• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.393-401
• /
• 2009

About 50,000 hives of Bombus terrestris are used for pollination of tomato and other economical crops (fruit vegetables and fruit trees) in Korea. Therefore this study was conducted to find out the effective use of B. terrestris and its economic effect in the major beefsteak-tomato cultivation areas from February to August in 2008. The pollinating activities, rate of bite-mark and lifespan of B. terrestris's hive according to all beefsteak-tomato varieties (Super Momotaro, Zeus42, Mascara and Super Sunroad, 500 $m^2$, $9,600{\sim}12,000$plants) were apparent by regular supplement of pollen ($5{\sim}6g$/3 days) to the hive of B. terrestris. Especially, Super Momotaro and Super Sunroad variety were most distinctive in the effects by regular pollen supplement.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.58-65
• /
• 2014

Bumblebees are important pollinators of crops and wildflowers. Bumblebees generally produce one generation per year. One of the key stages for year-round rearing of bumblebees is breaking diapause. To evaluate the effects of a combination method of $CO_2$-narcosis and cold treatment to break the diapause of B. ignitus and B. terrestris queens, we determined whether this method affected their ability to establish a colony after the diapause break. The diapause treatment regimes that were utilized were $CO_2$ ($CO_2$-narcosis), CT-1M (cold treatment at $5^{\circ}C$ for 1 mo), CT-1M-$CO_2$ ($CO_2$-narcosis after cold treatment for 1 mo), CT-2M-$CO_2$ ($CO_2$-narcosis after cold treatment for 2 mo), CT-2M (cold treatment for 2 mo), CT-2.5M-$CO_2$ ($CO_2$-narcosis after cold treatment for 2.5 mo) and CT-2.5M (cold treatment at $5^{\circ}C$ for 2.5 mo). In view of the effects on the colony developmental characteristics of B. ignitus queens, the most favorable diapause treatment was CT-1M-$CO_2$. A combination method of $CO_2$-narcosis and cold temperature treatment yielded better results than that of single $CO_2$-narcosis or cold temperature treatment on the colony development of diapause-broken B. ignitus queens. In the case of B. terrestris queens, we concluded that a combination method of $CO_2$ and cold temperature treatment yielded better results than that of a single cold-temperature (up to 2 mo) treatment. In conclusion, the findings of the present study indicated that the combined application of $CO_2$ and cold temperature was a favorable method for the colony development of diapause-broken B. ignitus and B. terrestris queens compared with only $CO_2$-narcosis or cold temperature treatments. A combination method of $CO_2$ and cold treatment reduced the side effect of $CO_2$-narcosis and shortened the duration of cold treatment by at least 1 mo.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.43-48
• /
• 2005

We investigated possible effect of different concentration of sugar solution and addition of antiseptic in the solution on oviposition and colony development of Bombus ignitus and B. terrestris. The rates of oviposition, colony foundation and progeny-queen production of B. ignitus were 1.2-3.0 fold higher in the 40$\%$ sugar solution than those of the 50$\%$ sugar solution. The rates of oviposition, colony foundation and progeny­queen production were 1.1-2.6 fold higher in the 40$\%$ sugar solution added in 0.3$\%$ sorbic acid as antiseptic than those of the 40$\%$ sugar solution. Further, the death rate within one month was 1.7 fold lower in the 40$\%$ sugar solution added in 0.3$\%$ sorbic acid than that of 40$\%$ sugar solution alone. In the comparison of the colony development tested using imported sugar solution, the Beehappy???, the 40$\%$ sugar solution added to antiseptic and the 40$\%$ sugar solution with­out antiseptic, the 40$\%$ sugar solution added to antiseptic was about equal to the Beehappy??? in colony development of B. terrestris. Further, the number of adults produced was 1.2-3.0 fold higher in the 40$\%$ sugar solution added to antiseptic than that of the Bee­happy???. Therefore the 40$\%$ sugar solution was more effective than the 50$\%$ sugar solution, and the 40$\%$ sugar solution added to antiseptic was the most effective in colony development and mass rearing of bumblebee.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.29-35
• /
• 2012

Bumblebees are widely used to pollinate various crops, especially tomato, in greenhouses and fields. Here, we investigated whether different sugar solutions have any effects on the oviposition and colony development of Bombus terrestris queens. The types of sugar solution used were a white sugar solution, brown sugar solution, dark brown sugar solution, and prepared sugar solution; all solution contained with a 40% sugar concentration and 0.3% sorbic acid. Among these sugar solutions, B. terrestris queens reared on the white sugar solution exhibited the best results; the rates of oviposition, colony foundation and progeny-queen production were $75.0{\pm}11.0$, $33.0{\pm}9.6$ and $21.7{\pm}7.3$, respectively, which corresponded to 1.1-33.0-fold increases over the results of other sugar solutions. Queens reared on the prepared sugar solution did not found any colonies. The death rate within one month was lowest for the queens reared on the white sugar solution at $26.1{\pm}10.9%$, which was 1.2-2.0-fold lower than the rate for the other sugar solutions. Furthermore, the numbers of progeny produced by queens reared on the white sugar solution, $131.4{\pm}38.8$ workers and $51.0{\pm}40.6$ queens, were also higher, corresponding to 1.1-1.2-fold increases compared to queens raised on the other sugar solutions. Therefore, the white sugar solution was the favorable sugar solution for the egg-laying and colony developmental characteristics of B. terrestris queens.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.249-253
• /
• 2012

In this study, we prepared alcohol extracts of the larva, pupa, queen, and cocoon (clony) of B. ignitus, B. terrestris, and B. h. sapporoensis, and tested the anti-inflammatory activity of the extracts by using a rat model of adjuvant-induced edema. The extracts derived from the queen of B. ignitus, the queen of B. terrestris, and the cocoon of B. ignitus decreased hind paw edema after 1 day of i.p. administration. These extracts also induced vasorelaxation and NO production in calf pulmonary artery endothelial cells. These results suggest that bumblebee alcohol extracts has anti-inflammatory and vasorelaxant properties.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.47 no.1
• /
• pp.95-100
• /
• 2008

We compared colony development and survival rate after artificial hibernation between the bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, produced from domestic and foreign companies. The number of worker and queen produced from foundation colony of three domestic and one foreign companies was 232.4-270.8 and 62.0-181.8, respectively, but there was no statistical difference. In colony development of B. terrestris queens which were terminated diapause by $CO_2$ narcosis at different companies, oviposition rate, colony foundation and progeny-queen production of bumblebees produced from domestic companies were superior to those from foreign company. But foreign company in the number of worker and queen was superior to domestic companies. On the other hand, survival rate and colony development of B. terrestris queens, which were terminated diapause by artificial hibernation at three domestic and two foreign companies, were no significant differences. These results indicate that oviposition, colony foundation, progeny-queen production, and survival rate after artificial hibernation showed no differences between the bumblebees produced from domestic and foreign companies.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.99-105
• /
• 2005

We investigated oviposition and colony development of Bombus ignitus and B. terrestris depending on different pollen. In five kinds of pollen blend, the colony development in fresh-freezing pollen blend produced in Korea (Korea-FFP) was the best performance, although egg-laying characteristics is lower than that of pollen blend for oviposition imported from Korppert company (Kopport-FOP). The Kopport-FOP proved that it was suitable to use for oviposition of bumblebees. The Korea-FFDP, freezing dried-fresh pollen blend produced in Korea, is lower rather than the Korea-FDP although it is similar to the KopportFOP in colony development. It is not efficient to use commercial pollen for bumblebee because it is expensive in cost. The dried pollen blend for honeybee feeding imported from China (China-DP) was not suitable for rearing of bumblebee because it did not form colony although the worker emerged. In types of pollen, the oviposition and colony development of B. ignitus were not affected by the fresh-freezing pollen and dried-freezing pollen. This result also indicated that dried pollen, dried in the shade for 5 - 6 days, is possible to use as commercial pollen for bumblebee reproduction.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.270-274
• /
• 2013

The bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, has played an important role as one of the alternative pollinators since the outbreak of honeybee collapse disorder. Recently, pathogens and parasites such as viruses, bacteria and mites, which affect the life span and fecundity of their host, have been discovered in B. terristris. In order to detect the microsporidian pathogen, Nosema spp. in the field populations of B. terristris, we collected adults and isolated their genomic DNA for diagnostic PCR. The PCR primers specific for Nosema spp. were newly designed and applied to gene amplification for cloning. Only small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene of N. ceranae was successfully amplified among examined genes and sequenced, which indicates that N. ceranae mainly infects the examined field population of B. terristris. To detect of SSU rRNA gene, two regions of SSU rRNA gene were selected by primary PCR analysis and further analyzed in quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that SSU rRNA of N. ceranae was detected at concentration as low as $0.85ng/{\mu}l$ genomic DNA. This result suggests that the detection via qRT-PCR can be applied for the rapid and sensitive diagnosis of N. ceranae infection in the field population as well as risk assessment of B. terristris.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.241-247
• /
• 2004

It was investigated whether or not flight has any effects on oviposition and colony development of the artificially hibernated Bombus terrestris queen and ,$CO_2$-treated queen. Flight periods were defined as 0 days (control), 1 day, 3 days and 6 days. The weights of queens after flight were 1.5-8.9% lower than those before flight depending on the flight periods. The oviposition and colony development of artificially hibernated and $CO_2$-treated B. terrestris queen were affected by the flight. Among flight periods tested, in particular, the queens start to flight for 3 days showed better flight effect than those other flight periods in the colony development, rate of colony foundation, rate of progeny-queen production, the number of worker and queen produced. But, the longer the flight periods is, the worse the oviposition and colony development of the queens hibernated artificially and $CO_2$-treated are (i.e., the 6 days-flight queen).

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.93-98
• /
• 2010

Bumblebees are widely used to pollinate various crops, especially tomato, in greenhouses and fields. An artificial hibernation is essential for year-round rearing of the bumblebee, which passes through one generation per year. Here, we investigated whether a chilling temperature and humidity affect artificial hibernation of the bumblebee queen Bombus terrestris. In chilling temperature regimes of $0^{\circ}C$, $2.5^{\circ}C$, $5^{\circ}C$, $7.5^{\circ}C$ or $12.5^{\circ}C$ under constant humidity >70%, the queens stored at $2.5^{\circ}C$ exhibited the highest rate of survival, which was 74.0% at one month, 67.0% at two months, 60.0% at three months, 46.0% at 4 months, 33.0% at 5 months, and 24.0% at 6 months. Rates of survival decreased at the following temperatures: $0^{\circ}C$, $5^{\circ}C$, $7.5^{\circ}C$ and $12.5^{\circ}C$. Colony developmental characteristics after diapause were 1.2- to 1.5-fold higher than those of queens stored at $5^{\circ}C$. In terms of chilling humidity, the queens hibernated at 70% under $2.5^{\circ}C$ exhibited the highest rate of survival, which was $93.3{\pm}3.4%$ at one month, $83.3{\pm}0.0%$ at two months, $76.7{\pm}0.0%$ at 3 months and $36.7{\pm}12.1%$ at 5 months. The rates of oviposition, colony foundation and progeny-queen production of queens hibernated at 70% were 80.8%, 30.8% and 30.8%, respectively. These values correspond to 1.7- to 3.3-fold increases in comparison to queens stored at 50% humidity. Therefore, $2.5^{\circ}C$ and 70% R.H. were the favorable chilling temperature and humidity conditions for diapause break of B. terrestris queens.