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ARS Home Northeast Area Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) Beltsville Agricultural Research Center Bee Research Laboratory Research Publications at this Location





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Title:   Author  item
                                            HUANG, SHAOKANG - Fujian Agricultural & Forestry Universityitem
                                            CSAKI, THAMAS - Szent Istvan Universityitem
                                            DOUBLE, VINCENT - Martin Luther Universityitem
                                            DUSSAUBAT, CLAUDIA - French National Institute For Agricultural Researchitem
                                            Evans, Jayitem
                                            GAJDA, ANNA - Warsaw University Of Life Sciencesitem
                                            GREGORC, ALEX - Agricultural Institute Of Sloveniaitem
                                            Hamilton, Micheleitem
                                            KAMLER, MARTIN - Bee Research Institute, Ltditem
                                            LECOCQ, ANTOINE - Copenhagen Universityitem
                                            MUZ, MUSTAFA - Mustafa Kemal Universityitem
                                            NEUMANN, PETER - University Of Bernitem
                                            OZKIRIM, ASLI - Hacettepe Universityitem
                                            SCHIESSER, AYGUN - Hacettepe Universityitem
                                            Sohr, Alexitem
                                            TANNER, GINA - Swiss Bee Research Centeritem
                                            TOZKAR, CANSU OZGE - Middle East Technical Universityitem
                                            WILLIAMS, GEOFFREY - Swiss Bee Research Centeritem
                                            Wu, Lymanitem
                                            ZHENG, HUOQING - Zhejiang Universityitem
                                            Chen, Yanping

                                                         - *Judy*
  Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 10/13/2013
                                    Publication  Date: 2/7/2014
                                    Citation: Huang, S., Csaki, T., Double, V., Dussaubat, C., Evans, J.D., Gajda, A.M., Gregorc, A., Hamilton, M.C., Kamler, M., Lecocq, A., Muz, M.N., Neumann, P., Ozkirim, A., Schiesser, A., Sohr, A.R., Tanner, G., Tozkar, C., Williams, G.R., Wu, L., Zheng, H., Chen, Y. 2014. International standardization of cage designs and feeding regimes for honey bee in vitro experiments. Journal of Economic Entomology. 107(1):54-62.Interpretive Summary: One key element for maintenance of bees under controlled laboratory experiments is the development of a containment system that mimics field colony conditions as close as possible.  During recent decades numerous methods for caging honey bees have emerged.  However, these cages which differ in shape and size as well as their building material represent a source of variation in experimental results, necessitating an awareness of standardization of the methods in order to yield reproducible results between laboratories.  COLOSS (Prevention of honey bee COlony LOSSes) is an international research network with partners from over 60 countries that work together to develop internationally recognized methods in honey bee.  In the present study, we experimentally evaluated the impact of different cages, developed by scientists from COLOSS network on the physiology and survival of honey bees.  We develop an optimized cage system by embracing all benefits of available designs and by optimizing food supplement in the hope of establishing a reference method for standardization of honey bee rearing in hoarding cages.  This international collaborative study represents a very critical step towards improvement and development of standard methods in honey bee research.
                                Technical Abstract: The aim of this study was to improve and standardize cage systems for maintaining adult honey bee workers under in vitro laboratory conditions. To achieve this goal, we experimentally evaluated the impact of different cages, developed by scientists of the international research network COLOSS (Prevention of honey bee COlony LOSSes), on the physiology and survival of honey bees. We identified three cages that provided higher levels of physiological well-being of honey bees.  The bees from cages that exhibited high levels of survivorship had relatively lower titers of DWV, suggesting that DWV is a significant marker reflecting stress level and health status of the host.  We also determined that a leaking-and- dripping-proof feeder was an integral part of a cage system and a feeder modified from a 20 ml plastic syringe displayed the best result in providing steady food supply to bees.  Finally, we also demonstrated that the addition of protein to the bees’ diet could significantly increase the level of vitellogenin (Vg) gene expression and improve bees’ survival. This international collaborative study represents a critical step towards improvement and development of standard methods in Apis mellifera research and could have important implications for improving care of adult honey bees for future laboratory experiments.


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