Honigeinlagerung

Der Wassergehalt des von den Pflanzen produzierten Nektars kann variieren. Um seine Konservierung in den Waben zu gewährleisten, darf er nicht gären. Deshalb wird er von den Bienen in Honig umgewandelt, indem sie seinen Wassergehalt senken und folglich den Zuckergehalt erhöhen. Dies verhindert die Entwicklung der Mikroorganismen. In der Dunkelheit des Bienenstocks ist es schwierig, den Herstellungsprozess des Honigs zu beobachten. Aus diesem Grund ist er auch nur wenig erforscht. Um die Umwandlung von Nektar in Honig zu untersuchen, haben wir die Technik der Tomographie eingesetzt. Sie ermöglicht es, den Zuckergehalt des eingelagerten Nektars sehr präzise zu messen, ohne den Bienenstock öffnen zu müssen und das Bienenvolk zu stören.

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Eyer M., Dainat B., Neumann P., Dietemann V.

Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera.

Experimental Gerontology, 87, 2017, 84-91.

Download englisch: ScienceDirect

Zusammenfassung:

Organisms' lifespans are modulated by both genetic and environmental factors. The lifespan of eusocial insects is determined by features of the division of labor,which itself is influenced by social regulatory mechanisms. In the honey bee, Apis mellifera, the presence of brood and of old workers carrying out foraging tasks are important social drivers of ageing, but the influence of young adult workers is unknown, as it has not been experimentally teased apart from that of brood. In this study, we test the role of young workers in the ageing of their nestmates. We measured the impact of different social contexts characterized by the absence of brood and/or young adults on the lifespan ofworker nestmates in field colonies. To acquire insight into the physiological processes occurring under these contexts, we analyzed the expression of genes known to affect honey bee ageing. The data showed that young workers significantly reduced the lifespan of nestmate workers, similar to the effect of brood on its own. Differential expression of vitellogenin, major royal jelly protein-1, and methylase transferase, but not methyl farneosate epoxidase genes suggests that young workers and brood influence ageing of adult nestmate workers via different physiological pathways. We identify young workers as an essential part of the social regulation of ageing in honey bee colonies.

ISSN Print: 0531-5565
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2016.11.006
Publikations-ID (Webcode): 36296 Per E-Mail versenden

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