نشریه علوم و فنون زنبور عسل ایران
پیاپی 21 (پاییز و زمستان 1399)

The greater wax moth is one of the most important pests of stored products and honey bee colonies especially beewax combs in the hives or stored combs which this pest inflicts heavy damage on beekeepers every year by feeding on beewax combs inside the hives as well as stored combs. In the larval stage, this insect is the primary pest of stored beewax combs. However, beewax combs damage can be caused by other pests such as Achroia grisell, Mediterranean flour moth and Anagasta kuehniella, but this moth is the worst beewax combs pests and a serious problem of apiaries in tropical and subtropical regions of the world and in Iran exist in most areas especially tropical and subtropical regions. Also, it causes a lot of damage to beekeepers every year in Iran. Given the economics of the damage of this pest, our knowledge of biology, management and its control is of particular importance. However, our knowledge of this pest is limited. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge on the biology, distribution, economic damage, and management options.

Kombucha is a natural compound in traditional Chinese medicine that has been used for a long time and consists of a number of beneficial bacteria and yeasts that have recently been used in the production of health drinks. Also, honey has been used for a long time and its medicinal and healing properties have been proven in the distant past. In this study, Antibacterial effect of a combination of kombucha and honey in a ratio of 1 to 5 were studied on a number of food microorganisms (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis) in 7 concentrations (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 and 256 mg/milliliter) and 4 replications. In this study, the disk diffusion method was used to measure the growth zone and the minimum inhibitory growth concentration (MIC) of bacteria without turbidity of the extracts was tested to test the inhibitory growth concentration and determine the minimum lethal concentration (MBC) of bacteria with Muellar Hintone Agar. The results showed that the highest antibacterial effect among gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria was on Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli at two concentrations of 128 and 256 mg/ml. In addition, the lethal effect was incremental. Also the highest antimicrobial effect of honey as a control was observed against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (19 mm).

Black queen cell virus (BQCV) is a viral pathogen in bees that causes significant losses in bees. The virus causes the cell wall of the queen to changes from dark brown to black. In the cells, the queen larva dies due to disease and the body fills with virus particles during pupation or pre-pupation. Sampling of 154 apiaries located in 3 provinces of the country were done in cooperation with the Veterinary Organization. About 100 adult bees were sampled from each apiary and sent to the Honey bee, Silkworm and Wildlife diseases Department of Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute. Samples were first examined microscopically for Nosema and then RNA extraction and reverse polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were performed. The PCR product was electrophoresed and bands with a length of 477 bp were observed. Out of 154 apiaries, in 70 apiaries (45.45% and 95% confidence interval equal to 53.66% - 37.42%) queen cell blackening virus, in 25 apiaries (23.16% and 95% confidence interval equal to 23.02% - 10.8%) and in 9 apiaries, both (5.8% and 95% confidence interval equal to 10.8% - 2.7%) were identified.Thus, according to the worker bees are important reservoirs for the virus accumulates in bee colonies and can be a potential threat to the queen neonatal population, but no significant relationship was observed between the presence of Nosema and BQCV infection in this study.

Propolis, a natural product produced by bees from plant gum secretions and has been used in traditional medicine since ancient times and is now widely consumed as a health aid and immune system booster.The Corona pandemic has renewed interest in propolis products worldwide. A variety of propolis products are available with valid and safe fixed bioactive components. The antiviral activity of propolis components has been proven in vitro and in vivo. Propolis restricts the entry of the Corona virus into the host cell. It has anti-inflammatory and immune system regulating effects. Propolis is also helpful in treating a variety of dangerous underlying diseases in Corona disease, such as kidney disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and bacterial infections. Due to the current emergency situation due to Corona and limited treatment options, propolis is offered as a useful preventive and adjunctive treatment option that is safe (with minimal side effects), easily administered orally. And is available as a natural supplement.

The potential of food insect-related industries has led to the creation of international markets for related food insect conversion and complementary industries such as food insect food, food insect pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries; Therefore, creating an industry supply chain network is important. For this purpose, the present study, using the library-field method, has extracted the obstacles related to the establishment of the food insect supply network in seven categories: educational, economic, health, infrastructure, cultural, legal and managerial. Then, the extraction barriers were analyzed using the best-worst model (BWM) method. Based on this, three categories (cultural (24%), economic (21%) and legal (12%) were selected as the most important categories and prevented a negative attitude towards the use of insects weighing 0.14 as important ‌ The most obstacle was identified. In order to facilitate the creation of supply chain networks, it is suggested that in addition to the publication of research related to the consumption of edible insects and effective advertising through the national media, this negative mentality be changed. It is also suggested that in the food industry related to edible insects, products be processed in such a way (product design) that its appearance is different from the appearance of insects.