Chapters authored
Biomonitoring the Environmental Quality by Bees By Maria Claudia C. Ruvolo-Takasusuki, Ludimilla Ronqui, Ana Lúcia P.
Barateiro-Stuchi, Mayra C. Araujo, Fábio Fermino, Pedro R. Santos
and Vagner de Alencar de Toledo
Modern farming techniques have increased the crop yield, but natural habitats of the pollinator were destroyed, affecting their populations compared to native vegetation. A simple, low-cost, and efficient way to determine the presence of insecticide residues from farming is the honeybee as a bioindicator. However in Brazil, there is another species of bee, the stingless bees. The insecticide toxicity analyses the beneficial insect species as pollinators which are performed to the Apis mellifera. Stingless bees are native to tropical and subtropical zones, and they are more sensitive to pesticides than honeybees. We present some results of contamination in these bees compared to Africanized honeybees, and pose an important question: Why does the pesticide industry not make assays with stingless bees too? When insecticides were in larger concentrations, bees did not feed. When the concentration of the insecticide was smaller, Africanized honeybees consumed the polluted honey, resulting in the death of some. Finally, we report several experiments concerning honeybees, and mainly stingless bees, and the effect of pesticides in them; results show stingless bees are more sensitive than honeybees. Our Bee Research Group studied this point, and we hope to contribute for understanding this relation between bee, pesticide, and environment.
Part of the book: Herbicides
Breeding Program Design Principles for Royal Jelly By Katia Ostrovski-Tomporoski, Patrícia Faquinello, Fabiana Martins
Costa-Maia, Maria Claudia Ruvolo-Takasusuki, Pedro da Rosa
Santos and Vagner Arnaut de Toledo
This research was carried out to infer the genetic value to produce royal jelly in Africanized Apis mellifera L. honeybees with the compilation of data collected from 2006 to 2011. Genetic information of the selected and accessed colonies was obtained using the total DNA extraction techniques of nurse honeybees’ thorax with molecular markers for MRJP3 protein and characterized in Apis mellifera L. From the information on the colonies and genealogical structure were predicted genetic values of the colonies and queens for the larvae acceptance trait (%), royal jelly per colony (g), and royal jelly per cup (mg). Animal model with Bayesian Inference was used from Multiple Trait Gibbs Sampling software in Animal Models, Gibbs chains 58,500 cycles resulting from 650,000 cycles with intervals and disposal of 65,000 and 10 withdraw, respectively. From the predicted values, the colonies were classified into upper and lower. To compare the average of the genetic values according to the genotypes, the average multiple comparison tests were proceeded and implemented in routine PROC GENMOD from the Statistical Analysis System. Environmental effects were considered, time and hive type (standard Langstroth) as having flat distribution and collection as chi-square distribution. The studies presented an increase in the alleles C and D and the alleles D and E—referring to MRJPs—found in the highest genetic value for royal jelly production. Alleles D, E, and C are important when evaluating the parameters larvae acceptance, royal jelly per colony, and royal jelly per cup and, occasionally, it was the DE genotype that stood out royal jelly production. Genotypes DE, DC, and EC are those that should be kept in this evaluation system for royal jelly production, and the other genotypes should be discarded because they had the worst performance for the parameters evaluated.
Part of the book: Beekeeping and Bee Conservation
Improvement and Selection of Honeybees Assisted by Molecular Markers By Maria Claudia Colla Ruvolo-Takasusuki, Arielen Patricia Balista
Casagrande Pozza, Ana Paula Nunes Zago Oliveira, Rejane Stubs
Parpinelli, Fabiana Martins Costa-Maia, Patricia Faquinello and
Vagner de Alencar Arnaut de Toledo
Royal jelly is an important apiarian product for honeybees and has been used as an important ingredient to human health and healthy life style. Because of its wide use, there is great demand in their production. As royal jelly is a secretion of the cephalic glands of bees and it is produced at a certain age of the workers, it is necessary to perform the selection of producing queens to increase the amount produced. The employment of molecular markers is a tool that can be used to identify the genotypes of the best producers. Among the molecular markers, one of them called MRJP3 (Major Royal Jelly Protein 3) has been used in the Program of Improvement of Apis mellifera Royal Jelly Producing (PIAMRJP), State University of Maringá, Brazil. This molecular marker has been efficient in genotyping queens’ royal jelly producers. Combined with classical breeding studies, the selection of queens assisted by MRJP3 marker has allowed to keep the selected genotypes for royal jelly production since 2006 (10 years). In this chapter, we present the main aspects of royal jelly, the hypopharyngeal glands, the major proteins of royal jelly and how it can be used as molecular markers.
Part of the book: Beekeeping and Bee Conservation
Benefits of Entomophile Pollination in Crops of Brassica napus and Aspects of Plant Floral Biology By Emerson D. Chambó, Simone C. Camargo, Regina C. Garcia, Carlos
A.L. Carvalho, Maria Claudia C. Ruvolo-Takasusuki, Ludimilla
Ronqui, Claudio Silva Júnior, Pedro R. Santos and Vagner de Alencar
Arnaut de Toledo
Rapeseed (Brassica napus L. var. oleifera) is an oleaginous species of the Brassicaceae family, being the third most produced oleaginous in the world. Rapeseed can produce fruits and seeds from both self-pollination and cross-pollination. However, cross-pollination rate is approximately 30% and may suffer variations due to the abundance and diversity of pollinator insects, cultivar and meteorological conditions. Different researchers have reported that pollination by insects, especially Apis mellifera honeybee, on rapeseed flowers provides an increase in productivity, improving yield and contributing to the uniformity and initial pod establishment. It is estimated that the economic value of A. mellifera honeybees for rapeseed cultivation in Brazil is US$ 8.2 million. The objective of this chapter is gathering data for a compilation of information regarding rapeseed culture and the importance of A. mellifera in Brassica napus pollination.
Part of the book: Brassica Germplasm
Development of Beekeeping: An Analysis Using the Technique of Principal Components By Emerson Dechechi Chambó, Regina Conceição Garcia, Fernando
Cunha, Carlos Alfredo Lopes de Carvalho, Daiane de Jesus Oliveira,
Maiara Janine Machado Caldas, Nardel Luiz Soares da Silva,
Ludimilla Ronqui, Claudio da Silva Júnior, Pedro da Rosa Santos and
Vagner de Alencar Arnaut de Toledo
Beekeeping is an economic activity of the Brazilian agricultural sector and a powerful tool to achieve sustainable development. However, beekeeping still remains a modest activity compared to other areas, with a lack of technical knowledge and beekeeping practices that need to be standardized. This study represents a proposal for the diagnosis of beekeeping, to facilitate decision-making and to provide a faster development of the beekeeping activity. We investigated the process of adoption of beekeeping practices of 28 beekeepers and the quality of the honey produced by them in the Western region of Paraná, using the technique of Principal Components Analysis after the construction of apicultural indexes. Specifically, the honey produced in the Western region of Paraná be included in the requirements of national and international legislation, but the beekeeping practices adopted still require standardization so that the beekeepers have higher honey production. Also, the transformation of variables into apicultural indexes for later use in the analysis of principal components proved to be efficient to draw a beekeeping profile. Our research proves to be efficient in accurately diagnosing beekeeping bottlenecks, which may enable better decision-making and thus attract new entrepreneurs and increase their relevance to achieve sustainable rural development.
Part of the book: Insect Science
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