Some essential oils as potential control agents for varroa mite () in infected honey bees ().

Background: Ecto-parasite, varroa mite, (), is the primary pest affecting the apiculture sector globally in various regions.

Aim: This study examined the toxicity of nine essential oils to L. and the acaricidal impact of those oils against .

Prevalence of mites ( Anderson & Trueman) and bee lice ( Nitzsch) in honey bee ( L.) colonies in Libya.

Background: Primary key pest affecting the apiculture business in many areas of the globe is the ecto parasite mite (), recently, bee lice have become a considerable bee pest.

Aim: In this study, the ecto parasites that infest honey bees, were investigated during the spring of 2013.

Methods: A total of 66 apiaries were investigated from different geographical regions in Libya: 34 apiaries from the southern region, 21 apiaries from the north-eastern region, and 11 apiaries from the north-western region.

Conditional discrimination and response chains by worker bumblebees (Bombus impatiens Cresson, Hymenoptera: Apidae).

We trained worker bumblebees to discriminate arrays of artificial nectaries (one, two, and three microcentrifuge tubes inserted into artificial flowers) from which they could forage in association with their location in a three-compartmental maze. Additionally, we challenged bees to learn to accomplish three different tasks in a fixed sequence during foraging. To enter the main three-compartmented foraging arena, they had first to slide open doors in an entry box to be able to proceed to an artificial flower patch in the main arena where they had to lift covers to the artificial nectaries from which they then fed.

Problem solving by worker bumblebees Bombus impatiens (Hymenoptera: Apoidea).

During foraging, worker bumblebees are challenged by simple to complex tasks. Our goal was to determine whether bumblebees could successfully accomplish tasks that are more complex than those they would naturally encounter. Once the initial training to successfully manipulate a simple, artificial flower was completed, the bees were either challenged with a series of increasingly difficult tasks or with the most difficult task without the opportunity for prior learning.