduction. The queen possesses an open circulatory system, with her ovaries immersed in hemolymph. A continuous and intricate transportation and interchange of substances exist between the ovaries and hemolymph of queen bees. To determine the characteristic metabolites in the hemolymph and ovary, as well as understand how their rapid metabolism contributes to the process of egg-laying by queens, we reared Apis mellifera queens from three different age groups: newly emerged queen (NEQ), newly laying queen (NLQ), and old laying queen (OLQ). Using widely targeted metabolomics, our study revealed that the laying queen (NLQ and OLQ) exhibited faster fatty acid metabolism, up-regulated expression of antioxidants, and significant depletion of amino acids compared to the NEQ. This study revealed that the levels of carnitine and antioxidants (GSH, 2-O-α-D-glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid, L-ascorbic acid 2-phosphate, etc.) in the NLQ and OLQ were significantly higher compared to NEQ. However, most of the differentially expressed amino acids, such as L-tryptophan, L-tyrosine, L-aspartic acid, etc., detected in NLQ and OLQ were down-regulated compared to the NEQ. Following egg-laying, pathways in the queens change significantly, e.g., Tryptophan metabolism, Tyrosine metabolism, cAMP signaling pathway, etc. Our results suggest that carnitine and antioxidants work together to maintain the redox balance of the queen. Additionally, various amino acids are responsible for maintaining the queen’s egg production.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/15/4/263Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2075-4450Test

الوصول الحر: https://doaj.org/article/adc60353a72c4f1dac22305473b156c5Test

المؤلفون: Shouchen Liu

المصدر: Sustainability, Vol 15, Iss 5, p 4435 (2023)

مصطلحات موضوعية: transportation, time-varying network, cold chain, improved queen bee genetic algorithm, carbon emissions, Environmental effects of industries and plants, TD194-195, Renewable energy sources, TJ807-830, Environmental sciences, GE1-350

الوصف: To solve the multimodal transport route optimization problem considering carbon emission, the vehicle speed has time-varying characteristics, and the customer has a time window limit. The carbon emission of multimodal transport system is affected by the energy consumption of transport vehicles in the time-varying network. The time-varying network is uncertain, and carbon emissions may continue to rise after a gradual decline. Based on this, this study established the sum of the carbon emission cost, transportation cost, penalty cost for exceeding the time window, and the damage cost of the cold chain cargo as the objective function. A route optimization model of cold chain container multimodal transportation was established. Static and dynamic optimization scenarios were designed and a hummingbird evolutionary genetic algorithm was used to solve the model. The effectiveness of the model and the practical value of the study are verified by the empirical analysis of the multimodal transport network of the Yangtze River Delta economic group. Results show that the dynamic model of the time-varying network can more truly reflect the transportation of the multimodal transport network and meet the efficiency requirements for the cold chain container multimodal transport. This study aims to solve the time-varying network under cold chain route optimization of container intermodal transportation, provides new insights for related businesses and a theoretical basis for reasonable multimodal transport route decisions.

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/5/4435Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050Test; https://doaj.org/article/092a077a1b604df9946bd7c21c0f679eTest

الإتاحة: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054435Test
https://doaj.org/article/092a077a1b604df9946bd7c21c0f679eTest

المؤلفون: Stenford Ruvinga, Gordon Hunter, Olga Duran, Jean-Christophe Nebel

المصدر: Electronics, Vol 12, Iss 7, p 1627 (2023)

مصطلحات موضوعية: honeybees, queen bee, bee colony, audio signal, CNN, LSTM, Electronics, TK7800-8360

الوصف: Honeybees are vital to both the agricultural industry and the wider ecological system, most importantly for their role as major pollinators of flowering plants, many of which are food crops. Honeybee colonies are dependent on having a healthy queen for their long-term survival since the queen bee is the only reproductive female in the colony. Thus, as the death or loss of the queen is of great negative impact for the well-being of a honeybee colony, beekeepers need to be aware if a queen has died in any of their hives so that appropriate remedial action can be taken. In this paper, we describe our approaches to using acoustic signals recorded in beehives and machine learning algorithms to identify whether beehives do or do not contain a healthy queen. Our results are extremely positive and should help beekeepers decide whether intervention is needed to preserve the colony in each of their hives.

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/12/7/1627Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2079-9292Test; https://doaj.org/article/84d4456ac6da4cb8bf6801ad763fb966Test

الإتاحة: https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12071627Test
https://doaj.org/article/84d4456ac6da4cb8bf6801ad763fb966Test

المؤلفون: Caterina Cibibin, Irene Leo

المصدر: Sustainability, Vol 14, Iss 1596, p 1596 (2022)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Queen bee syndrome, gender stereotypes, sports federations, Environmental effects of industries and plants, TD194-195, Renewable energy sources, TJ807-830, Environmental sciences, GE1-350

الوصف: Several studies have shown that women in top positions tend to hinder and mistreat other women; this phenomenon is known in the literature under the term “Queen bee syndrome”. The aim of this study is to investigate whether Queen bee syndrome is also present within the Italian Sports Federations. To this end, an online questionnaire was administered to Italian female coaches ( n = 516). From the statistical analyses, it emerged that coaches in the 40–49 age group attribute to themselves more masculine than feminine adjectives (Bem Sex-Role Inventory, BSRI), and also score higher on the gender stereotype scales, the Attitudes Towards Women Scale ( d = −0.1189, p < 0.05) and the Macho Scale, compared to trainers in the 18–29 age group ( d = −0.1681, p < 0.05). Moreover, a positive correlation emerges between the scores obtained on the Attitudes Towards Women Scale and Macho Scale ( r = 0.600, p <0.01) and between organizational support and affective attachment to the organization ( r = 0.529, p <0.01). Overall, all the results seem to show the presence of the Queen bee syndrome within the Italian Sports Federations. In the future, it will be interesting to evaluate additional variables involved in this phenomenon.

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1596Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050Test; https://doaj.org/article/b88e64063ca8406985949f4e33c6ad99Test

الإتاحة: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031596Test
https://doaj.org/article/b88e64063ca8406985949f4e33c6ad99Test

المؤلفون: Tong Zhao, Liming Wu, Fangfang Fan, Yaning Yang, Xiaofeng Xue

المصدر: Nutrients, Vol 14, Iss 19, p 3976 (2022)

مصطلحات موضوعية: antiaging activity, freeze-dried queen bee larva powders, Caenorhabditis elegans, transcriptome analysis, Nutrition. Foods and food supply, TX341-641

الوصف: Queen bee larva (QBL) is one kind of important edible insect that is harvested during royal jelly production process. QBL has many physiological functions; however, limited information is available regarding its antiaging effects. In this study, the antiaging function of freeze-dried QBL powder (QBLP) was investigated by combining the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) model and transcriptomics. The administration of QBLP to C. elegans was shown to improve lifespan parameters. Additionally, QBLP improved the mobility of nematodes. Transcriptome analysis showed the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in Gene Ontology (GO) terms that were almost all related to the biological functions of cell metabolism and stress, which are associated with lifespan. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis suggested that the lifespan of C. elegans was related to the longevity regulating pathway-worm. The expression levels of the key genes sod-3, gst-6, hsp-12.6, lips-7, ins-8, and lips-17 were upregulated. sod-3, hsp-12.6, lips-7, and lips-17 are downstream targets of DAF-16, which is an important transcription factor related to lifespan extension. CF1038 (daf-16(mu86)) supplemented with QBLP did not show a life-prolonging. This indicates that the antiaging function of QBLP is closely related to daf-16. Thus, QBLP is a component that could potentially be used as a functional material to ameliorate aging and aging-related symptoms.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/19/3976Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2072-6643Test

الوصول الحر: https://doaj.org/article/87da8ae103184df2ae24a21db10ffb41Test

المؤلفون: Franco Mutinelli, Matteo Mazzucato, Marco Barbujani, Emanuele Carpana, Vincenzo Di Salvo, Tiziano Gardi, Daniele Greco, Luca Bonizzoni, Massimo Benvenuti, Claudia Casarotto, Laura Bortolotti, Cecilia Costa

المصدر: Applied Sciences, Vol 11, Iss 5279, p 5279 (2021)

مصطلحات موضوعية: national beekeeping registry (BDNA), GIS, honey bee, Italy, mating station, queen bee, Technology, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), TA1-2040, Biology (General), QH301-705.5, Physics, QC1-999, Chemistry, QD1-999

الوصف: Honey bee mating is difficult to control as it occurs in flight, several kilometers away from the hive of origin of both queens and drones. In recent years, there has been an increase in the introduction into Italy of queen bees and swarms originating from interracial crossings (especially those known as “Buckfast”), or belonging to non-native subspecies. Consequently, there is a strong need to establish areas suitable for controlled mating. The Italian national beekeeping registry (BDNA) has been recently set up to monitor the position of apiaries and movement of hives, with the purpose of economic and sanitary protection and improvement of bee heritage and food safety. The BDNA was, thus, deemed a suitable tool to explore the availability of areas that could be used as mating stations. Specific criteria, such as not be classified as wetlands, altitude below 1500 m a.s.l., distance of at least 6000 m from an apiary, and distance of at least 1500 m from the national terrestrial border, were selected for defining the mating stations. Furthermore, all the remaining Italian national territory was considered suitable for settlement of mating stations, including towns, industrial settlements, and roads. Based on these criteria, the following methodological framework was applied: (1) collection of the required data (i.e., apiaries coordinates, geospatial data on soil classification, geospatial data on terrain altitude, Italian boundary geospatial data); (2) calculation for the excluded areas according with the criteria listed above; (3) calculation of the mating areas by means of the difference between the entire Italian territory and the excluded areas. The database of BDNA was used to identify them. Appropriate databases and software were used to exclude the areas of the Italian national territory that did not fulfill the established criteria. In this paper, we report the procedure applied to identify on maps the areas suitable for controlled mating of queen bees in the Italian national territory based on data ...

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/11/5279Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3417Test; https://doaj.org/article/d17fca257b9b45a7b8ec3746ff53fc42Test

الإتاحة: https://doi.org/10.3390/app11115279Test
https://doaj.org/article/d17fca257b9b45a7b8ec3746ff53fc42Test

المؤلفون: Ignazio Floris, Michelina Pusceddu, Pietro Niolu, Alberto Satta

المصدر: Insects, Vol 12, Iss 1035, p 1035 (2021)

مصطلحات موضوعية: queen bee, Apis mellifera, foraging activity, feeding behaviour, Science

الوصف: During a bee fauna survey in the countryside of northern Sardinia, a honey bee queen ( Apis mellifera L.) was detected while foraging on a borage ( Borago officinalis L.) flower in Uri, Province of Sassari, Italy, most likely during an orientation flight before mating. Morphological details, detectable from photos with the naked eye and stereomicroscopic observations, confirmed that the honey bee queen was sucking nectar from a flower. The enormous development of the abdomen, lack of pollen-collecting structures in the legs and other characteristics such as the typical distally bilobed shape of the mandibles, with long hairs on their outer surface, proved the structural differences between the queen specimen and the other castes of bees. The queen’s proboscis, which is shorter compared to the workers, may have been counterbalanced by the shape and nectar production of the borage flower. This new observation proves that the queen can feed herself under natural conditions, likely to obtain the energy required for flying. Although we cannot exclude disturbing factors that could explain this foraging behaviour of a queen observed for the first time, this note opens a new scenario and discusses this new finding in the context of the available literature on the queen’s behaviour and questions to be answered.

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/11/1035Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2075-4450Test; https://doaj.org/article/808b0fd0f7e44c10bc5a7f60efa072f8Test

الإتاحة: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12111035Test
https://doaj.org/article/808b0fd0f7e44c10bc5a7f60efa072f8Test

المؤلفون: Alessandro Terenzi, Stefania Cecchi, Susanna Spinsante

المصدر: Veterinary Sciences, Vol 7, Iss 168, p 168 (2020)

مصطلحات موضوعية: bee hive monitoring, real-time monitoring, sound measurement, swarming detection, queen bee detection, sound analysis, Veterinary medicine, SF600-1100

الوصف: Recent years have seen a worsening in the decline of honey bees ( Apis mellifera L.) colonies. This phenomenon has sparked a great amount of attention regarding the need for intense bee hive monitoring, in order to identify possible causes, and design corresponding countermeasures. Honey bees have a key role in pollination services of both cultivated and spontaneous flora, and the increase in bee mortality could lead to an ecological and economical damage. Despite many smart monitoring systems for honey bees and bee hives, relying on different sensors and measured quantities, have been proposed over the years, the most promising ones are based on sound analysis. Sounds are used by the bees to communicate within the hive, and their analysis can reveal useful information to understand the colony health status and to detect sudden variations, just by using a simple microphone and an acquisition system. The work here presented aims to provide a review of the most interesting approaches proposed over the years for honey bees sound analysis and the type of knowledge about bees that can be extracted from sounds.

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/7/4/168Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2306-7381Test; https://doaj.org/article/2c74333e32464025a0c1f0365c5738deTest

الإتاحة: https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7040168Test
https://doaj.org/article/2c74333e32464025a0c1f0365c5738deTest

المؤلفون: Michelina Pusceddu, Alberto Satta, Ignazio Floris, Pietro Niolu

المصدر: Insects, Vol 12, Iss 1035, p 1035 (2021)
Insects

مصطلحات موضوعية: biology, Queen bee, Brief Report, Science, Proboscis, Foraging, Apis mellifera, Zoology, foraging activity, Context (language use), Honey bee, biology.organism_classification, Queen (playing card), feeding behaviour, Insect Science, Nectar, Mating, queen bee

الوصف: Simple Summary Reproduction is the only task normally attributed to the queen due to its specific morpho-functional characteristics, while foraging activities are exclusively carried out by workers bees in the honey bee colony. For example, the queen’s proboscis is shorter than that of workers and, therefore, less suitable for exploring the inside of flowers to collect nectar. Olfactory and visual detection is also less developed in the queen than in workers, and it is well known how important these stimuli are in order to search for appropriate flowers and find the food source within the flower. In the countryside of northern Sardinia, a honey bee queen (Apis mellifera L.) was detected for the first time while foraging on a flower (a borage flower), most likely during an orientation flight before mating. The open, shallow corolla, and the excellent nectar secretion of the borage flower might have facilitated the queen bee activity. This new queen behaviour was based on the morphological traits of the specimen collected and photos taken in that moment. The observed foraging activity opens new and yet unexplored perspectives on the behaviour of queen bees outside the nest (or the hive), which could occasionally include tasks usually attributed only to workers. Abstract During a bee fauna survey in the countryside of northern Sardinia, a honey bee queen (Apis mellifera L.) was detected while foraging on a borage (Borago officinalis L.) flower in Uri, Province of Sassari, Italy, most likely during an orientation flight before mating. Morphological details, detectable from photos with the naked eye and stereomicroscopic observations, confirmed that the honey bee queen was sucking nectar from a flower. The enormous development of the abdomen, lack of pollen-collecting structures in the legs and other characteristics such as the typical distally bilobed shape of the mandibles, with long hairs on their outer surface, proved the structural differences between the queen specimen and the other castes of bees. The queen’s proboscis, which is shorter compared to the workers, may have been counterbalanced by the shape and nectar production of the borage flower. This new observation proves that the queen can feed herself under natural conditions, likely to obtain the energy required for flying. Although we cannot exclude disturbing factors that could explain this foraging behaviour of a queen observed for the first time, this note opens a new scenario and discusses this new finding in the context of the available literature on the queen’s behaviour and questions to be answered.

الوصول الحر: https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_dedup___::bbd06a75428b2f796d98a588c142f4deTest
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/11/1035Test

المؤلفون: Michael J. Weiser, Vivian Grimshaw, Kelly M. Wynalda, M. Hasan Mohajeri, Christopher M. Butt

المصدر: Nutrients, Vol 10, Iss 1, p 13 (2017)

مصطلحات موضوعية: queen bee acid, neuroprotection, behavior, mood, body composition, Nutrition. Foods and food supply, TX341-641

الوصف: Background: Queen bee acid (QBA; 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid) is the predominant fatty acid in royal jelly (RJ) and has activity at estrogen receptors, which affect brain function and body composition. However, few, long-term studies have assessed QBA effects in brain health and body composition. Methods: Primary hippocampal neurons were treated with QBA (0–30 µM) and challenged with glutamate or hypoxia. QBA was fed to aged, male Sprague-Dawley rats (12–24 mg/kg/day) and to adult male and female Balb/C mice (30–60 mg/kg/day) for ≥3.5 months. Rats were evaluated in a behavioral test battery of brain function. Mice were measured for fat and muscle composition, as well as bone density. Results: QBA increased neuron growth and protected against glutamate challenge and hypoxia challenge. Rats receiving QBA had reduced anxiety-like behavior, increased body weight, and better maintenance of body weight with age. Mice receiving QBA exhibited increased body weight, muscle mass, and adiposity in males, and increased bone density, but decreased adiposity, in females. Conclusions: QBA is an active component of RJ that promotes the growth and protection of neurons, reduces anxiety-like phenotypes, and benefits bone, muscle and adipose tissues in a sex-dependent manner, which further implicates estrogen receptors in the effects of QBA.

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/1/13Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2072-6643Test; https://doaj.org/article/fbe869ca6d4f422a8cd81802afd44ac2Test

الإتاحة: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10010013Test
https://doaj.org/article/fbe869ca6d4f422a8cd81802afd44ac2Test