the oriental pied hornbill ( anthracoceros albirostris ) is an indo-malayan pied hornbill , a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the bucerotidae family .

two other common names for this species are sunda pied hornbill ( convexus ) and malaysian pied hornbill .

the species is considered to be among the smallest and most common of the asian hornbills .

it has the largest distribution in the genus and is found in the indian subcontinent and throughout southeast asia .

its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests .

the oriental pied hornbill 's diet includes fruit , insects and small reptiles .

oriental pied hornbill

gh , great hornbill ; wh , wreathed hornbill ; oph , oriental pied hornbill .
birds of india - photo of oriental pied hornbill - anthracoceros albirostris by johnny wee .
these oriental pied hornbill species have moderate forest dependency . these species occur in altitudes from 0 to 700 meters .
deniz martinez set
oriental pied hornbill ( anthracoceros albirostris ) male
as an exemplar on
bucerotiformes
.
the breeding season of the three hornbill species ( great hornbill , wreathed hornbill , oriental pied hornbill ) in pakke starts by first week of march and ends by last week of july to first week of august .
the oriental pied - hornbill is classified as least concern ( lc ) on the iucn red list ( 1 ) .
hi there , the oriental pied hornbill shown in the picture is feeding on ficus superba fruits ( sea fig ) .
information on the oriental pied - hornbill ( anthracoceros albirostris ) is currently being researched and written and will appear here shortly .
nesting observations of the oriental pied hornbill by dr chan kai soon of the malayan nature society : a fascinating record of observations .
thanks to tan teo seng for his input . image of oriental pied hornbill by hk tang and of roxburg ' s fig by yc .
number of wild oriental pied hornbills in singapore increase ten - fold since 2005 through joint conservation efforts .
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with the knowledge gained from observing these birds in the bird park , artificial nest boxes were introduced to pulau ubin , which greatly increased the breeding of the oriental pied hornbills . during the length of the five year project , oriental pied hornbill numbers in the wild increased from around 10 individuals to 50 individuals . today there are between 75 – 100 wild oriental pied hornbills in singapore .
these oriental pied hornbill species inhabit artificial ecosystems like agricultural fields and plantations . the natural ecosystem of these hornbill species includes subtropical and tropical dry forests , subtropical and tropical moist lowlands and dry savanna with scattered trees .
another point to be noted is that the oriental pied hornbill has the capacity to develop into a scavenger bird , if given the chance link 1 and link 2 .
on 10 july , the bonded pair and one male hornbill will set forth from jurong bird park for pulau ubin to be released . they will join an estimated 60 oriental pied hornbills on the offshore island . the release site was chosen as it is the same location from which three oriental pied hornbill eggs were rescued in january this year .
oriental pied - hornbill anthracoceros albirostris family bucerotidae updated oct 2016 where seen ? oriental pied - hornbills are commonly seen on pulau ubin and sometimes also at changi . they are the only truly wild hornbills found on singapore . unlike most other hornbills , oriental pied - hornbills can be found outside primary rainforests and may visit inhabited areas to feed on fruit . but they still depend on large living trees for nesting sites .
jeremiah loei ’s oriental pied hornbill ( anthracoceros albirostris ) footage of a male feeding a female sealed inside the nesting cavity ( below ) was documented in changi village in early 2013s .
singapore , 08 march 2013 – in a global first , three oriental pied hornbill eggs rescued from pulau ubin have been successfully incubated and hatched at jurong bird park’s breeding & research centre .
a few hornbill birds had decided to fly in and join us for breakfast . they are known as , oriental pied hornbill . their scientific name is , antharacoceros albirostris albirostris . for more in formation on hornbills in malaysia , go to : urltoken
the oriental pied hornbill species are distributed in india , nepal , bhutan , bangladesh , myanmar , china , thailand , cambodia , laos , vietnam , malaysia , singapore , indonesia and brunei .
an oriental pied hornbill in jurong bird park being measured from bill tip to rear bill intersection prior to a planned release for the purpose of increasing the genetic pool of the species’ wild population .
three species of hornbills ( great hornbill , wreathed hornbill , oriental pied hornbill ) occur in pakke ' s forests , while the globally endangered rufous - necked hornbill is restricted to higher elevations . a four - year ( 1997 - 2000 ) study in pakke on these sympatric hornbills has provided an understanding into various aspects of hornbill biology including their breeding biology , diet , nest and roost site requirements and their functional role as seed dispersers .
i personally have seen an oriental pied hornbill with a changeable lizard in its mouth . true , but astonishing nevertheless . it was
scouting
around my school campus , but left after a few days
release will add to the genetic pool of oriental pied hornbills in the wild ; bird unsighted in singapore for over 140 years prior to 1994 .
in view of the above , a study needs to be initiated to look into the optimum number of oriental pied hornbills that singapore can sustain link .
an oriental pied hornbill at the singapore botanic gardens on jan 30 , 2017 . they are usually found in small groups , feeding at fruit trees . it also eats small lizards , snakes , and large arthropods .
the iucn ( international union for conservation of nature ) has categorized and evaluated the hornbill species and has listed it as of
least concern
. cites ( the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora ) status is ‘evaluated’ for the oriental pied hornbill (
the diet and food resource partitioning of three sympatric hornbills ( great hornbill buceros bicornis , wreathed hornbill aceros undulatus , and oriental pied hornbill anthracoceros albirostris ) during the nonbreeding season were studied relative to fruit availability in a foothill semievergreen forest of arunachal pradesh , northeast india . hornbills fed on fruits of 49 plant species that . . . [ show full abstract ]
the oriental pied hornbill usually nest in cavities in large trees . trees of the species bombax ceiba , careya arborea , cordia myxa , lagerstroemia parviflora and mitragyma parviflora are prefered . the female hornbill after selecting the nesting cavity , cements the tree hollow with her saliva , mud , droppings and fruit pulp .
jurong bird park has one of the largest collections of hornbills globally , with 17 species represented . the park has 17 oriental pied hornbills , some of which can be seen at the hornbills & toucans exhibit . during breeding season which takes place from november to march , cameras will be installed in the oriental pied hornbill exhibit , and visitors can catch a glimpse of nesting activities through television screens placed at the exhibit .
jurong bird park has one of the largest collections of hornbills globally , with 17 species represented . the park has 16 oriental pied hornbills , some of which can be seen at the hornbills & toucans exhibit . during breeding season which takes place from november to march , cameras will be installed in the oriental pied hornbill exhibit , and visitors can catch a glimpse of nesting activities through television screens placed at the exhibit .
oriental pied hornbills are locally common to abundant throughout much of their range . some areas of the range are experiencing a decline in the population due to extensive deforestation . it is the most common of the hornbill species found in s . vietnam .
although the smalles hornbill of aisa , oriental pied hornbills are still fialry large and very attractive birds displaying interesting behaviour patterns . they are therefore a very valuable species for educational purposes as well as ambassadors for their endangered habitat the ropical rain forest .
the oriental pied hornbill can be found in a broad range from eastern india into the indonesian islands . the range includes india , nepal , bhutan , vietnam , laos , cambodia , thailand , china , malaysia , singapore , indonesia , and borneo .
an oriental pied hornbill in holland drive on jan 13 , 2017 . it was extinct in singapore for nearly a century , but recolonised pulau ubin in the early 1990s . due to an extensive reintroduction programme , it has spread widely on mainland singapore .
3 oriental pied hornbill eggs were rescued from pulau ubin and brought to jurong bird park . all three chicks eat 11 , eight and four days old respectively . this is the first time globally oph eggs from the wild have been successfully artificially incubated .
3 oriental pied hornbill eggs were rescued from pulau ubin and brought to jurong bird park . chicks at 24 days old , 20 days old and 16 days old . this is the first time globally oph eggs from the wild have been successfully artificially incubated .
jurong bird park is the first institution globally to successfully incubate and hatch oriental pied hornbills . the park has one of the largest collections of hornbills globally , with 17 species represented .
at top : rhinoceros hornbill pair ( image by jp bennett ) ; below : knobbed hornbill or sulawesi wreathed hornbill aceros cassidix ( image by tobias ) . images licensed under creative commons attribution - share alike 2 . 0 generic license .
these hornbill species are distributed in india , nepal , bhutan , bangladesh , china and southeast asia . the oriental pied hornbills are large , frugivorous , canopy - dwelling birds , inhabiting tropical and subtropical moist lowland forests . there are two recognized subspecies of these hornbills .
the breeding season of these oriental pied hornbill species is during february to april in mainland asia . the breeding season is from september to may in indonesian and malaysian islands . these birds are monogamous and territorial . they usually use the same nest site year after year .
the typical oriental pied hornbill clutch contains three to four white eggs . the female moults off her flight feathers in the nest cavity . a small hole is retained in the entrance to the nest through which the female and the young void excreta and receive food from the male .
. . . the oriental pied hornbill ( anthracoceros albirostris ) is one of the many hornbills that is currently being threatened due to fledglings trading and forest clearance ( wells , 1999 ) . however , the species is known to have high adaptability to habitat changes and excellently endured disruptive anthropogenic activity i . e . by nesting in logged forest ( datta and rawat , 2004 ) . a group of 30 oriental pied hornbills were frequently observed roaming in sungai panjang in 2008 . . . .
chaiyarat , rattanawat kongprom , urarikha manathamkamon , darika wanpradab , sunan and sangarang , satean 2012 . captive breeding and reintroduction of the oriental pied hornbill ( anthracoceros albirostris ) in khao kheow open zoo , thailand . zoo biology , vol . 31 , issue . 6 , p . 683 .
singapore , 8 july 2013 - in an effort to diversify the genetic pool of wild hornbills in singapore , jurong bird park will release three oriental pied hornbills from their collection to pulau ubin on 10 july .
singapore , 8 july 2013 – in an effort to diversify the genetic pool of wild hornbills in singapore , jurong bird park will release three oriental pied hornbills from their collection to pulau ubin on 10 july .
earlier in march , the bird park became the first institution globally to successfully artificially incubate and hatch three oriental pied hornbill eggs , which had been rescued from pulau ubin by officers from the national parks board ( nparks ) . these three chicks have been absorbed into the park’s collection . retaining these three chicks enables the park to increase the breeding genetic pool of the existing collection . similarly , releasing three other birds to pulau ubin gives the wild population of oriental pied hornbills greater diversity in the genetic pool .
55–60 cm ; male 680–907 g , female 567–879 g . medium - sized , pied hornbill with white belly and trailing edge to wings . male nominate race with white tips to . . .
the diet of these oriental pied hornbill species is mostly wild fruits . figs , wild fruits , berries , large insects , small birds , lizards , frogs and fish are their primary food . protein - rich and lipid - rich fruits and small animals are their favorite food during the breeding season .
earlier in march , the bird park became the first institution globally to successfully artificially incubate and hatch three oriental pied hornbill eggs , which had been rescued from pulau ubin by officers from the national parks board ( nparks ) . these three chicks have been absorbed into the park ' s collection . retaining these three chicks enables the park to increase the breeding genetic pool of the existing collection . similarly , releasing three other birds to pulau ubin gives the wild population of oriental pied hornbills greater diversity in the genetic pool .
the immature oriental pied hornbill is similar in appearance to the adult birds , but is lacking the green sheen to the feathers on the upperparts of the bird . the bill is smaller overall and the casque is undeveloped . the circumorbital skin is white with tinges of pink . the eyes are dark brown .
hornbill sites ( 1 old and inactive ) . of these , 19 were located in arunachal
nest - site in 2000 . two monitor lizards occupied a wreathed hornbill nest - site in
in summary , we know that oriental pied hornbills like ripe papaya fruits , they tear into the fruit using their powerful bill to retrieve morsels of flesh , are messy eaters and then use ballistic transport to feed themselves .
the overall plumage of oriental pied hornbill is black and white . the plumage of the head , neck , back , wings and upper breast is black . there is slight greenish sheen on the back . the lower breast , abdomen , thighs , under - wing , undertail and the trailing edge to wings are white .
great hornbill nest holes tended to be more elongated ( 63 . 6 % ) and those of
table 1 . pearson’s correlation coefficient matrix between nest - tree variables for four sympatric hornbill species .
hornbill abundance in unlogged forest , selectively logged forest and a forest plantation in arunacha . . .
the male oriental pied hornbill regurgitates the berries one at a time , shifting it to the the tip of the bill , passes it on to the female . the female feeds the nestlings . the chicks remain in the nest for several weeks before fledging . these species may abandon their nesting site when there is human disturbance .
animal foods as for animal foods , oriental pied hornbills have been observed taking insects link 1 , link 2 , link 3 and their caterpillars link ; spiders link ; crabs link 1 and link 2 ; and little heron’s eggs link .
there aren ' t many hornbill toys : here ' s a rhinoceros hornbill ( l ) and great hornbill . lest you think this image is out of place , remember that toys and other bits of paraphernalia can serve useful roles in education and promoting environmental and zoological awareness . image by darren naish .
breeding season for the hornbills takes place annually from november to may the following year . visitors to the bird park during this time may be able to catch a glimpse of the sealed - in nestbox , which typically signifies that the female hornbill and her eggs are in there . a narrow slit is left for the male hornbill to feed the female and eventually the chicks , until the female and chicks break out of the sealed - in nestbox . the great pied hornbill is the heaviest asian hornbill and is notoriously difficult to breed in captivity , due to their extreme selectivity for mates , as well as the long and strong pair bonds they form . it is listed as a threatened species because of hunting and habitat loss . the oriental pied hornbill was last sighted in singapore more than 150 years ago , but it was only recently that they were once again sighted in 1994 . they are the only truly wild hornbills found here . the black hornbill is a common species of hornbill found in various parts of asia , such as brunei darussalam , indonesia , malaysia , singapore and thailand .
thanks yc for responding . i was thinking of chasing it away to save the eggs but looking at the size of the hornbill i am afraid it may attack me instead . does hornbill attack human ? i
“nparks has been working closely with jurong bird park and the singapore avian conservation project team in hornbill conservation since 2004 . due to the concerted efforts of the parties involved , the population of oriental pied hornbills in the wild has increased from a few individuals to about 100 hornbills all over singapore . in addition to being a part of singapore’s natural heritage , oriental pied hornbills are also natural dispersers of seeds . as such , the birds reach various areas in singapore , including remote forested areas in our nature reserves , re - populating the island with plants . this adds to the rich biodiversity of flora and fauna in our city in a garden . today , we are very excited with another step in our ex - situ conservation efforts and the release of three oriental pied hornbills , ” said wong tuan wah , director ( conservation ) , nparks .
. . . in addition , the strongest trees can survive longer than other trees , so the possibility of using it as a nest was higher than other trees . based on the nesting characteristics of hornbill nests , datta and rawat ( 2004 ) explained that there were differences in nest characteristics among the wreathed hornbill ( rhyticeros undulatus ) , great hornbill ( buceros bicornis ) , and oriental pied hornbill ( anthracoceros albirostris ) . the differences included the height of the nests , nest thickness , and the shape of the nest . the average nest height for wreathed hornbill in java and sumatra ranged between 18 - 26 m and the height and nest inner width were between 45 - 47 x 60 - 85m , and nest shape was generally rounded ( marthy 2008 ) . . . .
singapore , 12 july 2010 – it’s a full house , as far as the breeding season goes , at the jurong bird park , with successful hatchings by four different species of birds , one of which is highly endangered . the park , which is the world’s largest bird park and one of four wildlife attractions by wildlife reserves singapore ( wrs ) , the others being night safari , singapore zoo and the upcoming river safari , recently hatched four red - fronted macaws , a great pied hornbill , an oriental pied hornbill and a black hornbill . the hatchings are part of an on - going award - winning breeding programme at the park , which is dedicated to the conservation of avian species .
nparks has been working closely with jurong bird park and the singapore avian conservation project team in hornbill conservation since 2004 . due to the concerted efforts of the parties involved , the population of oriental pied hornbills in the wild has increased from a few individuals to about 100 hornbills all over singapore . in addition to being a part of singapore ' s natural heritage , oriental pied hornbills are also natural dispersers of seeds . as such , the birds reach various areas in singapore , including remote forested areas in our nature reserves , re - populating the island with plants . this adds to the rich biodiversity of flora and fauna in our city in a garden . today , we are very excited with another step in our ex - situ conservation efforts and the release of three oriental pied hornbills ,
said wong tuan wah , director ( conservation ) , nparks .
the oriental pied hornbill disappeared from singapore in the mid - 1800s , possibly due to hunting and loss of suitable habitats . in 1994 , a pair was sighted on pulau ubin . once virtually disappeared from singapore , the bird is today re - establishing healthy colonies here , thanks to the collective efforts of the nparks , jurong bird park , and singapore avian conservation project ( sacp ) . for more information about the singapore hornbill project , please refer to annex a .
i had the opportunity to observe a family of oriental pied hornbills ( anthracoceros albirostris ) flying towards a kampung house at pulau ubin . one of the adult proceeded to land on a large papaya tree . this tree happen to have one ripe papaya fruit .
a recipient of many firsts , the bird park was the first globally to successfully breed the black hornbill in captivity in 1995 . the bird park was also the first in the world to breed the twelve - wired bird of paradise in captivity and received the breeders’ award from the american pheasant and waterfowl society in 2001 . they were also a recipient of the conservation & research award for oriental pied hornbill conservation project by iv international symposium on breeding birds in captivity in 2006 .
) is a medium - sized , pied hornbill , measuring 55 to 60 cm in length . the males are slightly larger and weigh 680 to 900 grams whereas the females weigh 570 to 880 grams . the wingspan is 25 to 35 cm .
the oriental pied hornbill disappeared from singapore in the mid - 1800s , possibly due to hunting and loss of suitable habitats . in 1994 , a pair was sighted on pulau ubin . once virtually disappeared from singapore , the bird is today re - establishing healthy colonies here , thanks to the collective efforts of the nparks , jurong bird park , and singapore avian conservation project ( sacp ) .
the oriental pied hornbill feeds mainly on fruit such as knema globularia , but also take small animals such as reptiles , birds and mammals . they nest in suitable hole in tree . the female hornbill is sealed inside the hole with a plaster of mud and fibres . the male gathers and delivers earth and food to the female . a narrow slit is left open to allow the male to feed the female and the chicks . the male brings mostly fruits , insects and lizards , and sometimes small birds .
oriental pied hornbills are found on the forest edges and in open moist and evergreen forests . the habitat also includes coastal , riverine , secondary forest , and selectively logged forests , offshore islands , bamboo brakes , forested islands , wooded gardens , rice paddies , and irrigated fields .
post breeding , the oriental hornbill juveniles may disperse and establish in new locations within the range . they may make local movements for feeding and breeding within their range . in non - breeding season , there may be flock formation and local movement in some populations .
“it is well known that oriental pied hornbills ( anthracoceros albirostris ) nest with the female sealed inside a nesting hole and will depend entirely on the male to deliver food to her and their chicks during their nesting here . the male is also known to feed the female during courtship here .
in india , these oriental pied hornbills are distributed in the states of punjab , haryana , himachal pradesh , uttarakhand , uttar pradesh , madhya pradesh , chhattisgarh , jharkhand , bihar , andhra pradesh , odisha , west bengal , assam , meghalaya , arunachal pradesh , nagaland , manipur and tripura .
marsden , s . j . and jones , m . j . ( 1997 ) the nesting requirements of the parrots and hornbill
kemp , a . c . & boesman , p . ( 2018 ) . oriental pied hornbill ( anthracoceros albirostris ) . in : del hoyo , j . , elliott , a . , sargatal , j . , christie , d . a . & de juana , e . ( eds . ) . handbook of the birds of the world alive . lynx edicions , barcelona . ( retrieved from urltoken on 9 july 2018 ) .
controlled observations using nesting box cremades & ng ( 2012 ) reported that the male oriental pied hornbill , during a breeding period of 85 days , brought a total of 42 . 64 kg ( 87 . 6 % ) of plant foods and 6 . 02 kg ( 12 . 4 % ) of animal foods to feed the female and four chicks ( the fourth chick was subsequently cannabilised ) . details of plant and animal foods are given below :
not sure what you can do other than chase the hornbill away whenever it visits . this is nature at its wildest . . .
the diet consists mainly of fruit items , but also includes various insects and small vertebrates . the pied hornbill is one of the few to eat the large ficus aurantiacea figs , however figs are not as significant of portion of the diet as in other hornbill species . other species of fruit consumed include palm fruit , papaw / papaya , melanoxylon berries , oil - palm fruits , and the small fruits of the lianas plants . the pied hornbill also consumes insects that are hawked in flight , small birds such as finches and swallows , frogs , lizards , snakes , grasshoppers , and fish . nest predation has been observed on various species of birds . the birds have not been observed drinking water in the wild .
“increasing the genetic pool of oriental pied hornbills or any other bird is important to the conservation of the species because it allows for a healthier population of these birds . with more genetic diversity , the species is less susceptible to diseases , ” said dr minerva bongco - nuqui , curator , avian , jurong bird park .
“this is the first time oriental pied hornbills have been successfully artificially incubated , and it represents a big step in the conservation of these magnificent creatures native to singapore and south east asia , ” said dr luis carlos neves , dvm , assistant director , avian , jurong bird park . “oriental pied hornbills have very unique breeding behavior wherein the female seals herself into a tree cavity to lay eggs and raise the chicks . it is extremely challenging to artificially incubate these eggs , and it is rarely attempted . the fact that we have succeeded is good news for the global avian community as there is currently very limited data on these fascinating birds . ”
increasing the genetic pool of oriental pied hornbills or any other bird is important to the conservation of the species because it allows for a healthier population of these birds . with more genetic diversity , the species is less susceptible to diseases ,
said dr minerva bongco - nuqui , curator , avian , jurong bird park .
the three oriental pied hornbills selected for release are captive bred , and include a bonded pair and a male . in preparation for the release and to allow these birds to acclimatise , whole fruit found on the island have been introduced into their diet . these birds were also tested to be free from diseases before the release .
plant foods in singapore and peninsular malaysia , we have documented that the oriental pied hornbills ( anthracoceros albirostris ) take fruits from 15 families and 23 species of plants , as shown below , but this does not mean that they do not take other species as well . it is just that we have yet to document them .
mainly of fruit items , insects and small vertebrates . the oriental pied - hornbill is classified as least concern ( lc ) on the iucn red list ( 1 ) . in the thai - malay peninsula , the species threatened by off - take for the trade in fledglings an outright forest clearance . this species also has traditionally been captured for the local pet trade . deforestation in the region and overall human pressure on the environment pose real threats to the local survival of the species .
credit : yc wee ( text ) , dr leong tzi ming ( hornbill eating fig ) & dr tan heok hui ( eating spider ) .
was investigated in a lowland tropical forest in arunachal pradesh , north - east india during 1997–2000 . information on two nests of rufous - necked hornbill
the oriental pied hornbills selected for release include a bonded pair which are captive bred and a male which was donated to the park . in preparation for the release and to allow these birds to acclimatise , whole fruit found on the island have been introduced into their diet . these birds were also tested to be free from diseases before the release .
the hornbill flew to the nesting tree with a fig held at the tip of its pair of mandibles . it then flew to the nesting cavity , positioning itself outside the sealed opening . the male hornbill then passed on the fig through the narrow slit of an opening to the female sealed within .
“in addition to being able to marvel at these beautiful birds which are part of the singaporean heritage , the significant increase in oriental pied hornbill numbers in the wild means that singapore has more natural fruit dispersers . these mid - sized birds regurgitate some fruit whole , while other fruit are dropped along the way before they are eaten . in this manner , the birds reach areas in singapore which are untouched and even unknown , helping to re - populate the island with fruit trees , ” noted dr luis carlos neves .
oriental pied hornbill was previously named in error as anthracoceros malabaricus . there are two distinct subspecies ; the subspecies in india is a . albirostris . males : length : 70 - 85 cm , body weight : 680 - 907 g ; females : length : 60 - 65 centimeters , body weight : 500 - 879 gm . when flying , it can be differentiated from the similar - looking malabar pied hornbill by its tail , which has more black . male has creamy bill with large black base on mandible , large casque is cylindrical with black projecting front part , female bill and casque smaller , marked with black , lower mandible has dark red spot . they are very noisy and often call with squeals and chuckles ; mostly their call is a cackling kek - kek - kek - kek . both have pale blue skin around eyes and on throat .
“a flock of oriental pied hornbills were foraging amongst the matured trees at pasir ris park recently . they were seen catching caterpillars from the foliage and even from the bark of trees . while photographing a pair , i was surprised to witness the female sharing her caterpillar with the male , which was conveniently perched just next to her . sharing these images , which documented the sequence of the feeding :
chamutpong , s . , ponglikitmongkol , m . , charoennitikul , w . , mudsri , s . & poonswad . p . 2013 . hybridisation in the wild between the great hornbill ( buceros bicornis ) and the rhinoceros hornbill ( buceros rhinoceros ) in thailand and its genetic assessment . raffles bulletin of zoology 61 , 349 - 358 .
ahead of the release , the oriental pied hornbills have undergone a physical measurement and health check . data like the microchip number , sex , age , body length and casque length were recorded and kept for conservation and research purposes . conservationists can extrapolate from this data as a reference point and make inferences to the general overview of the population , to understand the group’s dynamics , leading to better management of the population .
datta , a . 1998 . hornbill abundance in unlogged forest , selectively logged forest , and a forest plantation in arunachal pradesh , india . oryx 32 , 285 - 294 .
ahead of the release , the oriental pied hornbills have undergone a physical measurement and health check . data like the microchip number , sex , age , body length and casque length were recorded and kept for conservation and research purposes . conservationists can extrapolate from this data as a reference point and make inferences to the general overview of the population , to understand the group ' s dynamics , leading to better management of the population .
not globally threatened ( least concern ) . cites ii . the commonest asian hornbill in most areas across its wide range , but has declined rapidly within small chinese range . . .
hornbill at tasman serasi came to my balcony and eaten up the green pigeon egg and once a young chick . how do i protect my dear lovely wild pigeon ? any suggestion please !
anthracoceros albirostris is found in south nepal , south bhutan , north bangladesh , northern and north - eastern india , myanmar , mergui archipelago , southern china , vietnam , laos , cambodia , and parts of thailand , singapore , and north - east peninsular malaysia . its range possibly overlaps with malabar pied hornbill ( a . coronatus ) in south bihar , and hill forests of orissa and west bengal , but there are no known hybrids .
, an emergent deciduous softwood , relatively common in lowland foothill forests . no difference was recorded in nest - tree species or nesting habitats of sympatric hornbills , but there were a few differences in structural characteristics of nest - trees . cavity size was the main variable separating the three species . great hornbills used larger cavities while oriental pied hornbills used smaller cavities closer to riverine areas . nesting was attempted at 64 % of known sites and successful fledging of chicks was 80 % overall (
in 2003 , we initiated a long - term monitoring program in pakke to ensure protection of hornbills and crucial nesting and roosting habitat , continue scientific monitoring of hornbill populations , and assess nest site availability .
hornbills are among the most charismatic , fascinating and awesome of birds , yet surprisingly little is known about them , dedicated studies are few , and they are incredibly elusive and hard to study . approximately 60 hornbill species occur across tropical africa and asia , and also in the middle east and australasia . these are birds of superlatives . the largest species have wingspans of over 1 . 5 m and weigh as much as 6 kg ( in the case of the southern ground hornbill bucorvus leadbeateri ) ; some ( the great hornbill buceros bicornis and southern ground hornbill ) can reportedly live for more than 60 or even 70 years . sexual dimorphism is extreme in some species , with the males of some being as much as 66 % larger than the females . hornbills are slow to mature , buceros not breeding until four or five years of age .
the oriental pied hornbill , an iconic bird in singapore , near a tree cavity in holland drive on jan 20 . it is an uncommon and endangered resident bird . the species was extinct in singapore for nearly a century but recolonised pulau ubin in the early 1990s . due to an extensive reintroduction programme , the hornbills have gone on to spread more widely on mainland singapore . the birds are usually found feeding at fruit trees in small groups . they eat small lizards , snakes and large arthropods . and they look large and spectacular with their huge bills and a prominent casque . they are the only truly wild hornbills found in singapore and play an important role in the health of forests , dispersing seeds that are too big for smaller birds to eat .
hmm , this is all seeming a bit familiar . did similar evolutionary pressures drive the evolution of hornbill , cassowary and ornithischian casques and crests ? it looks plausible that , yes , they did . images by darren naish .
jurong bird park welcomed the first hornbill chick hatchling on 25 january , weighing 22 . 6g . the second chick hatched 3 days later on 28 january , weighing 21 . 8g . the last chick hatched on 1 february , at 20g .
conclusion as expected , plants provide the main source of food for the oriental pied hornbills . figs , palm fruits and papaya make up the main food source . all these can be sourced from the urban landscape except that figs can also be found on a large scale in forests and wasteland . unless we have a broad base of food plants available in the nature reserves ( in addition to figs ) , the hornbills will look for their food source from parks , public gardens as well as backyard gardens ( for fruits like papaya , guava , rambutan , etc . ) .
hornbills ( this is a great hornbill ) are keystone species in the arboreal realm , playing a crucial role in the dispersal of seeds . image by lip kee yap , licensed under creative commons attribution - share alike 2 . 0 generic license .
thru singapore hornbill project at ubin , video footage showed diet includes changeable lizard and cave nectar bat ( new bat record for ubin ! ) hornbills in ubin have been observed eating banana , rambutan , papaya , jambul bol , fish - tail palm .
one of many illustrations from kinnaird & o ' brien ( 2007 ) illustrating the ranges of hornbill taxa : this one concerns the rhyticeros species . . . they should have reached ( or passed through ) flores , timor , sulawesi and perhaps australia .
james , douglas a . and kannan , ragupathy 2009 . nesting habitat of the great hornbill ( buceros bicornis ) in the anaimalai hills of southern india . the wilson journal of ornithology , vol . 121 , issue . 3 , p . 485 .
studies on the ecology of hornbills in xidamingshan have also been conducted . in order to spread hornbill conservation messages to surrounding communities , school and community outreach activities have been conducted since the onset of the project , with the assistance of enthusiastic volunteers from nanning .
soon enough the hornbill dug into the fruit itself and then retrieve the flesh using its large bill . it then proceeded to flip the morsel up and then with the mouth wide open , swallowed it whole . it did this repeatedly after obtaining a solid morsel .
of the several different phylogenetic hypotheses that have been published , most agree that ground hornbills ( bucorvus ) are the sister - group of most remaining hornbills , and that early hornbill evolution occurred in africa . kinnaird & o’brien ( 2007 ) favour the view that a hypothetical ancestral hornbill – they call it a ‘proto - buceros ’ and imagine it as a large , territorial , carnivorous hornbill – descended from bucorvus - like ancestors and gave rise both to ( assumed ) endemic african taxa like tockus and tropicranus , and to a more forest - adapted , frugivorous lineage that moved into asia . here , the group radiated extensively , later reinvading africa to give rise to ceratogymna and bycanistes . this model is more or less consistent with the topologies recovered in recent phylogenetic analyses ( gonzalez et al . 2013b ) .
kadoorie conservation china ( kcc ) , a department of kfbg , initiated the guangxi hornbill conservation project in xidamingshan nature reserve in guangxi in 2009 . a simultaneous hornbill survey , the first ever in china , was conducted in the same year , to collect population and distribution data for conservation action planning . in march 2011 kcc and the wildlife conservation association of guangxi hosted the first workshop on the conservation and study of hornbills in china . more than 30 international and chinese delegates took part , and formulated an action plan to conserve these amazing tropical birds in china .
the eggs size and colour looks like it is their eggs , rather than from some other bird’s nest that they may have robbed . even if they did rob it , i also know of no hornbill hiding food for later use ( called ‘caching / making a cache’ for raptors ) .
) has not been quantified . the overall population trend of these species is considered to be stable . throughout its range it is reported to be the commonest hornbill . the generation length is 9 . 2 years . their distribution size is about 10 , 700 , 000 sq . km .
although listed as least concern on the iucn ( international union for the conservation of nature ) red list , oriental pied hornbills were not seen in singapore for 140 years prior to 1994 . the last sighting formally recorded was in 1855 by alfred russell wallace . there were various inconclusive sightings over the following years . in 1994 , a pair of wild hornbills was sighted on pulau ubin . three years later , the first breeding record of hornbills was observed on pulau ubin . by 2005 , there were about 10 individuals in the wild . that same year , a collaborative study between jurong bird park , nparks and singapore avian conservation project was initiated with the intention to study the breeding and conservation of these birds .
exactly what this grand , evolving mess means for the distribution and health of hornbill populations , and for sympatric plants and animals , is neither simple nor clear . urbanisation , for example , means that people may have less impact on forests , and hence on hornbills , and also that regulations and rules concerning land - use will increasingly come into play . . . theoretically , that is . indeed , as kinnaird & o’brien ( 2007 ) discuss , collusive corruption , bribery and unregulated logging have been serious problems across the hornbill realm , especially in indonesia , the solomon islands and papua new guinea .
. . . there are no records of the wreathed hornbill breeding in namdapha , and our long - term abundance data indicate that this species leaves namdapha prior to the onset of the breeding season in march ( datta 2009 , naniwadekar & datta 2013 ) , possibly moving to adjoining low - elevation forests outside for breeding . the wreathed hornbill is known to breed in lower - elevation ( 100–400 m asl ) forests ( datta 2009 , datta & rawat 2004 ) . during the non - breeding season , fruit availability in lower - elevation forests is low ( datta & rawat 2003 ) . . . .
on 21st april 2017 , i was birding around the limestone hills in ipoh when i saw a pair of large birds , which i thought were eagles or owls , flying and landing on the cliff sides . but it turned out to be a pair of oriental pied hornbills instead . when i zoomed in with my scope , i was shocked to see that the male was carrying an egg in its beak . it then carried the egg into a big cavity after the female had inspected it . they both came out after a short while and flew off together . i was thinking that they may have stolen some other bird’s egg and hiding it there as i have seen this pair on this side of the cliff before .
how exciting ! ! ! i have never heard of any hornbill removing its eggs from a nest and placing them in another cavity elsewhere , especially unexpected , except at the very start of incubation , since the female thereafter should begin her flight feather moult and so become flightless . i did received one unpublished report of this species very likely using a cavity in a limestone cliff in southern china for nesting ( that i included in my 1995 book ) , and several other hornbill species , including great hornbill , have been reported nesting and sealing up cliff cavities . obviously you will continue to watch your site to see if anything develops ( although the cavity does to look a good one to try and seal ) , and it would be lucky if you could try and guess and / or find the original cavity from where the eggs were taken ( and if it was in a tree or in another cliff site ) .
) does not approach the thresholds for being vulnerable , either under the range size criterion , or under the population trend criterion , or under the population size criterion . loss of forest habitats , capture for pet trade and casque collection as souvenirs are the main threats that may endanger the survival of these hornbill species .
presently we are monitoring 38 hornbill nest trees in the park . in the breeding season , monitoring consists of exploring forests to find new nest trees , intensively monitor existing nest trees to document entry date of the female , exit date of the chicks , success rate , reasons for failure and identification of conservation measures .
remarkable casque anatomy of rhinoplax , the asian helmeted hornbill . at top : cross - section of casque and bill , showing massively reinforced casque ( image by mathew wedel ; specimen in nhm , london ) ; photo below by doug janson , licensed under creative commons attribution - share alike 3 . 0 unported license .
. interference competition for nest - sites was not observed , despite similarity in nest - tree characteristics , low nest density and high loss of nest - trees . nest - site availability may naturally limit hornbill populations in the area , and additional loss of nesting habitat to human activities may exacerbate limited availability of breeding sites .
the three rescued eggs had been abandoned by their mother . on 7 january , rangers from national parks board ( nparks ) on pulau ubin found a nest with a broken seal , and after it was ascertained that the female hornbill had abandoned the nest , the eggs were sent to jurong bird park where they were artificially incubated .
this species is more commonly found in secondary forests , and unlike other asian hornbills , is not dependent on primary forests for feeding and breeding . the species has a mixed diet , but is largely frugivorous , eating fruits of secondary forest species , lianas , and of lauraceae , meliaceae and annonaceae and figs ( moraceae ) . around 30 - 40 species recorded in pakke tiger reserve , and 49 species in thailand . some important food species are polyalthia , horsfieldia , dysoxylum , and talauma hodgsoni . oriental pied hornbills also eat many invertebrates such as insects , crabs , centipedes , millipedes , scorpions , spiders , snails , earthworms , lizards , birds , eggs and small vertebrates . fifty - six species recorded in thailand . they also catch fish and crabs in shallow pools and pick termites from termite hills .
. 2010 ) . in the thai - malay peninsula , the species may be threatened by off - take for the trade in fledglings and outright forest clearance ( wells 1999 ) . there is some evidence that the species has traditionally been captured for the local pet trade , as historically one to two were reportedly kept in every village in at least some areas of myanmar ( tickell 1864 in kemp 1995 ) . the casques of oriental pied hornbills are common souvenirs in the markets of thailand , laos and vietnam ; however , the extent of this trade has not been measured ( kinnaird and o’brien 2007 ) . however , this species is considered the most adaptable of the hornbills to landscape modification and thus the least threatened owing to its very wide range , small size and broad habitat preferences ( s . mahood
the status of hornbills in most of the north - east region is precarious due to hunting by several tribal communities . most hornbill species have specialized requirements and are threatened and vulnerable in varying degrees , because of traditional hunting and the recent accelerated habitat loss and modification due to logging , shifting cultivation and clearing of land for settlements and agriculture .
. . . according to poonswad et al . ( 1999 ) , the availability of nest cavity is the most important factor in the hornbill reproduction and without it , it is impossible to breed . suitable natural cavities and its internal conditions are crucial to a hornbill ' s breeding success ( datta and rawat , 2004 ) . in addition , potential nest cavity and its availability are higher in trees with larger diameter ( mudappa and kannan , 1997 ) . hence , the availability of extensive tract of mature forest habitat with large and tall canopy trees is very much important to the birds breeding activity ( kemp and kemp , 1975 ; johns , 1987 ; poonswad , 1995 ) . . . .
the responses of hornbills to selective logging were determined by comparing their diversity abundance in five habitats classified according to logging history . relative abundance of three hornbill species was compared along trails in recently logged forest 20–25 - year - old logged forest unlogged primary forest a relatively disturbed primary forest a plantation in pakhui wildlife sanctuary . . . [ show full abstract ]


the cape honey bee or cape bee ( apis mellifera capensis ) is a southern south african subspecies of the western honey bee .

they play a major role in south african agriculture and the economy of the western cape by pollinating crops and producing honey in the western cape region of south africa .

the cape honey bee is unique among honey bee subspecies because workers can lay diploid , female eggs , by means of thelytoky , while workers of other subspecies ( and , in fact , unmated females of virtually all other eusocial insects ) can only lay haploid , male eggs .

not all workers are capable of thelytoky - only those expressing the thelytoky phenotype , which is controlled by a recessive allele at a single locus ( workers must be homozygous at this locus to be able to reproduce by thelytoky ) .

cape honey bee

unlike the closely related african honey bee , the cape honey bee is quite docile .
cape honey bee colonies grow faster and tend to be smaller than european honey bees . cape honey bees also store less honey than european honey bees .
honey bee genome sequencing consortium finding the missing honey bee genes : lessons from a genome upgrade .
however , these characteristics are only informative once cape honey bee colonies have already established .
the cape honey bee as a trojan horse rather than the hordes of genghis khan .
cape honey bee workers laying eggs in a queen cell . ben oldroyd , university of sydney
hepburn hr . 2001 . the enigmatic cape honey bee , apis mellifera capensis . bee world 82 : 181 - 191 .
cape honey bee ( black abdomen ) next to africanised honey bees ( golden abdomen ) . ben oldroyd , university of sydney
adult cape honey bee workers have been distinguished from apis mellifera scutellata and other subspecies of honey bees using morphometric techniques . genetic analyses are also being used increasingly as complications with morphometric techniques arise . most beekeepers in south africa use other unique characteristics of the cape honey bee to identify cape honey bee colonies , namely :
cape honey bees swarm and abscond much more frequently than other races of european honey bees . typical european honey bee colonies will swarm once every 12 months , while cape honey bees are capable of swarming every month or two .
asexually produced cape honey bee queens ( a . m . capensis ) reproduce sexually – journal of heredity
the cape honey bee ( apis mellifera capensis ) is a subspecies of the european honey bee ( apis mellifera ) and is native to the eastern and western cape provinces of south africa . in its natural environment ( the fynbos region of south africa ) , the cape honey bee can be readily managed for the purposes of honey production and pollination , just like other races and strains of the european honey bee .
hepburn hr , 2001 . the enigmatic cape honey bee , apis mellifera capensis . bee world , 82 ( 4 ) : 181 - 191 .
cape honey bees are more ‘flighty’ than european honey bees and commonly leave the hive when it is being inspected .
however , cape bees can be managed for pollination and honey production , like all other subspecies of the western honey bee , within their native distribution . in fact , beekeepers in the fynbos ecoregion use cape bees as their bee of choice . furthermore , cape bees are generally docile , unlike other african bee races ( especially apis mellifera scutellata ) . however , other aspects of cape bees’ behavior are similar to other african races of honey bees . for example cape honey bees :
the offspring from a laying cape honey bee worker is therefore a type of clone , genetically identical to their mother .
allsopp mh , beekman m , gloag rs , oldroyd bp . maternity of replacement queens in the thelytokous cape honey bee
cape honey bees are generally darker in colour and slightly smaller in size than european honey bees ; however the only way to accurately tell the difference between cape honey bees and european honey bees is through genetic analysis . apart from these minor differences , the cape honey bee looks nearly identical to the european honey bee to the naked eye . the main differences between these bees are displayed through their behavioural traits . this includes :
two cape honey bees ( black bees ) in a colony of africanised honey bees . mike allsopp , agricultural research council
the cape honey bee , apis mellifera capensis escholtz , is a subspecies of the western honey bee , apis mellifera linnaeus , that occurs naturally in the cape region of south africa ( fig . 1 ) . upon casual observation , cape bees look very similar to another subspecies of honey bee present in south africa , apis mellifera scutellata lepeltier ( the ' african ' honey bee of the americas ) . yet reproductively , cape bees differ significantly from apis mellifera scutellata and other honey bee subspecies , making it perhaps the most distinctive subspecies of apis mellifera worldwide .
the cape honey bee is not present in australia and there are strict quarantine requirements in place to protect the australian honey bee industry . if you think you have seen cape honey bees , call your local department of agriculture or the exotic plant pest hotline on 1800 084 881 .
for the majority of their life , cape honey bees follow the same life cycle and biology as european honey bees and other apis species . however , it is the reproductive ability of the cape honey bee and its tag of ‘social parasite’ which differentiates this bee from all other apis species .
a genome - wide scan for selection identifies several candidate loci in the cape bee genome .
tribe g . d . ( 1983 ) what is the cape bee ? s . afr . bee j . 55 , 77–87 .
parasitic cape honey bee workers ( apis mellifera capensis ) are not given differential treatment by african guards ( a . m . scutellata )
cape bees and african bees together . the cape bees have darker bodies whereas the scutellata bees have orange bodies .
tucker , k . w . , 1958 . automictic parthenogenesis in the honey bee .
anarchistic honey bee workers evade worker policing by laying eggs that have low removal rates .
why not connect with us on twitter , the cape honey bee - @ beessouthafrica . get to know when and where we ' re cropping .
parasitic cape honey bee workers ( apis mellifera capensis ) are not given differential treatment by african guards ( a . m . scutellata ) | springerlink
holmes mj , oldroyd bp , allsopp mh , lim j , wossler tc , beekman m . maternity of emergency queens in the cape honey bee
du preez , f . 2014 . fynbos honey - pride of south africa ' s cape floristic kingdom . bee world 91 : 16 - 18 .
holmes mj , oldroyd bp , allsopp mh , lim j , wossler tc , beekman m . maternity of emergency queens in the cape honey bee ,
garnery l , cornuet j - m , solignac m . evolutionary history of the honey bee
honey bee populations are declining according to a paper published in the international journal for parasitology by the united nations’ food and agriculture organization ( fao ) , honey bee populations are decreasing .
s7 fig . significantly enriched gene ontology ( go ) terms among drosophila orthologues of the cape bee candidates .
matheson a . ( 1996 ) world bee health update 1996 , bee world 77 , 45–51 .
kryger p , human h , 2010 . manual on honey bee diseases . for sabio beecon 2010
it is important to note that thelytoky is not an exclusive trait of cape bees . it is believed that workers from most , if not all , subspecies of honey bees are capable of laying diploid eggs . however , diploid eggs only occurs in < 1 % of worker - laid eggs of other honey bee subspecies . so while thelytoky is the exception in other honey bee subspecies , it is common in cape honey bees
cape honey bee pictured next to a queen cell in which worker - laid eggs are clearly visible ( inside the white circle ) . ben oldroyd , university of sydney
egg - laying , egg - removal , and ovary development by workers in queenright honey bee colonies .
kandemir i̇ , kence m , sheppard ws , kence a . mitochondrial dna variation in honey bee (
figure 5 . diagram of thelytokous parthenogenesis in a cape honey bee laying worker . the cape honey bee laying worker can produce a pseudo - clone of herself by fusing the egg pronucleus with one of the polar bodies that resulted from meiosis to create diploid offspring from unfertilized eggs . photographs by alex wild , urltoken . figure by ashley mortensen .
oldroyd bp , 2002 . the cape honey bee : an example of a social cancer . trends in ecology and evolution , 17 ( 6 ) : 249 - 251 .
) are pests of honey bees and can damage combs , stored honey and pollen . a study by
anderson r . h . ( 1980 ) cape honeybee sanctuaries , s . afr . bee j . 52 , 5–9 .
this has occurred because the cape honey bee can easily drift into colonies of other honey bees , such as african honey bees and can parasitise that colony . when this occurs , the queen from the host colony is lost ( a process that is still not yet understood ) and the cape honey bees become the reproductive individuals in the colony . this is achieved because the cape honey bees are capable of changing their pheromone from a worker , to a queen - like scent , which means that parasitic workers can lay diploid eggs and get the host colony to raise and care for the eggs without knowing . although the host colony has lost their queen , the cape honey bee assumes this role without the host colony rearing a new queen . as a result , the cape honey bee workers increase in number in the host colony , while the numbers from the host colony slowly dwindle , which subsequently leads to the collapse of the colony and the cape honey bees seeking a new host colony .
beekman m , allsopp mh , jordan la , lim j , oldroyd bp . a quantitative study of worker reproduction in queenright colonies of the cape honey bee apis mellifera capensis .
] . unfortunately , genetic diversity of the honey bee populations in the comoros archipelagos has not been investigated .
goudie f , oldroyd bp . thelytoky in the honey bee . apidologie . 2014 ; 45 : 306–326 .
ojar c , 2002 . introduced species summary project : africanized honey bee ( apis mellifera scutellata ) . urltoken
cape bees are specialist foragers in the fynbos ecoregion and they often perform poorly when taken outside of this region . so apis mellifera scutellata colonies parasitized by cape bees in the northern part of south africa can become useless to beekeepers . cape honey bees , colonies should not be moved between regions where cape bees do and do not inhabit .
cape honey bees present a major problem for beekeepers in south africa , and could pose a major problem to other beekeepers around the world if they were to spread to other regions . the ability of cape honey bees to drift and parasitise other honey bee colonies , causing these colonies to dwindle or die is of great concern . it is perceived as such a threat in south africa that local beekeepers believe that cape honey bees pose a greater threat to beekeeping than even the deadly varroa mites .
evidence for a queen - produced egg - marking pheromone and its use in worker policing in the honey bee .
the first cape honeybee colonies with heavy clinical symptoms of american foulbrood disease were found in south africa’s western cape in december 2008 and confirmed with laboratory tests in february 2009 . to date , an estimated 40 % of the western cape bee population has been wiped out by the disease .
an africanized honey bee ( dark specimen ) and a european honey bee ( pale specimen ) on honeycomb . usa . despite the obvious colour differences between these two individuals , they can ' t usually be identified by eye alone .
allsopp mh , beekman m , gloag rs , oldroyd bp . maternity of replacement queens in the thelytokous cape honey bee apis mellifera capensis . behav ecol sociobiol . 2009 ; 64 : 567–574 .
koeniger , n . , 1970 . factors determining the laying of drone and worker eggs by the queen honey bee .
social parasitism : thelytoky enables the cape honey bee to become socially parasitic . in that , cape workers can invade another , non - related , honey bee colony and begin to reproduce clones of themselves that the host colony will rear to adulthood . these clones generally become laying workers themselves and further strain the host colony . eventually the cape clones become so numerous that there are not enough non - laying workers to sustain the host colony and the colony dwindles and dies .
were found . these have also been reported from other honey bee subspecies ; however , other sequences were found associated with honey bees for the first time , e . g .
one example of this in the early 1990’s has been named the ‘ capensis calamity . ’ about 200 cape honey bee colonies were moved into the northern part of south africa and a single clonal linage of cape laying workers infected more than 30 , 000 apis mellifera scutellata colonies .
queen : under normal circumstances the adult queen bee is the primary reproductive female in a cape honey bee colony . her head and thorax are similar in size to that of the worker . however , the queen has a longer and plumper abdomen than a worker .
crewe r . m . , allsopp m . h . ( 1993 ) the cape bee as a trojan horse rather than the hordes of genghis khan , am . bee j . 133 , 121–123 .
goudie f , oldroyd bp . thelytoky in the honey bee . apidologie . 2014 ; 45 ( 3 ) : 306–26 .
martin sj , beekman m , wossler tc , ratnieks flw , 2002 . parasitic cape honey bee workers , apis mellifera capensis , evade policing . nature london , 415 ( 6868 ) : 163 - 165 .
hasselmann , m . , and m . beye , 2004 . signatures of selection among sex determining alleles of the honey bee .
winston , m . l . , 1987 . the biology of the honey bee . harvard university press , cambridge , ma .
zayed a , whitfield cw . a genome - wide signature of positive selection in ancient and recent invasive expansions of the honey bee
honey bee guards do not use food - derived odours to recognise non - nestmates : a test of the odour convergence hypothesis .
visscher pk . a quantitative study of worker reproduction in honey bee colonies . behav ecol sociobiol . 1989 ; 25 : 247–254 .
selection signals are stronger in the cape bees than any of the other two subspecies .
entomologist justin schmidt examines an ars honey bee trap used to lure africanized bee swarms and prevent their establishment in walls of buildings . captured swarms are easily removed or destroyed with soapy water . usa .
du toit says specific legislation , which would require and regulate the testing of imported honey and honey products , should be introduced .
figure 1 . cape honey bees , apis mellifera capensis escholtz , at a feeding station in south africa . photograph by anthony vaudo , university of florida .
in bee colonies in tunisia , proc . int . symp . on recent research on bee pathology , september 5–7 , ghent , belgium .
) , strongly suggesting that selection for reduced recombination has indeed occurred in thelytokous cape workers .
verma s , ruttner f . cytological analysis of the thelytokous parthenogenesis in the cape honeybee (
hepburn hr , crewe rm . defining the cape honeybee : reproductive traits of queenless workers .
verma s , ruttner f . cytological analysis of the thelytokous parthenogenesis in the cape honeybee (
ratnieks , f . l . w . , and l . keller , 1998 . queen control of egg fertilization in the honey bee .
] . in capensis , mated queens reproduce sexually , identically to all other honey bee subspecies , by the union of egg and sperm nuclei within a newly - laid egg . in contrast to other honey bee species , capensis workers lay diploid eggs that develop into females ( [
lezanne van zyl , a small - scale beekeeper and honey producer , says that monocropping is a risk to the health of bee populations .
although the biology and behavior of cape bees are fascinating , they present a problem for beekeepers in south africa . cape workers can parasitize colonies of any race of apis mellifera . migratory beekeepers managing apis mellifera scutellata in the northern part of south africa have moved bees into the fynbos region of south africa where the cape bee is present ( and the reciprocal also happens ) . this has allowed cape workers to parasitize apis mellifera scutellata colonies .
we hypothesized that the traits involved in social parasitism in the cape bee represent derived adaptations that have been produced by positive selection in the cape bee population . we analyzed genetic variants with high f st in the cape bee population compared to a background population consisting of two other african subspecies . we find that snps with high f st in this comparison are strongly associated with signals of selection in the cape bee population inferred by the pbs and xp - ehh tests , rather than being associated with selection in the background population . in the reciprocal comparisons analysing highly differentiated snps in the two other african subspecies , similar strong associations with selection signals were not observed . this indicates that positive selection had been more prevalent in the cape bee population , and is therefore likely to be associated with the unique set of derived traits .
the cape honey bee distribution appears to be limited to the same geographic area as the fynbos ( fig 3 ) . pure cape honey bees are distributed in the fynbos belt stretching from southwestern south africa eastward to port elizabeth . however , cape bees hybridize with apis mellifera scutellata to the north . this zone of hybridization encompasses a narrow stretch of land just north of the fynbos region . north of the zone of hybridization is the distribution of the ' pure ' apis mellifera scutellata population .
most honey bees , apis mellifera , are kept by beekeepers and make large volumes of honey , whereas wild bees exist only in the wild and make very little honey , which is for their own consumption .
mattila , h . r . , and t . d . seeley , 2007 . genetic diversity in honey bee colonies enhances productivity and fitness .
s8 fig . twelve selective sweeps with high - f st variants detected in the cape bees .
genetic markers that co - vary with the cape bee phenotypes and distinguish cape bees from the scutellata population have previously been lacking or found to be inconsistent [ 3 ] . the highly differentiated snps identified here also have the practical benefit of being able to unambiguously identify the degree of introgression from cape bees using only a few snp markers . for example , there are two regions , on chromosomes 1 and 11 , respectively , with fixed variants that separate all cape bees in our samples from all other african bees in our sample . typing these two genetic markers would unambiguously distinguish cape bees from neighboring populations and allow confident assessment of gene flow involving cape bees .
however , the cape honey bee has a distinct reproductive system which makes it unique amongst other races of apis species . this unique reproductive system causes major problems for beekeepers in its natural environment of south africa where it acts as a ‘social parasite’ .
beekman m , allsopp mh , jordan la , lim j , oldroyd bp . a quantitative study of worker reproduction in queenright colonies of the cape honey bee , apis mellifera capensis . mol ecol . 2009 ; 18 : 2722–2727 . pmid : 19457187
chapman nc , beekman m , allsopp m , rinderer te , lim j , oxley pr , et al . inheritance of thelytoky in the honey bee
south africa is home to two sub - species or races of honeybees which are indigenous to the country : apis mellifera scutellata ( or “african bee” ) and apis mellifera capensis ( or “cape bee” ) . the cape bee is generally confined to the western and southern cape regions particularly referred to as the fynbos region running in an imaginary line between vredendal on the western atlantic coastline across to willowvale on the eastern indian ocean coastline . the african bee covers the region to the north of this area although there is hybrid zone overlapping the two regions where a . m . capensis and a . m . scutellata hybridize .
thoenes s , 2002 . there ' s money in honey bees : honey bee control is an emerging , high - margin service . pest control , 70 ( 7 ) : 20 - 21 , 24 , 26 , 28 .
garnery l , franck p , baudry e , vautrin d , cornuet j - m , solignac m . genetic diversity of the west european honey bee (
alternative means of parthenogenesis within the same species , and indeed the same individual , raise interesting questions concerning the mechanisms of gametogenesis in cape queens . gametogenesis in cape queens is as yet undescribed , but is well understood for arrhenotokous populations . queens in non - cape populations store new eggs in their lateral oviducts (
honey bees took place well before human settlement and could be considered as indigenous to the area . additional divergence might be the result of restricted gene flow between continental and insular honey bee populations . mutation steps ( nd2 ) among swio a
jones , j . , m . myerscough , s . graham and b . p . oldroyd , 2004 . honey bee nest thermoregulation : diversity promotes stability .
foret s , kucharski r , pittelkow y , lockett ga , maleszka j . epigenetic regulation of the honey bee transcriptome : unravelling the nature of methylated genes .
] , honey bee could have first colonized comoros from the east african coast , then colonized madagascar and others archipelagos . as the sea - levels dramatically lowered , new pathways appeared which would have allowed honey bees to reach the islands following a
is distributed over a limited geographic area around the cape of good hope . the subspecies is in contact with
thelytoky : unlike the haploid eggs produced by laying workers in other honey bee subspecies , some cape laying workers can produce diploid eggs . the process in which cape workers produce diploid eggs is called thelytokous parthenogenesis ( fig . 5 ) - they can produce male or female offspring without mating . in this system the cape worker essentially produces a pseudo - clone of herself by fusing the egg pronucleus with one of the polar bodies that results during meiosis , thereby forming a diploid nucleus that continues to develop into a normal female bee ( either a queen or worker ) .
general honey bee reproduction : for the most part , reproduction in cape bees follows that of other honey bee subspecies . honey bees have haplodiploid sex determination ( figure 4 ) ; unfertilized eggs ( no paternal genetic contribution ) develop into drones , and fertilized eggs ( both maternal and paternal genetic contribution ) develop into females . female larvae that are fed the standard diet of pollen , nectar , and brood food become workers . female larvae fed a rich diet of royal jelly , pollen , and nectar develop into queens .
describes the use of a pcr - based mitochondrial genotype assay to discriminate between 4 mitotypes found in north , central and south american honey bee racial groups . also see
beekeepers in south africa often consider cape bees more of a threat to their colonies than the varroa mite , varroa destructor anderson and trueman . because of this , researchers globally have taken notice of cape bees . many fear that if cape bees ever spread outside of south africa , they may be a significant problem for beekeepers worldwide .
beekman m , wossler tc , martin sj , ratnieks flw , 2002 . parasitic cape honey bee workers ( apis mellifera capensis ) are not given differential treatment by african guards ( a . m . scutellata ) . insectes sociaux , 49 ( 3 ) : 216 - 220 .
moritz rfa , 2002 . population dynamics of the cape bee phenomenon : the impact of parasitic laying worker clones in apiaries and natural populations . apidologie , 33 ( 2 ) : 233 - 244 .
worker policing : the ability of cape workers to produce female offspring elicits another interesting behavior in cape colonies - worker policing . workers produced from one cape laying worker can detect eggs oviposited by other laying workers and destroy or eat those eggs . this establishes a dominance hierarchy within cape laying worker colonies where females from the same mother police the colony and destroy their aunts ' offspring in favor of their own mother ' s offspring ( their sisters ) .
s9 fig . the gemini deletion is not fixed in the cape bees and is detected in other african subspecies .
cape bees are genetically extremely similar to other african subspecies of honeybees , including a . m . adansonii and a . m . scutellata [ 21 ] suggesting a recent common ancestor and / or high levels of gene flow . social parasitism in cape bees should therefore represent a recently derived adaptation that has likely experienced positive selection . the distribution of cape bees shows strong concordance to the biodiverse fynbos ecoregion of south africa , which suggests that the traits specific to the cape bee are evolutionarily advantageous in this region [ 5 ] . cape bee workers reproduce by thelytokous parthenogensis in the absence of a queen , during reproductive swarming or when invading the colony of a different subspecies . the propensity to do this is a trait that is fixed or close to fixation in the cape bee population [ 3 , 22 ] . however , in their native range most reproduction in cape bees is sexual , so patterns of genetic diversity therefore resemble those in other sexual outcrossing populations [ 21 ] . we therefore expect genetic variants responsible for traits associated with social parasitism to be located in regions of high differentiation with populations of other subspecies and associated with signals of selection in cape bees .
) . the reduction of the rate is not uniform : in the centromeric regions of each chromosome , recombination is almost absent in the cape bee pseudo - queens but it increases markedly in the telomeric regions .
) have predicted that , because cape bee pseudo - queens are able to produce heterozygous females parthenogenetically , this locus must be localized near a centromere . this prediction has not been verified by subsequent analysis : b
s4 fig . the cape bees have a larger number of divergent regions across the genome than the other two subspecies .
since the western cape town and eastern port elizabeth cape bee subpopulations showed different levels of fixation against the background population , we also queried these two populations separately for linked signals of haplotype divergence and diversity using three sets of outlier snps : those identified as 0 . 1 % outliers for f st against the background population and with minimal evidence for extended haplotype homozygosity in the cape bees ( xp - ehh > 0 ) across the complete dataset and those identified for the same criteria , but for each subpopulation individually . the associated haplotype - level signals are consistently stronger in the western cape town subpopulation compared with the port elizabeth subpopulation for all three sets ( s5a–s5c fig ) , congruent with greater fixation of cape - bee - specific traits in the western region [ 3 ] .
] ) since no calibrated clock for honey bees exists . recent study of genomic variation based on 8 . 5 million snps and focusing on 10 honey bee subspecies has refined the estimation for the evolutionary lineages split to 300 , 000 to 200 , 000 years ago [
thelytoky in cape bees leads to a number of different important considerations . for example , worker offspring produced by cape laying workers are a type of clone , being genetically identical to their mother ( who provided both sets of chromosomes ) . furthermore , the ability of workers to lay diploid eggs breeds a type of reproductive conflict not seen in colonies of other races of honey bees . for example , queenless cape colonies have a number of options :
udaf , 2008 . what are africanized honey bees ( ahbs ) ? state of utah department of agriculture and food : what are africanized honey bees ( ahbs ) ? . urltoken
estoup , a . , m . solignac and j . - m . cornuet , 1994 . precise assessment of the number of patrilines and of genetic relatedness in honey bee colonies .
drewell ra , bush ec , remnant ej , wong gt , beeler sm , stringham jl , et al . the dynamic dna methylation cycle from egg to sperm in the honey bee
estimating heritabilities of worker characters : a new approach using laying workers of the cape honeybee ( apis mellifera capensis esch . )
data obtained with the cape bee parthenogens could in principle allow direct mapping of the centromeres . however , in the pseudo - queen progenies , recombination events were too rare to allow accurate map construction . furthermore , if in
garnery l , mosshine eh , oldroyd bp , cornuet jm . mitochondrial dna variation in moroccan and spanish honey bee populations . mol ecol . 1995 ; 4 ( 4 ) : 465–71 .
kajobe r . , roubik d . w . ( 2006 ) honey - making bee colony abundance and predation by apes and humans in an ugandan forest reserve , biotropica 38 , 210–218 .
whitfield cw , behura sk , berlocher sh , clark ag , johnston js , sheppard ws , et al . thrice out of africa : ancient and recent expansions of the honey bee ,
fera national bee unit ( nbu ) ( 2010 ) the small hive beetle a serious threat to european apiculture . this document is also available on beebase ( national bee unit ) website , urltoken
in apiculture , yearly re - queening of a hive ensures that beekeepers rear docile european honey bees ( apis mellifera ) and not the aggressive africanized honey bees ( udaf , 2008 ) , and drone - flooding can also be used to maintain european bee stock . large numbers of the common european honey bee are maintained in areas where commercially - reared queen bees mate , thus limiting mating opportunities between european queens and africanized drones ( ojar , 2002 ) . beekeepers can also exterminate wild bee nests to protect their managed bees from resource competition ( ojar , 2002 ) .
outlaw wh jr , fleig m , grüninger w , magel e , hampp r , 2000 . observations on honey plants and africanized honey bees in the temperate - zone state of rio grande do sul , brazil . american bee journal , 140 ( 5 ) : 401 - 404 .
wedd l , kucharski r , maleszka r . differentially methylated obligatory epialleles modulate context - dependent lam gene expression in the honey bee apis mellifera . epigenetics . 2015 , ( in press ) .
scutellata worker bees with queen . spot the braula ( bee louse ) on the worker bee next to the queen . ( source : p . kruger : department of entomology , university of pretoria )
we still have some raw honey from constantia / bergvliet area available . why not give us a try and compare it to the shop bought honey in your cupboard . chances are you ' ll never buy honey from a retailer again , and we ' re so much cheaper to !
s2 table . top 1000 snps ranked for the composite selection score ( css ) between cape bees and the african background population .
hepburn hr , crewe rm . portrait of the cape honeybee , apis mellifera capensis . apidologie . 1991 ; 22 : 567–580 .
according to van zyl , farmers in the western cape’s wine production regions could plant cover crops such as clover in their vineyards .
normally we would start cropping honey from this apiary in mid september , now however we ' ll have to wait for october . rather that then have dead hives and no honey at all .
delaplane ks , 2006 . africanized honey bees . the university of georgia , cooperative extension . urltoken
maintenance and loss of heterozygosity in a thelytokous lineage of honey bees ( apis mellifera capensis ) .
our analyses for selection therefore detects candidates that can be linked to three important aspects of the cape bee phenotype : i ) loci involved in centrosome function may affect chromosomal segregation and be responsible for cape bee thelytoky ; ii ) loci involved in ecdysteroid , jh and dopamine signaling may promote worker ovary development ; iii ) loci involved in worker behavior including reproductive dominance and foraging . given the number and nature of selection signals and candidate loci that are revealed in our comparative genome scan , we reject a model that explain all cape bee phenotypes as being controlled by a single master - switch locus , and instead propose that a mix of multiple genotypes affect different phenotypes , which may have evolved independently .
beekman m , allsopp mh , wossler tc , 2008 . factors affecting the dynamics of the honey bee ( apis mellifera ) hybrid zone of south africa . heredity , 100 : 13 - 18 .
betten dp , richardson wh , tong tc , clark rf , 2006 . massive honey bee envenomation - induced rhabdomyolysis in an adolescent . pediatrics , 117 ( 1 ) : 231 - 235 . urltoken
oden ac , 2001 . honey bee apis mellifera l . subspecies and apiclora in taita taveta district , kenya . minor field studies international office , swedish university of agricultural sciences , 172 : 45 .
schneider ss , degrandi - hoffman g , smith dr , 2004 . the african honey bee : factors contributing to a successful biological invasion . annual review of entomology , 49 : 351 - 376 .
harpur ba , kent cf , molodtsova d , lebon jm , alqarni as , owayss aa , et al . population genomics of the honey bee reveals strong signatures of positive selection on worker traits .
this is significant problem for beekeepers because if a colony is invaded by cape bees , there are insufficient tools to ‘fix’ the colony . once established in a colony of another subspecies cape laying workers behave like cancer cells ; rapidly reproducing and draining colony resources while offering no benefit to the host . infected colonies eventually dwindle and die at which point the remaining cape workers disperse to new host colonies .
“currently , both managed and wild pollinators are suffering alarming declines in many parts of the world , ” the paper states . maus says that this assertion is inaccurate ; honey bee numbers are “clearly rising” and not declining . “honey bees are not endangered and not on a list of endangered species . ”
) . this indicates an extraordinary ability of cape queens to manipulate the kind of parthenogenesis that occurs when they lay unfertilized eggs—thelytoky and arrhenotoky in unmated queens and arrhenotoky in mated queens . it also suggests that mated cape queens could potentially produce daughters both sexually and asexually (
neumann p , hepburn r , b ah . behavioural basis for social parasitism of cape honeybees ( apis mellifera capensis ) . 2002 .
hepburn hr . pheromonal and ovarial development covary in cape worker honeybees , apis meffera capensis . naturwissenschaften . 1992 ; 79 : 523–524 .
figure 4 . diagram of haplodiploid sex determination in the honey bee . unfertilized eggs develop into drones , and fertilized eggs develop into females . photographs by alex wild , urltoken . figure by ashley mortensen .
vergoz v , lim j , oldroyd bp . biogenic amine receptor gene expression in the ovarian tissue of the honey bee apis mellifera . insect mol biol . 2012 ; 21 : 21–29 . pmid : 21906193
le conte y . , de vaublanc g . , crauser d . , jeanne f . , rouselle j . c . , bécard j . m . ( 2007 ) honey bee colonies that have survived
a . mellifera scutellata was imported from africa to brazil in 1956 to increase honey production , and 26 swarms accidentally escaped into the countryside where the queens mated with drones of the european honey . . .
crane e . ( 1999 ) the world history of beekeeping and honey hunting , routledge , ny .
williams jl , 1990 . insects : lepidoptera ( moths ) in : honey bee pests , predators , and diseases ( morse r and nowogrodzki r , eds . ) , second edition . cornell university press ,
on average we obtained 8 . 6 - fold and 10 . 1 - fold genome coverage for fertilized and thelytokous embryo samples , respectively , achieving a similar level of coverage to previous honey bee methylation studies [
foret s , kucharski r , pittelkow y , lockett ga , maleszka r . epigenetic regulation of the honey bee transcriptome : unravelling the nature of methylated genes . bmc genomics . 2009 ; 10 : 472 .
sub - lineage cohabits with both european c and m lineages . the most extreme case was the honey bee population from rodrigues which was previously described as exclusively belonging to the c lineage using coi - coii [
some beekeepers paint a small dot on the european queens in their hives and check every year to make sure that the africanized honey bee has not invaded and taken over the colony ( udaf , 2008 ) .
) , oie symp . diagnosis and control of bee diseases , freiburg i . breisgau , 26–28 august .
du toit says that improved communication between farmers , beekeepers and crop protection companies could help strengthen bee populations .
a number of hypotheses have been proposed for the prevalence of thelytoky in cape bees . perhaps the leading hypothesis is that the cape region of south africa is very windy , and cape colonies experience a significant queen loss when queens leave the colonies to mate . colonies with thelytokous capabilities would not suffer the loss of a queen the same way as colonies without thelytokous capabilities , thus favoring the propagation of colonies with thelytokous workers .
solignac , m . , f . mougel , d . vautrin , m . monnerot and j . - m . cornuet , 2007 . a third - generation microsatellite - based linkage map of the honey bee ,
gilley dc , degrandi - hoffman g , hooper je . volatile compounds emitted by live european honey bee ( apis mellifera l . ) queens . j insect physiol . 2006 ; 52 : 520–527 . pmid : 16530783
fries i , 2002 . african honey bees ( apis mellifera scutellata ) and nosema ( nosema apis ) infections . in : bees without frontiers : sixth european bee conference , cardiff , uk , 1 - 5 july 2002 [ ed . by jones r ] cardiff , uk : international bee research association , 50 - 55 .
in a typical european honey bee colony , the simplified reproduction steps outlined below occur . when a queen bee lays an egg , she can control whether the egg is fertilised or not fertilised . if she lays a fertilised egg , this egg will become a worker bee or queen bee ( both female ) . if she lays an unfertilised egg , this egg will become a drone ( a male bee ) . this type of reproduction is called haplo - diploid because the queen bee can lay either unfertilised male eggs ( haploid ) or fertilised female eggs ( diploid ) . worker bees also have ovaries but they are unable to mate . however , worker bees are still able to lay eggs , but since their eggs cannot be fertilised then worker bee eggs can only become drone bees . the presence of a healthy and laying queen in a colony suppresses egg laying by worker bees .
we aimed to identify genetic variants associated with strong differentiation between the cape bee and other african bees due to selection in the cape bee in favor of traits involved in social parasitism . we analyzed whole genome sequences from 10 cape bees ( a . m . capensis ) sampled from two localities in southern south africa : port elizabeth to the east ( n = 5 ) and cape town to the west ( n = 5 ) . we compared these with sequences from two other african subspecies : a . m . scutellata collected in pretoria ( n = 10 ) and a . m . adansonii collected in nigeria ( n = 10 ; fig 1 ) . genetic differentiation between these three african populations ranges between f st = 0 . 051–0 . 056 ( fig 1 ) and a . m . scutellata appears to be nearly equidistant genetically between the cape bee in the south and a . m . adansonii in the north . this level of divergence is consistent with a recent common ancestor and / or pervasive gene flow among sub - saharan populations .
s2 fig . extreme haplotype homozygosity and divergence is more pronounced in cape bees than the background population and associate with high - f st snps .
what is the genetic basis of social parasitism in cape bees ? social parasitism is facilitated by a range of different traits related to ovary development , behaviour and abnormal meiosis . does a single thelytoky locus act as a “master switch” to enable this suite of phenotypes as previously suggested [ 17 – 19 ] , or are each of these traits determined by an independent set of loci ? to what extent are cape bees genetically distinct from other african honeybee populations ? was the emergence of social parasitism associated with increased positive selection in the cape bee population ?
mackensen , o . , 1943 . the occurrence of parthenogenetic females in some strains of honey - bees .
oden ( 2001 ) describes the use of morphometric characters to discriminate between honey bee subspecies in kenya : cubital index ( ci ) and discoidal angle ( da ) . seven measurements were taken from the right forewing of the honey bees to calculate the ci and the position of the radial vein crossing was taken for the da .
wegener j , huang zy , lorenz mw , bienefeld k . regulation of hypopharyngeal gland activity and oogenesis in honey bee ( apis mellifera ) workers . j insect physiol . 2009 ; 55 : 716–725 . pmid : 19446565
diniz nm , soares aee , sheppard ws , lama del ma , 2003 . genetic structure of honey bee populations from southern brazil and uruguay . genetics and molecular biology , 26 ( 1 ) : 47 - 52 .
bradbear n . ( 1988 ) world distribution of major honeybee diseases and pests , bee world 69 , 15–17 .
dr christian maus , global lead scientist and bee care and pollinator safety manager at bayer crop science in germany , says wild bee populations are decreasing as a result of habitat loss . photo : ap / robert f . bukaty
schmidt capella ic . juvenile hormone effect on dna synthesis and apoptosis in caste - specific differentiation of the larval honey bee ( apis mellifera l ) ovary . j insect physiol . 1998 ; 44 : 385–391 . pmid : 12770156
there are 45 snps fixed for different variants between the cape bees ( n = 10 ) and other african bees ( n = 20 ) , which are associated with one gene accession on chromosome 1 corresponding to ethr ( ecdysis - triggering hormone receptor ) and three predicted genes on chromosome 11 ( hypothetical proteins gb44917 , gb45238 and gb45239 ; s1 table ) . when the two cape bee subpopulations are compared against other african populations separately , we observed 423 such fixed snps in the ( western ) cape town population ( n = 5 ) , which are associated with 38 gene accessions ( s1b fig ; s1 table ) . however , in the ( eastern ) port elizabeth population ( n = 5 ) , we detect only 60 fixed snps ( associated with five gene accessions ) . f st between the african background population and the cape town population ( 0 . 070 ) is slightly higher than the african background population and the port elizabeth population ( 0 . 063 ) . the cape town population also has a general excess of high f st variants . between the two comparisons against the african background population , the analysis with the cape town subpopulation include 70 % or more of the variants segregating at f st > 0 . 5 ( s1b and s1c fig ) . colonies with the entire suite of cape - bee - specific phenotypes are more common in the cape town region , whereas they occur less frequently in port elizabeth [ 3 , 22 ] and hence the higher number of fixed snps in the cape town region may reflect additional variants associated with these phenotypes .
the ectoparasite varroa destructor has been found on a . mellifera scutellata in venezuela ( principal et al . , 2004 ) . however , using a honey bee - mite simulation model , martin and medina ( 2004 ) showed that the adult longevity of africanized honey bees ( 21 days ) requires > 12 000 mites to kill a colony .
hepburn hr , crewe rm . defining the cape honeybee : reproductive traits of queenless workers . south afr j sci . 1990 ; 86 : 524–527 .
as africanized honey bees move into more temperate conditions , their adaptation to tropical climates is less advantageous . they would not establish a domain in temperate conditions and thus their control status is deemed ‘minimal priority’ . a control level of ‘medium priority’ is recommended for north america’s southern semi - tropical area ( ojar , 2002 ) . thoenes ( 2002 ) described four types of bee control service : reactive bee control ; preventative bee control ; nuisance bee control ; and sting emergency control , which are in demand with the advent of a . mellifera scutellata becoming a pest in urban areas .
l . ) populations from turkey . j apic res bee world . 2006 ; 45 ( 1 ) : 33–8 .
chapman nc , beekman m , allsopp mh , rinderer te , lim j , oxley pr , et al . inheritance of thelytoky in the honey bee apis mellifera capensis . heredity . 2015 ; 114 : 584–592 . pmid : 25585920
wegener j , huang zy , lorenz mw , lorenz ji , bienefeld k . new insights into the roles of juvenile hormone and ecdysteroids in honey bee reproduction . j insect physiol . 2013 ; 59 : 655–661 . pmid : 23631954
as yet we have only indirect evidence for genomic imprinting and parent - of - origin effect in social insects in general , and honey bees in particular . however three observations suggest the presence of imprinting in the honey bee . first , methylation patterns differ significantly between unfertilized eggs and sperm , suggesting that queens and drones differentially methylate their gametes [
raw honey from constantia / bergvliet available , direct from the beekeeper . www . rawcaphoney . wordpress . com .
the african bee is an aggressive bee with a hardy strain and capable of producing large crops of honey . it has more of a yellow striped abdomen compared to a . m . capensis . only the queens are fertile ; worker bees are infertile when the queen is present . however the worker bees have the ability to lay unfertilised , drone eggs . the queens are prolific layers and during strong honey flows the colony builds up rapidly . the african bee was introduced to the brazilian bee industry in the mid 1950’s and immediately adapted to its surrounds , hybridizing with the locally introduced european bees . these bees became known as the infamous “african killer bees” which have steadily moved northwards up into the united states .
the cape bee exhibits a number of other traits that distinguish it from other subspecies and lead it to behave as a social parasite , whereby workers invade the nests of foreign colonies , reproduce and utilize their resources . cape bee workers have significantly larger ovaries that are more readily activated and contain more egg - producing ovarioles than worker bees of other subspecies ( 10–20 vs . 1–5 ) [ 3 , 8 ] . parasitic egg - laying cape bee workers produce queen pheromones , allowing them to assert reproductive dominance over other workers [ 9 ] and have a significantly increased lifespan of 3–5 months compared to 6 weeks in non - parasitic workers [ 10 ] . these traits likely increase the evolutionary advantage of parthenogenesis , which allows this mode of selfish reproduction to become established . as with other honeybee subspecies , cape bee workers rarely reproduce if a queen is present ( ~ 0 . 1 % of drones are produced from worker - laid eggs in a normal honeybee colony [ 11 ] ) . however , during reproductive swarming in cape bees as many as 10 % of young workers are produced by egg - laying workers [ 12 ] . in between 40 % to 60 % of young queens produced during swarming are the offspring of workers [ 13 , 14 ] .
bees need a variety of food sources to strengthen their immune systems , which is why many beekeepers in the western cape station their hives in fynbos areas .
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