https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue Search results en Data of chemical compounds extracted from honey bee (Apis mellifera) brood in a varroa resistant and varroa susceptible population. Samples were taken 0, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 hours after brood capping by immersing pupae in pentane for 10 minutes. 6 hives from each population were used, and 3 replicates were taken per hive per time point. The FAME column was calculated by adding Methyl Palmitate, Linoloate, and Stearate together, while the FAEE columb was calculateed by adding Ethyl Palmitate, Linoloate, and Stearate together. Samples were analyzed using gas chromatography. R version 4.4.0 and RStudio version 1.4.1.748 were used to analyze the data. All packages and their version is listed in the attached R script. Data files included: Scaramella_et_al_2024_Contrast.tsv: 16 rows × 12 columns Scaramella_et_al_2024_Data.tsv: 210 rows × 14 columns Mon, 24 Jun 2024 13:15:10 GMT https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2024-173 https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2024-173 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Nicholas Scaramella Barbara Locke The data set was collected in Uppsala Sweden between 2019 and 2021. Hives were established using varroa resistant queens from Oslo, Norway (n = 3), Gotland Sweden, (n = 5), and Avignon, France (n = 4), with a varroa susceptible population from Uppsala, Sweden (n = 5) as control. All hives were located at the SLU Lövsta research station (GPS Coordinates: 59° 50’ 2.544”N, 17° 48’ 47.447”E). Varroa destructor mite reproductive success was measured on frames with adult honeybee workers exposed to, and excluded from access to honeybee larvae. Excluders were added directly after brood capping, and frames were dissected nine days later. Cell caps were removed using a scalpel with the pupae and mite families carefully removed from the cell using forceps and a fine paint brush. Mite reproductive success calculated by counting successful reproduction attempts, which was defined as a mite that successfully produced one male, and at least one female offspring. If a mite did not meet this requirement, it was considered a failed reproduction attempt and the reason for failure was documented. All data was analyzed in R version 4.0.1 using R Studio 1.3.959. A linear mixed-effect model was used with mite reproductive success as the response variable, population origin and excluder treatment as independent variables, with colony and year as random effect variables to compare treatments within each population as well as fecundity. Least-square means of the model were used to compare treatments between individual populations. Scaramella_et_al_2023_Data.tsv - Data set consists of 34 rows and 21 columns. Colony demographics, and designated treatment are listed. All data collected are count data and are explained in more detail in read me file. R script used in analysis is attached. It is split into two sections, with the first being used for statistical analysis, and the second used for plot creations used in the paper. Sections defined by title SECTION 1 - ANALYSIS and SECTION 2 - PLOTs The output Scaramella_et_al_2023_Analysis_Code_log.txt and plot file Rplots.pdf can, provided that the script is in the same directory as the data files and needed R packages are installed (see sessionInfo.txt), be reproduced by running: Rscript Scaramella_et_al_2023_Analysis_Code.R > \ Scaramella_et_al_2023_Analysis_Code_log.txt Scaramella_et_al_2023_Bar_Graph_Data.tsv - Data set consisting of 8 rows & 5 columns. Colony demographics, and designated treatment are listed. All data generated from the count data in Scaramella_et_al_2023_Data.tsv and are explained in more detail in read me file. Scaramella_et_al_2023_Stacked_Bar_Graph_Data.tsv - Data set consisting of 102 rows & 8 columns. Colony demographics, and designated treatment are listed. All data is Scaramella_et_al_2023_Data.tsv restructured to include reason failed as a column. The data is explained in more detail in read me file. Thu, 01 Jun 2023 11:09:57 GMT https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2023-79-1 https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2023-79-1 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Nicholas Scaramella Ashley Burke Melissa Oddie Barbara Locke Wild bee declines in agricultural landscapes have led farmers to supplement crops with honey bees. Simultaneously, environmental subsidy and conservation programmes have incentivized farmers to establish flower strips to support wild and managed pollinators. To find out if flower strips enhance, and competition from honey bees suppresses, wild bees in the landscape and across seasons, we surveyed bumble bee and honey bee abundances in 16 sites in Sweden in summer 2018 and spring 2019. The centre of each site (2 km radius) was with or without an annual flower strip, and with or without added honey bee hives. We surveyed bees in each flower strip and in linear habitats in the landscape around each site, such as field edges and road verges. In the following spring, we surveyed bumble bee queen abundance in each site. We show that adding flower strips benefits bumble bee queen abundance the following year, but this effect is diminished if honeybee hives are added. In sites with flower strips, added honey bee hives reduced male bumble bee abundance. Our relatively small flower strip areas bolstered bumble bee population growth across seasons, probably by relieving a resource bottleneck. Adding honey bee hives in combination with flower strips to landscapes with few floral resources should be avoided as it cancelled the positive effect of flower strips. Wed, 24 Nov 2021 13:38:17 GMT https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2021-285-1 https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2021-285-1 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Riccardo Bommarco Honey bees are currently facing mounting pressures that have resulted in population declines in many parts of the world. In northern climates winter is a bottleneck for honey bees and a thorough understanding of the colonies’ ability to withstand the winter is needed in order to protect the bees from further decline. In this study the influence of weather variables on colony weight loss was studied over one winter (2019-2020) in two apiaries (32 colonies in total) in southwestern Sweden with weather stations recording wind, temperature, humidity and precipitation at 5-min intervals. Three subspecies of honey bees and one hybrid were studied: the native Apis mellifera mellifera, the Italian A. m. ligustica, the Carniolan A. m. carnica and the hybrid Buckfast. Additionally, we recorded Varroa mite infestation. To analyze factors involved in resource consumption, three modelling approaches using weather and weight data were developed: the first links daily consumption rates with environmental variables, the second modelled the cumulative weight change over time, and the third estimated weight change over time taking light intensity and temperature into account. Weight losses were in general low (0.039 ± 0.013kg/day and colony) and comparable to southern locations, likely due to an exceptionally warm winter (average temperature 3.5°C). Weight losses differed only marginally between subspecies with indications that A. m. mellifera was having a more conservative resource consumption, but more studies are needed to confirm this. We did not find any effect of Varroa mite numbers on weight loss. In general, increasing light and temperature increase resource consumption in honey bees and within the temperature ranges of the experiment resource consumption was found to be in accordance with the master equation of metabolic theory of ecology (MTE). The effects of climate change could potentially affect the honey bees’ overwintering strategies and successes since temperature is expected to change but light intensity is expected to remain the same. A dependence on both light and temperature to guide resource consumption could thus potentially limit the honey bees’ ability to adapt to a changing climate. Thu, 14 Oct 2021 08:07:03 GMT https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2021-240-1 https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2021-240-1 University of Skövde Niclas Norrström Mats Niklasson Sonja Leidenberger Most research on the biology of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) focuses on the worker bees, but knowledge about drones is lacking despite their important role in mating with a virgin queen. Available information about their ecology and behavior are mainly based on direct observations in need of intensive experience and knowledge about honey bees. Only two recent studies conducted in France and Argentina have monitored drones continuously, but on the scale of a single observation hive or during a short time period only. Therefore, studies that have continuously monitored drone flight activity during the whole mating season are still lacking. Further, we are not aware of any studies that have compared the ecology and behavior of drones between different subspecies of Apis mellifera. Besides the aim of analysing the ecology and behavior of drones in spring and summer in Sweden, where the climate poses challenging conditions for honey bees, the objective of this project was to compare the native, but threatened, subspecies Apis mellifera mellifera (Mel) with the hybrid ’Buckfast’ (Apis mellifera x, Buck). In Sweden, the latter is most commonly used in beekeeping today. Activity data at the entrance of the hives was collected with the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology at two different apiaries with 8 colonies each. RFID technology enables the continuous monitoring of bees tagged with a microchip on their thorax. Hereby, only newborn drones with a maximum age of 3 days were tagged. Further, drones’ activity and behavior at the entrance of the hive was studied from video recordings. Weather parameters were measured by weather stations installed within the apiaries, enabling a direct analysis of the activity in relation to weather conditions (temperature, wind speed, rain, humidity). Wed, 14 Feb 2024 14:58:09 GMT https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2023-211 https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2023-211 University of Skövde Finja Schaumann The aim of this study was to investigate how short- and long-tongued bees (bumblebees and honeybees) affect seed production in different cultivars of red clover, focusing on tetraploid cultivars. The study includes two experiments. In the first one, data were collected from field trials at six different sites (belonging to Lantmännen) distributed in southern and northern Sweden over two years. The data from this experiment include seed yield, seed set, abundance of short- and long-tongued bees and seed-eating weevils, and plant traits (flower head density and number of florets per flower head) from one diploid and three tetraploid red clover cultivars. The second experiment was a cage study where seed yield from tetraploid red clover was evaluated from cages with different densities of the short-tongued bumblebee Bombus terrestris, and compared with seed yield from an open plot adjacent to the cages. This study was conducted in farmers' fields in southern and northern Sweden over two years. Wed, 11 Mar 2026 08:17:06 GMT https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2026-28 https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2026-28 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Kajsa Svensson Veronika Hederström Ida Valentin Sara Lindholm Linda Öhlund Mattias C. Larsson Åsa Lankinen Honeybee drones’ only known task is to mate with a virgin queen. Apart from their mating behaviour, their ecology has been little studied in comparison to honeybee females. Most previous knowledge is based on direct observations at a single experimental hive and gathered during a restricted amount of time. No study has focused on differences between Apis mellifera subspecies. This study presents drone and worker bee lifetime data of Apis mellifera mellifera and Apis mellifera x (hybrid Buckfast) colonies during the whole spring and summer mating season, using the Radio Frequency Identification Technology. This method enables continuous monitoring of tagged bees at the entrance of the hives together with the individuals’ movement direction. Differences were found between Apis m. mellifera and Buckfast drones, where Apis m. mellifera showed later drone production in spring, but earlier first activities and a later peak activity. Additionally, Apis m. mellifera flew more under high light intensities and windy conditions and performed more longer flights than Buckfast drones. No differences were found in their lifespan. However, drones in general showed higher activity the higher the temperature and avoided flights in the rain. The results confirmed that spring-born drones survive longer than summer-born drones and lived generally longer than worker bees. Drones peak activity occurred in the afternoon while worker bees showed similar activities throughout the day. Worker bees, unlike drones, did fly in the rain. Normally, orientation flights of drones are described to occur between 4 - 8 days of age, but such flights were observed earlier in this study. In summer, frequent mating flights were practiced before drones reach sexual maturity (at 12 days of age). The observed differences in drone ecology support possible local adaptation of the native subspecies Apis m. mellifera to the environmental conditions in Sweden. Fri, 02 Aug 2024 11:45:44 GMT https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2023-169 https://researchdata.se/en/catalogue/dataset/2023-169 University of Skövde Finja Schaumann Niclas Norrström Mats Niklasson Sonja Leidenberger