Premio Nacional de Entomología 2020 a Tesis Doctoral de Rubén Medina Hernández, egresado del Doctorado del Posgrado Institucional UADY en que participa el Departamento de Apicultura Tropical

 AGRADECEMOS LA DISTINCIÓN OTORGADA POR ANUIES-ECOESAD AL DIPLOMADO EN APICULTURA EN LÍNEA DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE APICULTURA TROPICAL- FMVZ UADY. APROVECHAMOS UN AVISO PARA LA IMPARTICIÓN EN 2021

Guzman-Novoa E, Morfin N, De la Mora A, Macías-Macías JO, Tapia-González JM, Contreras-Escareño F, Medina-Flores CA, Correa-Benítez A and Quezada-Euán JJG (2020) The Process and Outcome of the Africanization of Honey Bees in Mexico: Lessons and Future Directions. Front. Ecol. Evol. 8:608091.                doi: 10.3389/fevo.2020.608091 

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Abstract

 The Africanization of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) in the Americas is among the most extensive insect invasions in the world, with large-scale effects on the economy and ecology of a whole continent. Africanized honey bees (AHBs) are a distinctive lineage of A. mellifera, resulting of the extensive admixture between African subspecies (A. m. scutellata and A.m. adansonii) with resident European stocks of honey bees introduced into the Americas. Despite its great importance, to date, the outcome of Africanization of honey bees has not been evaluated in detail. In this article we use the case of Mexico, one of the top beekeeping countries in the world, to assess the effects of Africanization of honey bees and its outcome. There is evidence of African genes in honey bee populations across Mexico, with prevalence in the tropical areas and less
so in temperate ones. The Africanization of honey bees resulted in lower honey yields per hive in temperate climates of Mexico, but this has not been assessed in the tropical regions. Mexico’s total honey production and exports at the start of the Africanization process decreased, but today, they have partially rebounded and have remained stable. As in all countries where Africanization has occurred, the defensive behavior of honey bees in Mexico increased but notably, stinging incidents involving humans have been relatively insignificant (0.23 fatalities per million people). Ecologically, AHBs seem to have posed limited impact on the native apifauna and have contributed to pollination of major economic crops, but more studies are needed to evaluate the overall effect. AHBs can be potentially more resistant to parasites and diseases and worth of note is that AHBs in Mexico resulted in a new generation of beekeepers that propelled management and selective breeding. In general, the evidence suggests that the Africanization of honey
bees in Mexico has had a less severe impact than originally predicted. We suggest some lines for future directions that may help to better understand the effects, make sustainable use and ameliorate the negative characteristics of AHBs.

DIPLOMADO MELIPONICULTURA 2020

EL DÍA 1 DE JULIO HEMOS INICIADO EL DIPLOMADO EN MELIPONICULTURA EN LINEA SESIÓN 2020- DAMOS LA BIENVENIDA A NUESTROS PARTICIPANTES DE MEXICO, EUA, CANADA, NICARAGUA Y ECUADOR. BIENVENIDOS!!!!

 

AVISPON GIGANTE ASIÁTICO

Recientemente por varios medios de comunicación se ha difundido ampliamente el hallazgo en 2019 de una colonia y un ejemplar del avispón gigante asiático (Vespa mandarinia) en Canadá y Estados Unidos (EUA), respectivamente. Se ha manejado que esta especie representa un gran riesgo para la apicultura y la salud pública, lo que ha disparado en las últimas semanas una avalancha de comentarios alarmistas sobre las “avispas asesinas”, particularmente en las redes sociales de nuestro país, con posibles consecuencias negativas como las que se han empezado a observar sobre las especies de abejas y avispas nativas. Ante esta situación, que consideramos deriva de la falta, pero también de la tergiversación de la información disponible, es importante presentar un panorama objetivo sobre la especie y el posible riesgo de su ingreso y propagación en México.
Aquí el link al documento:
PDF Medina-Medina, Quezada-Euán & Vandame

DIA INTERNACIONAL DE LAS ABEJAS 2020

ESTE AÑO EN PARTICULAR SERÁ RECORDADO POR MUCHAS GENERACIONES. UN CAMBIO ABRUPTO A NUESTRO ESTILO DE VIDA QUE TRASTORNÓ AL MUNDO ENTERO. DE TODO ESTO, ALGO QUEDA MUY CLARO Y CON MAYOR CERTEZA, RESPETAR LA NATURALEZA Y PRESERVARLA SERÁ DETERMINANTE PARA NUESTRO PROPIO FUTURO COMO ESPECIE.

FELIZ DÍA DE LAS ABEJAS 2020!!!!

Medina R.G., Paxton R.J., Hernández-Sotomayor S.M.T., Pech-Jimenez C., Medina-Medina L.A., Quezada-Euán J.J.G. (2020) Heat stress during development affects immunocompetence in workers, queens and drones of Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Journal of Thermal Biology 89: 102541 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102541

Abstract

Though social insects generally seem to have a reduced individual immunoresponse compared to solitary species, the impact of heat stress on that response has not been studied. In the honey bee, the effect of heat stress on reproductives (queens and males/drones) may also vary compared to workers, but this is currently unknown. Here, we quantified the activity of an enzyme linked to the immune response in insects and known to be affected by heat stress in solitary species: phenoloxidase (PO), in workers, queens and drones of Africanized honey bees (AHBs) experimentally subjected to elevated temperatures during the pupal stage. Additionally, we evaluated this marker in individuals experimentally infected with the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. Differences in PO activity were found between sexes and castes, with PO activity generally higher in workers and lower in reproductives. Such differences are associated with the likelihood of exposure to infection and the role of different individuals in the colony. Contrary to our expectation, heat stress did not cause an increase in PO activity equally in all classes of individual. Heat stress during the pupal stage significantly decreased the PO activity of AHB queens, but not that of workers or drones, which more frequently engage in extranidal activity. Experimental infection with Metarhizium anisopliae reduced PO activity in queens and workers, but increased it in drones. Notably, heat stressed workers lived significantly shorter after infection despite exhibiting greater PO activity than queens or drones. We suggest that this discrepancy may be related to trade-offs among immune response cascades in honey bees such as between heat shock proteins and defensin peptides used in microbial defence. Our results provide evidence for complex relationships among humoral immune responses in AHBs and suggest that heat stress could result in a reduced life expectancy of individuals.

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Simposio de Investigación "One health for the bees of Yucatan"

Simposio de Investigación "One health for the bees of Yucatan" organizado por UADY y SIIES Yucatán 10-14 de Febrero 2020

Poot-Baez V., Medina-Hernández R., Medina-Peralta S., Quezada-Euán J.J.G. (2020)Intranidal temperature and body size of Africanized honey bees under heatwaves (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Apidologie  51:382–390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-019-00725-5

Abstract
It is generally accepted that temperate subspecies of honey bees can maintain stable temperatures inside their nests; however, little information is available on the cooling ability of tropical honey bees and the effect of high environmental temperatures on individuals. In this study, we registered temperatures in the brood area of strong- and medium-populated colonies of Africanized honey bees during heatwaves (maximum environmental temperature 44 °C) between April and May in the tropical Yucatán Peninsula of México. To evaluate the effect on colonies, we compared the body size of workers produced under high temperatures in the field and siblings produced at stable 34–35 °C laboratory conditions. We found that in the field, temperatures of the brood nest in both types of colony can increase above 36 °C during the hottest part of the day, especially in less strong colonies. Workers produced in the field were significantly smaller, compared to those reared in the lab at stable temperatures. This is a first study reporting body size reduction in honey bees as a consequence of possible thermoregulation disruption during heatwaves. We discuss our results considering potential effects of heat stress to Africanized honey bee colonies and tropical beekeeping.

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