The effects of protein supplementation, fumagillin treatment, and colony management on the productivity and long-term survival of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies.

In this study, we intensively measured the longitudinal productivity and survival of 362 commercially managed honey bee colonies in Canada, over a two-year period. A full factorial experimental design was used, whereby two treatments were repeated across apiaries situated in three distinct geographic regions: Northern Alberta, Southern Alberta and Prince Edward Island, each having unique bee management strategies. In the protein supplemented treatment, colonies were continuously provided a commercial protein supplement containing 25% w/w pollen, in addition to any feed normally provided by beekeepers in that region. In the fumagillin treatment, colonies were treated with the label dose of Fumagilin-B® each year during the fall. Neither treatment provided consistent benefits across all sites and dates. Fumagillin was associated with a large increase in honey production only at the Northern Alberta site, while protein supplementation produced an early season increase in brood production only at the Southern Alberta site. The protein supplement provided no long-lasting benefit at any site and was also associated with an increased risk of death and decreased colony size later in the study. Differences in colony survival and productivity among regions, and among colonies within beekeeping operations, were far larger than the effects of either treatment, suggesting that returns from extra feed supplements and fumagillin were highly contextually dependent. We conclude that use of fumagillin is safe and sometimes beneficial, but that beekeepers should only consider excess protein supplementation when natural forage is limiting.

A Systematic Review of Fumagillin Field Trials for the Treatment of Nosema Disease in Honeybee Colonies.

This article systematically reviews controlled field trials of fumagillin dicyclohexylamine in honeybee colonies to determine whether fumagillin effectively controls nosema and whether it is beneficial to colonies. Fifty publications were found that described controlled field trials of fumagillin in honeybee colonies between 1952 and 2023. Fumagillin consistently reduced the prevalence and severity of nosema infections. Doses applied in recent studies were similar to or below those recommended historically. Furthermore, our study showed no negative effects on colony health. Improvements in colony survival, size, and honey production have been demonstrated frequently, though not consistently, in both historic and recent studies. Nevertheless, some practices are not optimal. Treatment decision thresholds based on the number of spores per bee are not well supported by evidence and may be no better than calendar-based prophylactic treatments. In addition, reasonable recommendations to employ quarantine and disinfection procedures together with fumagillin treatment do not appear to have been widely adopted. When used as stand-alone treatments, both the fall- and spring-label doses provide benefits but may be too low and short-term to ensure full control of the disease.

Managing a Colonoscopic Perforation in a Patient with No Abdominal Wall.

We describe the case of a 37-year-old gentleman with Crohn's disease and a complex surgical history including a giant incisional hernia with no abdominal wall. He presented on a Sunday to the general surgical on-call with a four-day history of generalised abdominal pain, nausea, and decreased stoma output following colonoscopy. After CT imaging, he was diagnosed with a large colonic perforation. Initially, he was worked up for theatre but following early senior input, a conservative approach with antibiotics was adopted. The patient improved significantly and is currently awaiting plastic surgery input for the management of his abdominal wall defect.

Peptide biomarkers used for the selective breeding of a complex polygenic trait in honey bees.

We present a novel way to select for highly polygenic traits. For millennia, humans have used observable phenotypes to selectively breed stronger or more productive livestock and crops. Selection on genotype, using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and genome profiling, is also now applied broadly in livestock breeding programs; however, selection on protein/peptide or mRNA expression markers has not yet been proven useful. Here we demonstrate the utility of protein markers to select for disease-resistant hygienic behavior in the European honey bee (Apis mellifera L.). Robust, mechanistically-linked protein expression markers, by integrating cis- and trans- effects from many genomic loci, may overcome limitations of genomic markers to allow for selection. After three generations of selection, the resulting marker-selected stock outperformed an unselected benchmark stock in terms of hygienic behavior, and had improved survival when challenged with a bacterial disease or a parasitic mite, similar to bees selected using a phenotype-based assessment for this trait. This is the first demonstration of the efficacy of protein markers for industrial selective breeding in any agricultural species, plant or animal.

Effect of cooling rates and temperatures on quality and safety of quahog clams (Mercenaria mercenaria).

The model ordinance in the National Shellfish Sanitation Program's Guide for the Control of Molluscan Shellfish was initially established for oysters; however, the clam industry also follows the protocol. Rapid cooling during periods when the growing waters exceed 80 °F (26.7 °C) results in cold shock, which causes unacceptable mortalities in clams. The clam industry was looking for a procedure to lower the clams to the standard temperature while minimizing shell shock mortalities during the warm summer months. Three tempering treatments were examined, and total aerobic plate counts (APCs) and most-probable-number (MPN) counts of Vibrio, V. parahaemolyticus, and fecal coliforms were enumerated. In treatment 1 (control), clams were harvested, held for 5 h at 90 °F (32.2 °C), and then moved to 45 °F (7.2 °C) for storage. In treatment 2, clams were harvested and held for 5 h at 90 °F (32.2 °C), followed by 12 h at 65 °F (18.3 °C) and 12 h at 55 °F (12.8 °C), and then were moved to 45 °F (7.2 °C) for long-term storage. In treatment 3, clams were harvested and held for 5 h at 90 °F (32.2 °C), followed by 24 h at 55 °F (12.8 °C) before being moved to 45 °F (7.2 °C) for long-term storage. Three replicate trials were performed with triplicate analyses during late June through early to mid-August. The current National Shellfish Sanitation Program standard is treatment 1; it contained statistically (P ≤ 0.05) higher total APCs than treatments 2 and 3 throughout the 21-day storage period. APCs ranged from 2.3 × 10(4) immediately after harvest to 2.7 × 10(6), 1.6 × 10(5), and 4.8 × 10(5) for treatments 1, 2, and 3, respectively, after 14 days of storage. A statistical analysis showed that treatments 2 and 3 had significantly lower total MPN per gram Vibrio than treatment 1 on day 7 but were equal to treatment 1 on days 1 and 14. MPN per gram for V. parahaemolyticus was statistically lower in treatments 2 and 3 than in treatment 1 on storage days 1 and 7. However, on day 14, treatment 3 was significantly lower than treatments 1 and 2. There was no statistical difference for fecal coliforms. The greatest mortality occurred in treatment 1 (87.4%), followed by treatment 2 (83.3%) and treatment 3 (66.0%). The outcome of this research clearly shows that treatments 2 and 3 can cool clams to a temperature of 45 °F (7.2 °C) without compromising quality or safety and can reduce the number of dead clams introduced into the marketplace.

Microbial profiles of commercial, vacuum-packaged, fresh pork of normal or short storage life.

The microbial ecology of fresh vacuum-packed pork cuts during storage at -1.5 degrees C for up to 45 days was examined to characterize rates of microbial growth and pH changes in commercially prepared products of normal storage quality. Pork loins in commercial distribution with odour defects were also studied to determine a possible cause of the defects and avoid future problems. In addition, microbial profiles of pork cuts from two plants were compared, after storage for 25 days at -1.5 degrees C, to identify possible reasons for differences in the storage life of product from the plants. The effects of a change in sanitation procedures on the microbial populations of products stored for 25 days were also studied. With normal product, microbial growth in different packages progressed at different rates, reflecting differences in initial levels of bacterial contamination. All samples in the study reached 8 weeks without apparent organoleptic change and samples carried 5.8+/-1.2 log bacteria cm(-2) (mean+/-S.D.). The flora of loins with the odour defect were predominately lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and carnobacteria, but they contained large fractions of Enterobacteriaceae <35 days after packaging. Aeromonas spp. and Shewanella spp. were likely responsible for the sulfide-putrid smell of these spoiled products, but species of Enterobacteriaceae and lactic acid bacteria could have contributed to spoilage. Comparison of microbial groups present in 16 other cuts, half from each of two commercial plants, which were stored for 25 days at -1.5 degrees C, showed that larger fractions of Enterobacteriaceae were present in samples from the plant having difficulty achieving the desired storage life. Additional bacterial samples from 12 cuts supplied by the latter plant obtained after adoption of an acid sanitizer step in the plant cleaning regimen, and also stored for 25 days at -1.5 degrees C, yielded few Enterobacteriaceae, Aeromonas or Shewanella. Use of an acid sanitizer in plant cleaning may be a means of controlling alkali-tolerant bacteria such as Aeromonas or Shewanella which can contaminate pork cuts and spoil vacuum-packaged product. The fraction of Enterobacteriaceae in bacteria populations on fresh pork stored for 25 days at -1.5 degrees C may be a useful indicator of the effectiveness of plant sanitation.

Thermal resistances and lactate and diacetate sensitivities of bacteria causing bologna discolouration.

This report describes the effects of heat, sodium lactate, and sodium diacetate on the viabilities of Weissella viridescens ATCC 12706, Aerococcus viridans MPL-1 and MPL-B, and Carnobacterium viridans ATCC BAA 336. The latter three organisms were isolated from commercial product and have previously been shown to produce green discolourations in cooked cured bologna. W. viridescens was heat resistant in beef bologna (D(60 degrees C)=14.7 min) but not in APT broth. A. viridans and C. viridans were much more sensitive to heat (D(60 degrees C) in beef bologna < or =1.3 min), indicating that these organisms were probably post-pasteurization contaminants. Sodium lactate (3.0%) alone or in combination with 0.3% sodium diacetate slowed the growth rate and reduced the final cell numbers of A. viridans and C. viridans in inoculated bologna. W. viridescens was only slightly affected by the combined antimicrobials. The combination of sodium lactate and sodium diacetate prevented A. viridans and C. viridans from affecting the colour of beef bologna. However, lactate and diacetate themselves reduced red colour, as measured by HunterLab colourimetry. HunterLab a values for fresh beef bologna were 13.4 (no antimicrobial added), 9.6 (3.0% sodium lactate), 8.0 (0.3% sodium diacetate), and 7.9 (3.0% sodium lactate + 0.3% sodium diacetate).

Carnobacterium viridans sp. nov., an alkaliphilic, facultative anaerobe isolated from refrigerated, vacuum-packed bologna sausage.

A facultatively anaerobic, non-spore-forming, psychrophilic, gram-positive, non-aciduric but alkaliphilic, rod-shaped bacterium (MPL-11T) was found to be responsible for green discoloration of refrigerated vacuum-packaged bologna upon opening of the package. Although Aerococcus viridans, which had been implicated earlier in causing the same problem, was also found, this is the first report of discoloration caused by an organism shown to be a species of Carnobacterium. Bacterial discoloration was caused by H2O2 production upon exposure of the meat to air. Strain MPL-11T is catalase- and oxidase-negative. It is not motile and does not reduce nitrate to nitrite or produce ammonia from arginine. It does not grow in acetate-containing broth or agar (Rogosa) or produce H2S. The peptidoglycan is of the meso-diaminopimelic acid type and it produces predominantly L(+)-lactic acid from glucose. It grows from at least 2 to 30 degrees C over a pH range from 5.5 to 9.1. Ribotyping suggested that strain MPL-11T could be a species of either Lactobacillus or Carnobacterium, but analysis using DNA sequences from the 16S rRNA gene showed conclusively that the organism belonged to the genus Carnobacterium. Since acid is not produced from amygdalin, inulin, mannitol, methyl alpha-D-glucoside or D-xylose, the organism differs from the seven described species of Carnobacterium. In addition, strain MPL-11T is the first member of the genus found that does not produce acid from ribose. It is capable of acid production/growth on galactose, glucose, fructose, mannose, N-acetylglucosamine, aesculin, cellobiose, maltose, lactose, sucrose, trehalose and tagatose. Although extremely salt tolerant, it does not grow in > or = 4% NaCl. On the basis of phenotypic and genotypic data, it is concluded that this isolate represents a separate, novel species. Accordingly, the name Carnobacterium viridans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is strain MPL-11T (= ATCC BAA-336T = DSM 14451T).