نشریه علوم و فنون زنبور عسل ایران
پیاپی 24 (بهار و تابستان 1401)

Over the past ten years, some regions of the world have faced a significant decline in honey bee colonies. In fact, honey bee losses are not an unusual phenomenon, but recently, in many countries of the world, a significant decrease in bee colonies has been observed. Cases of this type of death in the United States of America, many European countries and the Middle East have attracted a lot of attention, mostly due to the lack of an identifiable cause. Due to the diverse social behavior of honey bees, it is difficult to determine the main factors in causing colony losses. In addition, honey bees are in contact with many environmental factors in their daily activities and they are exposed to a multitude of human activities and their consequences. However, various factors have been considered in bee losses and recent research has identified some of the most important of them, which include pests and diseases, bee management, beekeeping practices and bee breeding, climate change, agricultural activities, and pesticide use. Global studies have reported Varroa as the main factor in honey bee colony losses, followed by Nozma ceranae. It is clear that many factors influence honey bee colony losses worldwide. Increased monitoring and scientific research should shed new light on the factors involved in recent bee colony losses. The present review focuses on the main factors that influence the increase in bee colony losses.

Considering the importance of honey bees in the production of honey and other valuable products in the country, as well as the adaptation of Iranian honey bees to the different climates of Iran, conserving the population of this species is one of the managerial goals and main pillars of research in the field of animal husbandry. The requirement to protect Iranian honey bee populations as genetic resources is to have a comprehensive and Geo-database, so that through it the information of the populations can be registered and managed and also use them when necessary. In this regard, one of the most appropriate methods is the use of a geographic information system (GIS). The purpose of the current project was to implement a Web-GIS system with the aim of registering, monitoring and managing the genetic resources of Iranian honey bees. By using the various capabilities of this system such as data registration, spatial querying and calculating the distribution area and distances between genetic resources, the information of the honey bee genetic resources can be monitored and managed in specific geographical locations throughout the country. In addition, this system can be used as a location-based database for honey bee genetic resources.

AbstractHoneybees (Apis mellifera) are pollinators that have great social, economic & ecological importance in agricultural production & biodiversity conservation. Despite the high environmental & economic value of this important creature, the honeybee is always exposed to destructive & damaging factors such as diseases & pesticides. Despite in recent years, mortality of honeybees were reduced due to using the subletal pesticides instead of highly toxic pesticides reduced the acute, but the adverse effects of these pesticides on honey bees should not be neglected. In general, the results obtained in this review showed that carbendazim causes disruption in the development of the nervous system & increases the length of the honeybee's growth stage. Although the bendazim is not lethal & does not cause a disturbance in the intestinal microbial composition of bees, but the pollen consumption were reduced significantly, thus causes a disturbance in nutrition & weakens the immune system, & increases the sensitivies to pathogenic agents. Therefore, beekeepers & farmers must be informed about the use of this fungicide & advised to standard use of this fungicide in agriculture.

Functional fruit juices are the best alternative to carbonated soft drinks due to the increase in people's awareness and consumer demand for the consumption of natural sugars. The aim of this study is to produce functional bitter orange and honey juice based on yogurt whey powder. In addition to the sweetening effect of honey, it also has beneficial nutritional and therapeutic effects. Also, the use of yogurt whey powder, as a complete natural protein that contains essential amino acids, adds to the nutritional value of this product. So, bitter orange has been used with honey at 4 and 8% and yogurt whey powder (2 and 4%) and the physicochemical, microbial and sensory characteristics were monitored during 28 days. The results showed the lowest amount of moisture loss after 28 days in G (bitter orange + 2% yogurt whey powder + 8% honey) and I (bitter orange + 4% yogurt whey powder + 8% honey) samples was observed. Also, the samples containing honey in higher concentration became less prone to mold and yeast growth due to its antimicrobial properties. In terms of sensory evaluation, the best sample was G sample contains bitter orange + 2% yogurt whey powder + 8% honey. Therefore, bitter orange and honey juice based on yogurt whey powder can be used, especially for people with diabetes, due to its health-promoting properties.

Honey is considered as a suitable source of nutrition and has therapeutic potential. Therefore, the need for extensive advertising and introducing this product to the consumers of organic products in the form of marketing activities will be more than ever. In this sense, the current research, using the library-field method, identified the factors affecting the quality of production and marketing of organic honey in the form of five categories of factors related to the product, price, promotion, customer and production, and a total of 20 effective factors according to experts' opinion. Industry and university were ranked in 1400 based on the best-worst model and based on the degree of importance. Among the identified factors, the presentation of signs of trust and laboratory certification of being organic was the most important factor, and belief in environmental threats and protection of natural resources for the benefit of humans was identified as the least important factor. Also, the standard and signs of the health and organic nature of the product were identified as the most effective factors at the product level, the household income level was the most effective factor at the customer level, and the facilitation of obtaining a beekeeping permit was identified as the most effective factor at the production level. The results showed that planning to increase the quality of production as well as developing marketing activities according to the identified factors can be at the top of the list of organic honey producers.

The aim of this comparison was to perform the modified queens of the Iranian honey bee breeding plan in comparison with the control queens in the apiaries of the special sector in the 14th - 18th generation. To evaluate the queens, questionnaires were designed and are available to the obstetricians of Isfahan provinces, so that the queens of the third layer of the plan are visible next to the queens. The modified queens were evaluated and compared with the control queens in 7 apiaries of Isfahan province in 2016-2019. The results of comparing the modified queens and observing the brooding behavior and the wintering behavior showed that there is no significant difference between them. The attributes of defensive behavior and calmness related to modified queens were significantly superior to control queens only in 2017 (P<0.05). Also, the trait of honey production of modified queens in 2017 and 2019 was significantly superior to the control queens (P<0.05). Considering the superiority of modified queens in some traits, it is necessary to continue the project in order to stabilize The genetics of these traits should be used and modern breeding methods should be used to create colonies that are compatible with the climatic conditions of different regions of the country.