Flores José Manuel, Luna Alba, Rodríguez Fernández-Alba Antonio, Hernando María Dolores
Department of Zoology, University of Córdoba, Campus of Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain.
Department of Environment and Agronomy, National Research Council-Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology, CSIC-INIA, Crta. Coruña Km. 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Insects. 2023 Jun 30;14(7):593. doi: 10.3390/insects14070593.
Honey bees face serious threats. These include the presence of the mite in hives, which requires the use of acaricides to control. The constant recycling of old wax exacerbates the problem, and results in the accumulation of residues in the beeswax, which is a problem for the viability of the colony. The same happens with the accumulation of phytosanitary residues. In a previous study, we implemented an efficient wax decontamination method using a batch methanol extraction method. The present study evaluates the acceptance of the decontaminated wax by the bees for comb building, brood, honey and pollen containment. The results show a slight delay in the start of comb building and small changes were observed in the pharmacopoeia of the decontaminated wax compared to the original commercial wax. The slight delay in the acceptance of the decontaminated wax could be due to the loss of some components, such as honey residues, which usually appear in the wax. The addition of bee-attractive substances to the manufacturing process could help to mitigate the delay. The results suggest that the use of decontaminated wax is a good alternative to reduce the concentration of residues in hives.
蜜蜂面临着严重的威胁。这些威胁包括蜂箱中螨虫的存在，这需要使用杀螨剂来控制。旧蜂蜡的不断循环利用加剧了问题，导致蜂蜡中残留物的积累，这对蜂群的生存能力来说是个问题。植物检疫残留物的积累也会出现同样的情况。在之前的一项研究中，我们采用批量甲醇萃取法实施了一种高效的蜂蜡净化方法。本研究评估了经过净化的蜂蜡被蜜蜂用于建造蜂巢、容纳幼虫、蜂蜜和花粉的接受程度。结果显示，与原始商业蜂蜡相比，建造蜂巢的开始时间略有延迟，并且在经过净化的蜂蜡的药典中观察到了微小变化。经过净化的蜂蜡被接受时出现的轻微延迟可能是由于一些成分的损失，比如通常出现在蜂蜡中的蜂蜜残留物。在制造过程中添加吸引蜜蜂的物质可能有助于减轻这种延迟。结果表明，使用经过净化的蜂蜡是降低蜂箱中残留物浓度的一个不错选择。
