Agnieszka Murawska

Honey bee workers ( Apis mellifera 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 ( Melampsora 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.

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.