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Article
The wild solitary bees Andrena vaga, Anthophora plumipes, Colletes cunicularius, and Osmia cornuta microbiota are host specific and dominated by endosymbionts and environmental microorganisms
We characterized the microbial communities of the crop, midgut, hindgut, and ovaries of the wild solitary bees Andrena vaga, Anthophora plumipes, Colletes cunicularius, and Osmia cornuta through 16S rRNA gene and...
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Article
Open AccessHoney bees and climate explain viral prevalence in wild bee communities on a continental scale
Viruses are omnipresent, yet the knowledge on drivers of viral prevalence in wild host populations is often limited. Biotic factors, such as sympatric managed host species, as well as abiotic factors, such as ...
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Article
Open AccessCold case: The disappearance of Egypt bee virus, a fourth distinct master strain of deformed wing virus linked to honeybee mortality in 1970’s Egypt
In 1977, a sample of diseased adult honeybees (Apis mellifera) from Egypt was found to contain large amounts of a previously unknown virus, Egypt bee virus, which was subsequently shown to be serologically relate...
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Article
Fruit orchards and woody semi-natural habitat provide complementary resources for pollinators in agricultural landscapes
To safeguard insect pollinators and their pollination services, we need to understand how landscape structure regulates the distribution of resources that sustain pollinator populations. However, evidence of h...
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Article
Open AccessReduced nest development of reared Bombus terrestris within apiary dense human-modified landscapes
Wild bees are in decline on a local to global scale. The presence of managed honey bees can lead to competition for resources with wild bee species, which has not been investigated so far for human-modified la...
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Article
Recommendations for standardized oral toxicity test protocols for larvae of solitary bees, Osmia spp.
Effects of pesticides have been debated as one of the causes of worldwide declines of bee populations. Improving the risk assessment of pesticides on bees is important to halt these declines. Pesticide risk as...
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Article
Open AccessMetabolomics-based biomarker discovery for bee health monitoring: A proof of concept study concerning nutritional stress in Bombus terrestris
Bee pollinators are exposed to multiple natural and anthropogenic stressors. Understanding the effects of a single stressor in the complex environmental context of antagonistic/synergistic interactions is crit...
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Article
Open AccessPattern of population structuring between Belgian and Estonian bumblebees
Several population genetic studies investigated the extent of gene flow and population connectivity in bumblebees. In general, no restriction in gene flow is considered for mainland populations of common bumbl...
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Article
The effect of mass-flowering orchards and semi-natural habitat on bumblebee colony performance
Bumblebees are important pollinators for agricultural crops and wild plants. However, agricultural intensification and loss of semi-natural habitat may have adverse effects on colony performance. While mass-fl...
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Article
Open AccessHoney bee-collected pollen is a potential source of Ascosphaera apis infection in managed bumble bees
The trade of bumble bees started in the early nineties for pollinator-dependent greenhouse plants. Nowadays, its rearing and transport have received public attention, since managed bees can transfer pathogens ...
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Article
Small forest patches as pollinator habitat: oases in an agricultural desert?
Small forest fragments are often the most abundant type of semi-natural habitat in intensive agricultural landscapes. Wild pollinators can use these forest patches as nesting or foraging habitat. However, the ...
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Article
Double-stranded RNA reduces growth rates of the gut parasite Crithidia mellificae
Parasites of managed bees can disrupt the colony success of the host, but also influence local bee-parasite dynamics, which is regarded as a threat for wild bees. Therapeutic measures have been suggested to im...
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Article
Establishment of wildflower fields in poor quality landscapes enhances micro-parasite prevalence in wild bumble bees
The current worldwide pollinator decline is caused by the interplay of different drivers. Several strategies have been undertaken to counteract or halt this decline, one of which is the implementation of wildf...
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Article
Open AccessStressful conditions reveal decrease in size, modification of shape but relatively stable asymmetry in bumblebee wings
Human activities can generate a wide variety of direct and indirect effects on animals, which can manifest as environmental and genetic stressors. Several phenotypic markers have been proposed as indicators of...
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Article
Influence of pollinator abundance and flower visitation on seed yield in red clover
Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is an important forage crop in temperate regions. However, the seed yield in red clover, especially in tetraploid cultivars, constrains the commercial success of this crop. The rel...
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Article
Open AccessInfections of virulent and avirulent viruses differentially influenced the expression of dicer-1, ago-1, and microRNAs in Bombus terrestris
The microRNA (miRNA) pathway is well established to be involved in host-pathogen interactions. As key insect pollinators, bees are suffering from widely spreading viruses, especially honeybees and bumblebees. ...
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Article
Effect of oral administration of lactic acid bacteria on colony performance and gut microbiota in indoor-reared bumblebees (Bombus terrestris)
In this study, we investigated if oral administration of lactic acid bacteria could increase the colony performance of reared bumblebees. We found that a continuous administration of Lactobacillus kunkeei LMG 189...
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Article
Open AccessA century of temporal stability of genetic diversity in wild bumblebees
Since the 1950s, bumblebee (Bombus) species are showing a clear decline worldwide. Although many plausible drivers have been hypothesized, the cause(s) of this phenomenon remain debated. Here, genetic diversity i...
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Article
Open AccessDifferential expression pattern of Vago in bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), induced by virulent and avirulent virus infections
Viruses are one of the main drivers of the decline of domesticated and wild bees but the mechanisms of antiviral immunity in pollinators are poorly understood. Recent work has suggested that next to the small ...
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Article
Open AccessAbsence of Leishmaniinae and Nosematidae in stingless bees
Bee pollination is an indispensable component of global food production and plays a crucial role in sustainable agriculture. The worldwide decline of bee populations, including wild pollinators, poses a threat...
