Changes in physiological and immune parameters of bees during the year – Differences between short-lived and long-lived generations of bees are not only in what activities they do

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Martin Kunc, Ph.D. has just published an article in the Beekeeping Magazine published by the Czech Beekeepers Association.
Martin’s paper discusses the differences between the short and long-term generation of bees, which consist not only of their different activities but also of a number of various physiological and immune parameters.
The short-lived population of bees (life span of 15-48 days) occurs in the summer months and its task is to gather a sufficient amount of supplies. The second population is long-lived (life expectancy of up to 8 months) and thanks to the accumulated supplies survives the harsh winter.

 

For beekeepers, it is important to know what proportion of long-lived bees are in the bee population already at the beginning of autumn, because this fact decides whether or not the bee population will survive the winter.
Unfortunately, these two populations cannot be distinguished by any external signs.
The group led by doc. Pavel Hyršl, however, managed to determine a set of physiological and immune parameters measurable in the hemolymph of bees, by means of which they are able to recognize which of the two generations are in the bee population.
Discoveries of doc. Pavel Hyrsl and his team will hopefully develop into a further collaboration between the beekeeping community and laboratories to perform measurements on sent samples, and the results could help prevent bee losses in winter.
Congratulations on your publication and scientific success!