Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.

By Alton Parrish (Reporter)
Contributor profile | More stories

Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

Secrets of Bees and Honey Production Revealed

Wednesday, November 9, 2016 17:09

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

Despite the importance of honey for honey bees and humans, little is known about its production by worker bees. Floral pollen is the main source of protein for the honey bee. Nectar is obtained from flowers and honey-dew is derived from plant-sucking insects

From never seen before X-ray images of honey bee combs, a research team from Agroscope and the Institute of Bee Health at the University of Bern (both Switzerland) could study how honey is produced. The team used computer tomography to measure sugar concentration in the wax cells, without disturbing the sensitive mechanisms of the colony. They found that bees use several techniques to ripen honey.

Honey bees, Apis species, obtain carbohydrates from nectar and honeydew. These resources are ripened into honey in wax cells that are capped for long-term storage. These stores are used to overcome dearth periods when foraging is not possible.

Credit: © M. Eyer, Agroscope/UniBE

Honeybees collect nectar from flowers and concentrate the sugar it contains to produce honey. Honey reserves in their wax combs allow colonies to survive over winter when no food is available in the environment. This rich source of sugar is also appreciated by humans and honey is harvested for consumption.

In an article in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, a joint research team from Agroscope at the Swiss Confederation and from the Institute of Bee Health at the University of Bern (Switzerland) could quantify the changes in sugar concentration in wax cells during honey production by worker bees.

X-ray image of a cell with a ring of highly concentrated sugar along the walls.

Credit: © M. Eyer, Agroscope/UniBE

“Due to the technical difficulties of measuring sugar concentration in wax cells without disturbing the bees, we still ignore much of how nectar is transformed into honey,” says senior author Vincent Dietemann from Agroscope. “Computer tomography is conventionally used to examine humans or animals for medical purpose, but here we used this technique to scan whole honey bee hives. We could, for the first time, measure and literally see the sugar concentration of honey in the wax cells,” adds lead author Michael Eyer from both Agroscope and Institute of Bee Health, who has been working on this project for the past two years.

Secrets discovered in the cells

During the honey ripening process in the cells, X-ray images showed different patterns of brightness that reflect sugar concentration. The patterns indicate that workers use different behaviours to produce honey. They either paint the walls with loads of concentrated nectar to create rings or deposit them randomly in the cell, forming clumps. Over time, clumps grow in size and ring patterns disappear to converge to the inhomogeneous pattern of ripe honey.

Surprisingly, ripe honey thus turns out to be a matrix of inhomogeneous sugar concentration. A few cells showed a content of homogeneous high sugar concentration and this concentration exceeded the average normally measured for honey. ”These new findings were unexpected based on previous knowledge and complete our understanding of honey making by bees” explains Peter Neumann from the Institute of Bee Health, who also took part to the study.

Understanding honey production and storage is important for beekeeping and for colony health

The new findings resulted in the most detailed insight into honey ripening available to date. Increased knowledge on the honey production by bees is of high importance to beekeepers, since it might lead to better management of colonies to improve the quality and quantity of honey harvests. In addition, by tracking the destiny of nectar brought back to the hive by the forager bees, such studies could contribute to a better understanding of hive contamination by pathogens and pesticides, two currently important fields of research in honeybee health.

Honey production, use and computer tomography – Background

Honey bees collect their food from plants in their environment. Floral pollen is the honey bee’s main source of protein. Nectar gained from flowers and honeydew derived from plant-sucking insects, provide the sugars to fuel their muscle activity. During honey production, enzymes are added to nectar and honeydew by the bees and water is eliminated to concentrate sugar. Water is evaporated actively by workers who manipulate regurgitated droplets of nectar with their mouthparts. In parallel, passive evaporation operates on the cell content.

Apis mellifera flying back to its hive carrying pollen in a pollen basket.

Credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim/GFDL 1.2

Honey is a rich source of sugar exploited by humans since at least 15,000 years. In addition to its role as sweetener, honey is also used for its health benefits that include healing of wounds and fighting off infections. Switzerland has an annual average honey production of 3,400 tons, with an annual consumption of 1.3 kg honey per person.

Computer tomography generates three dimensional X-ray images and is based on the measurement of density and the visualization and quantification of the differences in density of the component materials. Since the density of a sugar solution varies with its concentration, the former parameter can be used as a proxy for the latter.

The study showed the occurrence of two cohorts of cells with different provisioning and ripening dynamics. “The relocation of the content of many cells before final storage was part of the ripening process, because sugar concentration of the content removed was lower than that of content deposited. The results confirm the mixing of solutions of different concentrations in cells and show that honey is an inhomogeneous matrix. The last stage of ripening occurred when cell capping had already started, indicating a race against water absorption. The storage and ripening processes as well as resource use were context dependent because their dynamics changed with sugar concentration of the food,” according to the study.

The study was supported by the Vinetum Foundation, the Foundation Sur-La-Croix and Agroscope. It was performed by researchers from Agroscope, Switzerland (Swiss Bee Research Center, Swiss Confederation) and the University of Bern, Switzerland (Institute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty).

Contacts and sources:

Dr. Michael Eyer Agroscope, Zentrum für Bienenforschung / Institut für Bienengesundheit (Vetsuisse Fakultät), Universität Bern

Agroscope
Institute of Bee Health

Citation: Eyer M, Neumann P, Dietemann V (2016) A Look into the Cell: Honey Storage in Honey Bees, Apis mellifera. Study in PLOS One 11(8): e0161059. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0161059.

Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2016/11/secrets-of-bees-and-honey-production.html

Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world. Anyone can join. Anyone can contribute. Anyone can become informed about their world. "United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

LION'S MANE PRODUCT

Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules

Mushrooms are having a moment. One fabulous fungus in particular, lion’s mane, may help improve memory, depression and anxiety symptoms. They are also an excellent source of nutrients that show promise as a therapy for dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases. If you’re living with anxiety or depression, you may be curious about all the therapy options out there — including the natural ones.Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend has been formulated to utilize the potency of Lion’s mane but also include the benefits of four other Highly Beneficial Mushrooms. Synergistically, they work together to Build your health through improving cognitive function and immunity regardless of your age. Our Nootropic not only improves your Cognitive Function and Activates your Immune System, but it benefits growth of Essential Gut Flora, further enhancing your Vitality.

Our Formula includes: Lion’s Mane Mushrooms which Increase Brain Power through nerve growth, lessen anxiety, reduce depression, and improve concentration. Its an excellent adaptogen, promotes sleep and improves immunity. Shiitake Mushrooms which Fight cancer cells and infectious disease, boost the immune system, promotes brain function, and serves as a source of B vitamins. Maitake Mushrooms which regulate blood sugar levels of diabetics, reduce hypertension and boosts the immune system. Reishi Mushrooms which Fight inflammation, liver disease, fatigue, tumor growth and cancer. They Improve skin disorders and soothes digestive problems, stomach ulcers and leaky gut syndrome. Chaga Mushrooms which have anti-aging effects, boost immune function, improve stamina and athletic performance, even act as a natural aphrodisiac, fighting diabetes and improving liver function. Try Our Lion’s Mane WHOLE MIND Nootropic Blend 60 Capsules Today. Be 100% Satisfied or Receive a Full Money Back Guarantee. Order Yours Today by Following This Link.

Comments

Visits:	1,707,498,330
Stories:	8,447,922