Chronic oral toxicity protocol for adult solitary bees (Osmia bicornis L.): Reduced survival under long-term exposure to a "bee-safe" insecticide.

Pollinators are essential for crop productivity. Yet, in agricultural areas, they may be threatened by pesticide exposure. Current pesticide risk assessments predominantly focus on honey bees, with a lack of standardized protocols for solitary bees.

Population genetic diversity and dynamics of the honey bee brood pathogen Melissococcus plutonius in a region with high prevalence.

European foulbrood (EFB) is a honey bee brood disease caused by the bacterium Melissococcus plutonius. Large-scale EFB outbreaks have been reported in several countries in recent decades, which entail costly sanitation measures of affected apiaries to restrict the spread of this contagious pathogen. To mitigate its impact, a better understanding of the population dynamics of the etiological agent is required.

Correlation Between Increased Homing Flight Duration and Altered Gene Expression in the Brain of Honey Bee Foragers After Acute Oral Exposure to Thiacloprid and Thiamethoxam.

Neonicotinoids as thiamethoxam and thiacloprid are suspected to be implicated in the decline of honey bee populations. As nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists, they disturb acetylcholine receptor signaling in insects, leading to neurotoxicity and are therefore globally used as insecticides. Several behavioral studies have shown links between neonicotinoid exposure of bees and adverse effects on foraging activity, homing flight performance and reproduction, but the molecular aspects underlying these effects are not well-understood.

Putative determinants of virulence in , the bacterial agent causing European foulbrood in honey bees.

is a bacterial pathogen that causes epidemic outbreaks of European foulbrood (EFB) in honey bee populations. The pathogenicity of a bacterium depends on its virulence, and understanding the mechanisms influencing virulence may allow for improved disease control and containment. Using a standardized assay, we demonstrate that virulence varies greatly among sixteen isolates from five European countries.

Under Review: Data Requirements and Method Development of a New Bee Risk Assessment Scheme for Plant Protection Product Registration.

An up-to-date ecotoxicological risk assessment of plant protection products (PPPs) depends on the constant improvement of risk assessment methods and guidelines, and a thorough evaluation of their impacts. Here, we explain how the risk assessment of PPPs with regard to bees and the authorisation of PPPs is conducted in Switzerland. We further report the design and application of a new method to study homing flights of honey bees using the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technique.

Comparative Genomics and Description of Putative Virulence Factors of , the Causative Agent of European Foulbrood Disease in Honey Bees.

In Europe, approximately 84% of cultivated crop species depend on insect pollinators, mainly bees. (the Western honey bee) is the most important commercial pollinator worldwide. The Gram-positive bacterium is the causative agent of European foulbrood (EFB), a global honey bee brood disease.

Triplex real-time PCR method for the qualitative detection of European and American foulbrood in honeybee.

The bacteria Melissococcus plutonius and Paenibacillus larvae, causative agents of respectively European and American foulbrood, damage honeybee health worldwide. Here, we present a specific and sensitive qualitative triplex real-time PCR method to detect simultaneously those microbial agents and a honeybee gene, validated through a study involving 7 laboratories through Europe.