rss_2.0Sciendo RSS Feed for Journal of Apicultural Sciencehttps://sciendo.com/journal/JAShttps://www.sciendo.comhttps://sciendo-parsed.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/64720849215d2f6c89db967a/cover-image.jpghttps://sciendo.com/journal/JAS140216https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-0008<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The stingless bee, <italic>Lepidotrigona arcifera</italic>, which was first reported in northeast India is a pollinating insect of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. However, little information about this species is known in terms of taxonomic status as well as detailed morphological characteristics. In this study, we discovered a stingless bee in Tibet that belongs to an Alpine climate region. The morphological comparison with the India stingless bee, confirms that this newly discovered species is <italic>L. arcifera</italic> from the Tibet plateau. To determine the taxonomic status of this Tibetan stingless bee, we sequenced the 16S rRNA and COI genes of samples from a dozen colonies and compared them to some other known bee species. Phylogenetic analysis shows that Tibetan <italic>L. arcifera</italic> is grouped with the other stingless bee species and most closely sistered to the stingless bee, <italic>L. flavibasis</italic>. The genetic distance between Tibetan <italic>L. arcifera</italic> and the other stingless bee species is approaching those between pairwise bee species belonging to other such bee genera as <italic>Bombus</italic> and <italic>Apis</italic>. Hence, our results not only offer new information on species distribution and morphological characteristics of <italic>L. arcifera</italic> but also confirm its taxonomic status among stingless bees for the first time, which will contribute to understanding the biodiversity of stingless bees in the future.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-00082024-11-04T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-0009<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The distribution of bumblebee species in Wrocław (SW Poland) was studied based on data from ten UTM grid squares between 1879 and 2018, and the composition and abundance of bumblebee species between 2011 and 2018. The results were compared with historical data available for the last 139 years, including published materials and collections of the Museum of Natural History (University of Wrocław). Twenty-six bumblebee species,including six species of cuckoo bumblebees of the subgenus <italic>Psithyrus</italic>, were recorded. One species was not confirmed during the later period, nine were strongly decreasing both in the range of distribution, seven other were expanding significantly in Wrocław and three were new in the Wrocław city boundaries. Negative and positive tendencies resulted from both anthropogenic and natural factors. All bumblebees that appeared in the city of Wrocław and increased their abundance were species that prefered forest and shrub areas, while species that disappeared from the city and decreased in numbers were species who prefered open areas.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-00092024-11-04T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-0010<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The <italic>Tropilaelaps</italic> spp. (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae), an ectoparasitic mite originally associated with such Asian giant honey bees as <italic>Apis dorsata</italic>, <italic>A. breviligula</italic> and <italic>A. laboriosa</italic>, has increasingly become a focus of global concern due to its severe effects on Western honey bee colonies (<italic>Apis mellifera</italic>) and its recent geographic expansion. This study documents the first reported presence of Tr<italic>opilaelaps mercedesae</italic> in Western Georgia’s Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, specifically in seven honey bee colonies (<italic>A. mellifera caucasica</italic>) from three apiaries. We conducted brood sample inspections, DNA barcoding and morphological measurements to confirm mite identification. Our findings revealed high infestation rates of <italic>T. mercedesae</italic>, co-infestation with <italic>Varroa destructor</italic> and notable mite reproductive success. These results underscore the threat posed by <italic>T. mercedesae</italic> to Georgian apiculture and highlight the potential for further spread across Europe. Immediate action and vigilant monitoring by national and international authorities are crucial to mitigate the impact on beekeeping and agriculture.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-00102024-10-18T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-0007<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Lambda-cyhalothrin is the most widely used insecticide worldwide. This study investigates the impact of lambda-cyhalothrin on honeybees (<italic>Apis mellifera</italic>) colonies under semi-field and field conditions utilizing the formulated product (Karate 5% at a concentration of 0.85 ml/l). Considering the application of lambda-cyhalothrin in onion fields, the foraging activities reduced by 27.89 and 29.28% under semi-field and field conditions, respectively. The number of dead workers in the comparison group was three-fold higher than that in the control group under both semi-field and field conditions. Under semi-field and field conditions, reductions were observed in the brood (22.6 and 24.01%), pollen (94.46 and 41.51%), and nectar (69.27 and 44.50%) areas. The effect of lambda-cyhalothrin on the strength of <italic>A. mellifera</italic> under semi-field conditions resulted in a significant decrease until the 14^th day (2.20 bee frames/hive) and in field condition it was on the 7^th day (4.79 bee frames/hive). This highlights the non-bee-safe nature of lambda-cyhalothrin when applied during flowering, and spraying should be avoided to reduce its contamination of nectar and pollen. Overall, our results show the significance of conducting field trials to accurately assess the risk of pesticides, depicting a more realistic exposure scenario under actual colony conditions.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-00072024-08-15T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-0005<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Several studies have reported fragmentary evidence that climate change is altering the phenology and behavior of honey bees. We compiled records of off-season swarming of the Japanese honey bee (<italic>Apis cerana japonica</italic>) between autumn and winter to improve our understanding of the impact of climate change on the subspecies’ swarming phenology. Based on a survey of 311 beekeepers, eleven off-season swarming records were collected, with ten of them are from 2020 onward. The beekeepers who reported off-season swarming records had eight to twenty years of beekeeping experience, and they declared that they were witnessing off-season swarming for the first time, suggesting a recent increase. One possible factor contributing to the increase in off-season swarming is the temperature rise, as average autumn and winter temperatures in Japan have been increasing.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-00052024-06-27T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-0006<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>This study aimed to assess the effect of botanical and geographical differences on the protein, minerals, total phenolic content and the antioxidant activity of bee pollen collected from five districts in West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia. Pollens of <italic>Guizotia</italic> sp., <italic>Brassica</italic> sp., <italic>Trifolium</italic> sp., <italic>Eucalyptus</italic> sp., <italic>Plantago lanceolata</italic> and <italic>Vicia faba</italic> were color-sorted from multifloral pollens and subjected to chemical analysis. The results revealed the mean content of moisture 10.6% of fresh weight (FW), protein 19.4% of dry weight (DW) and ash 2.4% (DW); the most dominant minerals, K (9765.6), Ca (963.4), Mg (960.5), Fe (142.8) and P (126.5) in mg/kg DW. The average of the total phenolic content (TPC) and the antioxidant activity (DPPH radical) were 40.3 GAE mg/g FW and 13.7 AAE mg/g FW (gallic and ascorbic acid equivalent, respectively). <italic>V. faba</italic> pollen had the highest protein, ash, P and Cu content. Four pollen taxa had the highest Ca values, while multifloral pollens contained the highest Fe content. The samples from Ejere had the highest ash, Ca, Na and Cu content. The results showed a high content of the tested chemicals and a strong antioxidant capacity of bee pollen, varying with botanical and geographical origins. These findings would also serve as inputs for further assessment of the nutritional values of pollen for honey bee colonies and potential human consumption. However, comprehensive chemical investigations of larger number of samples representing diversified flora and locations are crucial to developing a broad regional information base on the nutritional profile of bee pollen.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-00062024-06-27T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-0004<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Eight samples of propolis commercially available on south-eastern Poland’s beekeeping market were compared in terms of quality, chemical composition and biological activity, including antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The organoleptic characteristics and physicochemical requirements indicated that only 50% of tested propolis samples was classified to class II regarding obligatory limits, while the others were out-class. A big variation in mineral composition was determined by the ICP-OES method but all samples were free of heavy metals (Pb, Cd and Ni). Although mesophilic bacteria, yeasts and moulds occurred in tested propolis (in general lower than 10² CFU/g), <italic>E. coli</italic> and spore-forming sulphite-reducing bacteria as well as <italic>Salmonella</italic> and <italic>Shigella</italic> bacteria were not detected. High antioxidant activity and total phenolic content for all samples was confirmed, which was correlated with antibacterial activity tested against <italic>E. coli</italic> ATCC 11775 strain. Additionally, the propolis sample with the strongest antibacterial activity (MIC 0.33 mg/mL) inhibited biofilm formation of <italic>S. aureus</italic> and <italic>S. epidermidis</italic> ATCC 35984 (MBIC 0.66 and 5.25 mg/mL, respectively). However, great variation in terms of antioxidant activity and HPLC polyphenolic profile were observed, and sakuranetin and pinobanksin were identified as the most effective antioxidant components. Moreover, the usefulness of ATR-FTIR spectra analysis was confirmed as a quick method for initial testing of propolis quality.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-00042024-06-27T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-0003<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Honey bee workers (<italic>Apis mellifera</italic> L.) collect nectar, honeydew and pollen from plants in orderto provide the colony with, among others, carbohydrates and protein. Whenever these sources are unavailable in the environment, bees turn to alternatives. An example of this are fungi spores collected accidentally or on purpose. This last phenomenon is the aim of this study, in which we have shown that worker bees can collect willow rust (<italic>Melampsora</italic> spp.) spores. We observed as the bees obtained spores and placed them in pollen baskets. The presence of spores was demonstrated with the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). This observation indicates that the honey bee may use alternative sources as a potential supplement. There are few studies in this field and it requires a deeper analysis.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-00032024-06-27T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-0001<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The virulence patterns observed in viruses transmitted by <italic>Varroa destructor</italic> implied a potential association of these honey bee pests in Poland with the Korean haplotype. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that this hypothesis lacked direct verification. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the haplotype affiliation of <italic>V. destructor</italic> mites infesting bees in Poland and Ukraine. Adult females were collected from drone brood from honey bee colonies maintained in the apiary at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland, and the apiary in Synevyr National Park in Ukraine. The haplotype affiliation was determined through the sequencing of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (CO I; 929 bp) fragment. Based on the phylogenetic comparison with 84% bootstrap support, the <italic>V. destructor</italic> females from both locations were confirmed to represent three haplotypes: Korean 1 (AmK1-1), Korean 2 (AmK1-2), and Chinese 4 (AmK1-4). They are the most virulent types of this parasite worldwide and in Poland. Concurrently, the present study confirms that the Synevyr National Park in Ukraine is isolated from alien bee subspecies, but is not free from alien parasites.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-00012024-06-27T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-0013<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The three honey bee phenotypes - queens, workers, and drones differ in the size and shape of body parts. We used a large dataset to describe how the three phenotypes differed with regard to fore wings and applied the methodology of geometric morphometrics to measure the wings using the coordinates of nineteen landmarks. On average, queens had wings larger than workers, but the two castes had a broad overlap. Drones, on the other hand, had distinctly larger wings. Wing shape differed markedly among queens, workers and drones and can be used to reliably differentiate them from one other. Surprisingly, the fore wing shape of workers was more similar to that of drones than to that of queens. Small queens were not more similar to workers than large queens, and large workers were not more similar to queens than small workers. Because wing size, unlike body mass, does not change over the life of the queen, it can be used to evaluate the quality of a queen throughout its life and not only during a short period after emergence. We provide a large number of wing images of queens and drones, which can be used as a reference in future studies.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-00132024-06-27T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-0002<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Honey bee populations in the United States have been under stress for the past several decades. Several internal parasites may contribute to this, including the trypanosome <italic>Lotmaria passim</italic>. It is unknown how widespread the honey bee parasite, <italic>L. passim</italic>, is in Africanized honey bee (AHB) populations in the United States. A total of 321 feral honey bee colony samples which had been previously recorded to be of Africanized origin using molecular diagnostics from California (n=3), New Mexico (n=46), Oklahoma (n=57), Texas (n=106), and Utah (n=109) were used in this study. Of these samples, a total of 15 (4.7%) from three States were positive for <italic>L. passim</italic>. Utah AHB samples had the highest infection rate (11.0%), followed by Texas (1.9%) and Oklahoma (1.8%). Compared with previous studies on the occurrence of <italic>L. passim</italic> from European honey bees from the same sampled States, infection rates of Africanized honey bees for <italic>L. passim</italic> were significantly higher in the State of Utah, but not for the other sampled States. This study provides evidence that feral honey bee populations do not necessarily have lower levels of honey bee parasites than managed honey bee colonies.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2024-00022024-06-27T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-0012ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-00122023-12-22T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-0010<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Pesticides are one of the elements that lead to the decline in honeybee populations. Honey bee while foraging collect nectar and pollen from various crops, can be exposed to pesticide residues, which may be transported into their colonies and consumed by the larvae. The objective of this study was to evaluate acute toxicity of fipronil and lambda-cyhalothrin, two commonly detected pesticides within beehives, on the larvae of <italic>Apis mellifera</italic>. The testes chemicals were given to three-day old larvae. Treatments were administered using a micropipette at the bottom of each chosen comb cell. Each treatment included sixty larvae per dosage and the experiment was repeated three times. Larvae were given only acetone in the control treatment. Fipronil and lambda-cyhalothrin were toxic to the larvae of <italic>A. mellifera</italic> with LD₅₀ values of 0.163 and 0.83 μg/larvae, respectively after seven days of exposure. The maximum mortality of 81.35% was recorded with a dose of 0.38 μg/larvae in Fipronil, whereas in lambda-cyhalothrin, it was 94.23% with a dose of 1.70 μg/larvae.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-00102023-12-22T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-0011<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Our study tested the pollination effectiveness of the megachilid bee <italic>Osmia bicornis</italic> L. (syn. <italic>Osmia rufa</italic>) on three apple cultivars (cv.): Lobo, Piros and Champion. The following pollination treatments were compared for each cultivar: insect pollination - caged trees with <italic>Osmia bicornis</italic> (syn. <italic>Osmia rufa</italic>) bees; open pollination - uncaged trees; self-pollination - caged trees without bees. Pollination success was measured based on the percentage of fruit set, the fruit yield per tree (measured as number of fruits and total fruit weight) and the number of seeds per fruit. Generally, there was a higher percentage of initial fruit-set and fruits at harvest on open-pollinated trees than on caged trees without bees, with an intermediate value recorded for caged trees pollinated by <italic>O. bicornis</italic> (syn. <italic>O. rufa</italic>). However, the fruit set on trees pollinated by <italic>O. bicornis</italic> (syn. <italic>O. rufa</italic>) was high and ranged from 49 to 69%, depending on the cultivar. The cv. Lobo trees pollinated by <italic>O. bicornis</italic> (syn. <italic>O. rufa</italic>) and open-pollinated trees produced higher fruit yields than without bees. Furthermore, the number of seeds per fruit was higher. Fruit yield and the number of seeds per fruit were higher for trees pollinated by <italic>O. bicornis</italic> (syn. <italic>O. rufa</italic>) than for caged trees without insects but lower than for open pollination trees of cv. Piros and cv. Lobo.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-00112023-12-22T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-0008<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Pollen contains vegetative and generative cells that influence the seed set. Accurate pollen assessments help understand the breeding biology of oilseed rape. In order to evaluate the number of pollen grains in a large number of samples, an effective method should be designed. A new method was established to evaluate the pollen counts of five oilseed rape cultivars. This method mainly relies on 5% sucrose + 0.1% agar solution to suspend the pollen and uses a standard curve corresponding to the absorbance and the number of pollen grains to estimate the number of pollen grains. The linear fit formula of this standard curve was precision, and the R² value between the pollen count and absorbance reached 0.998. Furthermore, the variation in the pollen counts at three flowering stages and on two kinds of stamens was assessed. The pollen count per flower varied significantly among oilseed rape cultivars and flowering stages (GLM: p&lt;0.001). Moreover, the number of pollen grains on long-stamen anthers was significantly higher than that on short-stamen anthers (GLM: p&lt;0.001). In conclusion, we established a rapid, accurate method for quantifying pollen grains based on absorbance determined in a liquid suspension by light spectroscopy, which is a feasible method. In addition, the number of pollen grains under different physiological conditions also provides basic data for oilseed rape breeding.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-00082023-12-22T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-0007<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>A study was conducted to document nest intruders in newly divided colonies of stingless bees. The nature of the damage, the sequence of activities after colony division, and task allocation in the colony were studied. Three insect invaders - solitary resin bees (<italic>Megachile disjuncta</italic>, <italic>M. cephalotes</italic>), ants (<italic>Oecophylla smaragdina</italic> and <italic>Camponotus</italic> sp.) and spiders belonging to the family Salticidae and Lycosidae invaded the colonies during the earlier stages of division. The mean number of resin bees and ant invasions was significantly higher during the first week after division. Spiders invaded the hives and formed webs during the second week after division, resin and honey resources are robbed by resin bees and ants. Nest entrance closure was observed at 4.37±0.74 days after colony division guard bee activity from 6.13±1.24 days and foraging activity from 10.63±1.06 days after division. Observations on the task allocation framework after colony division indicated that 69% of bees were involved in hive entrance repair, 18% in colony architecture development, and 13% in tending to newly emerged bees from brood cells. The bees built a complex nest entrance, guarded activity and demonstrated nest closure behaviour in order to protect the nest against intruders. The results of the study are of prime importance for beekeepers to learn how to watch for hive intruders during colony division and to understand the adaptive defence mechanism to protect colonies.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-00072023-12-22T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-0009<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Cold temperatures limit the survival and reproduction of honeybees. Therefore, successful overwintering is crucial for the survival of honeybee colonies and the pollination of flowering plants in the following spring. This study analyzed the gut microbiota of <italic>Apis cerana</italic> from Changbai Mountain during the overwintering period through 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing. The analysis of microbial community composition showed that <italic>Gilliamella</italic>, <italic>Lactobacillus</italic>, <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic> and <italic>Snodgrassella</italic> were the core genera in the honeybee gut during the overwintering period. Moreover, alpha diversity analysis showed that the community diversity of the gut microbiota peaked in December. Beta diversity and LEfSe analysis showed that community composition was similar in December, January and February and that such beneficial bacteria as <italic>Snodgrassella</italic>, <italic>Acetobacteraceae</italic>, and <italic>Rhizobiales</italic> were differentially abundant during this period. The results of functional prediction analysis indicate that amino acid transport and metabolism, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, and the TCA cycle play an important role in overwintering. These results suggest that the dynamic changes in the gut microbiota of <italic>A. cerana</italic> during winter and mechanisms tolerate cold stress.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-00092023-12-22T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-0003<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The honey bee has a significant environmental and economic impact. While collecting food or water, bees are exposed to negative physical and chemical factors that lead to physiological and behavioral changes and, consequently, even death. Along with the development of technology and communication, electromagnetic fields produced by artificial emitters have begun to have an impact on the environment. The aim of the study was to check whether the electromagnetic field also impacts antioxidant enzymes functioning in the honey bee's organism. The study was conducted under laboratory conditions, and one-day and seven-day-old honey bee workers were used in the experiment. Honey bee workers were exposed to an electromagnetic field with a frequency of 50Hz and variable intensity in the range of 1–10 kV/m. Immediately after the end of the exposure, hemolymph was collected from the bees for biochemical analysis. The results of the research did not show clearly whether changes in the activity of biochemical markers were affected by the time spent in the electromagnetic field or its intensity but did show that there was a difference in physiology between one-day-old and seven-day-old bees.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-00032023-06-30T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-0006<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Surveys were conducted in Malatya and Elazığ provinces of Eastern Türkiye between 2018–2019 to detect the presence and distribution of <italic>Deformed wing virus</italic> (DWV), <italic>Acute bee paralysis virus</italic> (ABPV) and <italic>Black queen cell virus</italic> (BQCV) infecting honey bees and <italic>Varroa</italic> mites. Thirty <italic>Varroa</italic> mites feeding on honey bees and 147 honey bees were collected from twenty-five apiaries of Malatya and fifteen apiaries of Elazığ. The collected samples were subjected to reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. All tested viruses were found to be present in the samples singly or as mixed infections. The prevalence of the viruses were 23.81%, 12.93%, and 10.20% for DWV, ABPV and BQCV, respectively. Five out of thirty <italic>Varroa</italic> mites tested for the viruses were found to be infected only with DWV. Randomly chosen sequences of each detected virus’s partial polyprotein gene region were registered in GenBank under the accession numbers OP805878, OP805879, OP805880, OP805887, OP805888, OP805889, OP805890, OP805891 (DWV), OP805881, OP805882, OP805883, OP805884 (ABPV) and OP805885, OP805886 (BQCV). The phylogenetic tree of the viral isolates were compared with the world isolates. DWV isolates were found to be closely related to the UK, Lebanon, Türkiye, France, Germany and Israel isolates, whereas ABPV isolates were related to Türkiye, South Africa, Slovenia, Serbia, France, Hungary, Syria and USA isolates and BQCV isolates were related to China, South Korea, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Poland, South Africa, Australia and Sweden isolates. The presence of DWV, ABPV and BQCV infections in Malatya and Elazığ provinces of Türkiye is revealed for the first time in this study.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-00062023-06-30T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-0004<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Propolis (bee glue), a valuable biological mixture produced by European honey bees (<italic>Apis mellifera</italic> L.), is widely used as a remedy in traditional and alternative medicine, as an effective food biopreservative and as a nutritional value enhancer. The present study aimed to investigate eighty propolis samples collected from all twenty-eight districts of Bulgaria in the period of 2020–2022 in order to determine their physicochemical properties as well as their antioxidant and antimicrobial potential. The raw propolis samples exhibited brown or green colour depending on the climatic zone from which they are collected and pH values from 4.82 to 5.87, while the moisture content ranged between 0.98% and 2.97%. The total phenolics content (TPC) and total flavonoids content (TFC) varied from 63.14 mg GAE/g to 737.27 mg GAE/g, and from 29.22 mg QE/g to 234.17 mg QE/g, respectively. The propolis samples demonstrated significant antioxidant potential determined by DPPH and FRAP methods, from 18.56 mM TE/g to 1598.66 mM TE/g and from 82.28 mM TE/g to 1208.81 mM TE/g, respectively, whose values showed a positive correlation (<italic>r</italic>²) with the TPC and TFC. The results from the antimicrobial screening revealed that the methanolic propolis extracts in concentration of 20 mg/ml exhibited the highest inhibitory effect on the Gram-positive bacteria such as <italic>Micrococcus luteus</italic> 2YC-YT, <italic>Bacillus subtilis</italic> ATCC 6633, <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> ATCC 25923, <italic>Listeria monocytogenes</italic> NBIMCC 8632 and <italic>Listeria innocua</italic> ATCC 33090.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jas-2023-00042023-06-30T00:00:00.000+00:00en-us-1