Nesting biology and nest structure of the exotic bee Megachile sculpturalis.

From the 1990s, the Southeast Asia native giant resin bee Megachile sculpturalis (Smith, 1853) was introduced first to North America, and then to many countries in Europe. Despite increasing studies on its invasive potential and geographical expansion, information on nesting behaviour of this species is still extremely scarce. To increase knowledge on the nesting biology of M. sculpturalis, we studied multiple aspects of nesting and pollen provisioning in three consecutive years in artificial nests in Bologna, Italy. We observed 166 bees visiting nests, and followed individual nesting behaviour and success of 41 adult females. We measured cavity diameter in 552 nests and characterised the structure in 100 of them. More than 95% of nest diameters ranged between 0.6 and 1.2 cm, overlapping with several sympatric species of cavity-nesting hymenopterans in the study area. Most nests had a first chamber from the entrance of variable length without brood, followed by an average of about two brood cells with a mean length of 2.85 ± 0.13 cm each. The pollen stored in brood cells was almost monofloral, belonging to the ornamental plant Styphnolobium japonicum (L.) Schott. We estimated that a single female should visit ≈180 flowers to collect enough pollen for a single brood cell. These results fill knowledge gaps on the nesting biology and nest structure of the exotic M. sculpturalis, and they are discussed in relation to possible competition with native bees for nesting sites and foraging resources.

Donkey assisted interventions: A pilot survey on service providers in North-Eastern Italy.

CONTEXT: Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI), which are generally defined as 'pet therapy', focus on the improvement of human health and wellbeing through a multidisciplinary approach and the involvement of domestic animals. An Italian survey conducted in 2017 revealed that donkeys were the third most involved species in AAI. Nevertheless, data on the main features of the providers of Donkey Assisted Interventions (DAI), especially in Italy, and their organisational models are scarce. OBJECTIVE: This questionnaire-based pilot study aimed to collect information about the features of DAI providers in the Veneto Region to have a general framework about the field. STUDY METHOD: In this descriptive mixed-method pilot study, we interviewed DAI providers through a computer assisted telephone interview. Respondents were selected by integrating data from the Veneto Region Livestock Database and from the Italian official register of AAI professionals. The questionnaire was designed following the advice from Equator Network. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Our outcome measures included the prevalent organisational system adopted by our respondents, main type of AAI programs, and users. Furthermore, we collected qualitative data about economic and income and respondents' personal opinions about DAI (strengths and weaknesses). MAIN RESULTS: Data analysis revealed a heterogeneous picture of the DAI field with a prevalence of non-profit organisations providing mainly Donkey Assisted Activities to a large range of user categories. Despite the poor economic framework and low income from DAI, DAI providers were strongly motivated and spent more time and efforts in delivering this service.

Pathogens Spillover from Honey Bees to Other Arthropods.

Honey bees, and pollinators in general, play a major role in the health of ecosystems. There is a consensus about the steady decrease in pollinator populations, which raises global ecological concern. Several drivers are implicated in this threat. Among them, honey bee pathogens are transmitted to other arthropods populations, including wild and managed pollinators. The western honey bee, Apis mellifera, is quasi-globally spread. This successful species acted as and, in some cases, became a maintenance host for pathogens. This systematic review collects and summarizes spillover cases having in common Apis mellifera as the mainteinance host and some of its pathogens. The reports are grouped by final host species and condition, year, and geographic area of detection and the co-occurrence in the same host. A total of eighty-one articles in the time frame 1960-2021 were included. The reported spillover cases cover a wide range of hymenopteran host species, generally living in close contact with or sharing the same environmental resources as the honey bees. They also involve non-hymenopteran arthropods, like spiders and roaches, which are either likely or unlikely to live in close proximity to honey bees. Specific studies should consider host-dependent pathogen modifications and effects on involved host species. Both the plasticity of bee pathogens and the ecological consequences of spillover suggest a holistic approach to bee health and the implementation of a One Health approach.

The Status of Honey Bee Health in Italy: Results from the Nationwide Bee Monitoring Network.

In Italy a nation-wide monitoring network was established in 2009 in response to significant honey bee colony mortality reported during 2008. The network comprised of approximately 100 apiaries located across Italy. Colonies were sampled four times per year, in order to assess the health status and to collect samples for pathogen, chemical and pollen analyses. The prevalence of Nosema ceranae ranged, on average, from 47-69% in 2009 and from 30-60% in 2010, with strong seasonal variation. Virus prevalence was higher in 2010 than in 2009. The most widespread viruses were BQCV, DWV and SBV. The most frequent pesticides in all hive contents were organophosphates and pyrethroids such as coumaphos and tau-fluvalinate. Beeswax was the most frequently contaminated hive product, with 40% of samples positive and 13% having multiple residues, while 27% of bee-bread and 12% of honey bee samples were contaminated. Colony losses in 2009/10 were on average 19%, with no major differences between regions of Italy. In 2009, the presence of DWV in autumn was positively correlated with colony losses. Similarly, hive mortality was higher in BQCV infected colonies in the first and second visits of the year. In 2010, colony losses were significantly related to the presence of pesticides in honey bees during the second sampling period. Honey bee exposure to poisons in spring could have a negative impact at the colony level, contributing to increase colony mortality during the beekeeping season. In both 2009 and 2010, colony mortality rates were positively related to the percentage of agricultural land surrounding apiaries, supporting the importance of land use for honey bee health.

Chemical and functional characterization of Italian propolis obtained by different harvesting methods.

The composition and antioxidant activity of Italian poplar propolis obtained using three harvesting methods and extracted with different solvents were evaluated. Waxes, balsams, and resins contents were determined. Flavones and flavonols, flavanones and dihydroflavonols, and total phenolics were also analyzed. To characterize the phenolic composition, the presence of 15 compounds was verified through HPLC-MS/MS. The antioxidant activity was evaluated through 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical and reducing power assays. The ability of propolis to inhibit lipid oxidation was monitored by analyzing hydroperoxide and TBARS formation in lipids incorporated into an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion. Acetone shows the highest extraction capacity. Wedge propolis has the highest concentration of active phenolic compounds (TP = 359.1 ± 16.3 GAEs/g; TFF = 5.83 ± 0.42%; TFD = 7.34 ± 1.8%) and seems to be the most promising for obtaining high-value propolis more suitable to prepare high-quality dietary supplements (TBARS = 0.012 ± 0.009 mmol std/g; RP = 0.77 ± 0.07 TEs/g).

¹H-NMR simultaneous identification of health-relevant compounds in propolis extracts.

INTRODUCTION: Propolis is a resinous substance collected by bees from exudates of different plants that is rich in well-known health-relevant phenolic compounds such as flavonoids and phenolic acids. Propolis extracts are very complex matrices difficult to study. Different analytical methods are usable to analyse propolis extracts and to obtain chemical fingerprint but to our knowledge NMR has not previously been used for this purpose. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to demonstrate that it is possible to use ¹H-NMR for the simultaneous recognition of phenolic compounds in complex matrices, such as propolis extracts, using appropriate tools for spectra pre-treatment and analysis. METHODOLOGY: In this work 12 typical phenolic propolis compounds (apigenin, chrysin, galangin, kaempferol, quercetin, naringenin, pinocembrin, pinostrobin, caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid) were considered as reference compounds and their presence in samples was verified by HPLC-MS. A simple ¹H-NMR sequence was used to obtain spectra of samples. Spectra were pre-treated by using an appropriate tool for spectra alignment and analysed by using software for the study of spectra originated from complex matrices. Sixty-five propolis samples were used to test the proposed identification procedure. RESULTS: Ten out of 12 considered compounds were identified as statistically significant in most of the samples. CONCLUSION: This work suggests that it is possible to efficiently use ¹H-NMR, coupled with appropriate spectral analytical tools, for the simultaneous detection of phenolic compounds in complex matrices.