Muhammad Asif Aziz

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are crucial pollinators for economically significant crops. However, their colonies are increasingly threatened by a wide range of pathogens and parasites. Among these, the ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor, poses the most serious threat to bees worldwide. To combat Varroa mite infestations, beekeepers use a range of synthetic and organic acaricides. Nonetheless, the continuous use of these acaricides has led to the development of resistance in Varroa mites, thereby complicating control efforts. Key resistance mechanisms include enhanced detoxification and target-site insensitivity, which are influenced by genetic, anthropogenic, and ecological factors. While resistance mechanisms to pyrethroids are well documented, those related to organophosphates and formamidines remain less well understood. This review summarizes the current knowledge of Varroa mites’ resistance mechanisms to pyrethroids, organophosphates, and formamidines. It highlights recent advancements in non-chemical mite management approaches in the context of integrated pest management, and suggests future research directions to develop effective and sustainable mite control strategies.

Honeybees are important for pollination and produce products including honey, propolis, royal jelly, pollen, beeswax, and bee venom. Honey is a sweet liquid substance prepared by honeybees, which collects nectar and pollen from different flowers, and propolis is a glue substance collected by bees from different plant parts. In this review aimed to provide comprehensive studies on honey and propolis composition, bioactive compounds contained. as well as the bioactive components that are present. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the biological potential of honey and propolis for human health. This includes their capacity to suppress bacteria, improve wound healing, and impact specific disorders. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize the benefits of honey and propolis for various health conditions, including allergies, oral problems, dermatological issues, and gastrointestinal disorders, as well as their antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, and cardiovascular properties. However, we have not fully elucidated the mechanisms of action of propolis and honey on all the previously listed activities. To gain a fuller understanding of its mechanics and the potential uses of this phenomenon, additional research is required.

Greenhouse tomato production is a growing business worldwide, and it is strongly promoted by bumblebee pollination. Although there are over 250 bumblebee species worldwide, very few species have been reared successfully for greenhouse tomato pollination. Those successfully managed species, especially Bombus terrestris, are shipped around the world for commercial use. However, managed bumblebees are known to escape greenhouse facilities, have established local populations, spread disease to local bumblebees, and are blamed for the declines of some indigenous bee species. An alternative to shipping exotic bumblebees around the world is to develop local species for greenhouse pollination. Such an approach has the dual benefits of creating a new industry of insect rearing while reducing threats to local bee communities. In this study, we successfully reared Bombus haemorrhoidalis, which is the most common bumblebee species in Northern Pakistan, in a laboratory and compared its effectiveness as a tomato pollinator with that of commercial B. terrestris in a greenhouse. We found that the effectiveness of B. haemorrhoidalis in tomato pollination in a greenhouse is very similar to that of B. terrestris when it comes to the fruit size, number of seeds, and fruit weight. Our study provides an example of how to rear a native bumblebee species to pollinate local crops, which is a method that could potentially substitute the importation of non-ingenious bumblebees.

Honeybees, important pollinators crucial for ecosystem health, are susceptible to a range of bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases that pose significant threats to their colonies. Bacterial diseases include American Foulbrood (AFB) caused by Paenibacillus larvae and European Foulbrood (EFB) caused by Melissococcus plutonius. AFB results in the death of honeybee larvae and the production of spores that contaminate the hive, while EFB primarily affects young larvae. Fungal diseases like chalkbrood are caused by Ascosphaera apis, Chalkbrood transforms larvae into chalk-like mummies Nosemosis is caused by two pathogenic spores Nosema apis, and Nosema ceranae, which infects the midgut of adult honeybees and viral diseases such as Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), and Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV) further weaken honeybee colonies, DWV and IAPV lead to deformed wings and premature death, and CBPV causes shivering hair loss, and paralysis. To manage these diseases, beekeepers employ various strategies including Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques, genetic selection for resistance, antibiotic treatments, and maintaining healthy hive conditions. Continued research, monitoring, and education are crucial for effective disease prevention and control, as well as the preservation of honeybee populations and the essential ecosystem services they provide.

| Present study was aimed to explore the Aphid’s fauna of Gujranwala and carried out during January to March (2016). For this purpose aphids were collected from twenty two host plants at six different localities of Gujranwala area of Punjab province, Pakistan. Total 12 species namely; Aphis craccivora, Aphis fabae, Aphis gossypii, Aphis nerii, Rhopalosiphum padi, Lipaphis erysimi, Macrosiphum euphorbiae , Myzus persicae , Pentalonia nigronervosa, Sitobion avenae , Greenidea ( Trichosiphum ) psidii and Cinara ( Cupressobium ) tujafilina have been recorded for the first time from this area. General characters, measurements, distribution and host plants have been given for all recorded species. The present study can be helpful for aphid management of different plants/crops in Gujranwala District.

Effect of Temperature on Demography and Predation Rate of Menochilus sexmaculatus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Reared on Phenacoccus solenopsis (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

Demographic parameters of the turnip aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), which is a serious pest of Brassica crops worldwide, were evaluated on five major Brassica vegetables (three varieties of Brassica oleraceae (Linnaeus) (Brassicaceae: Brassicales); kohlrabi, cabbage and ornamental cabbage, and two subspecies of Brassica rapa (Linnaeus) (Brassicaceae: Brassicales); Chinese cabbage and bak choi). The study was carried out under laboratory conditions at 25 ± 1°C, 70 ± 5% RH and 16:8 (L:D) h. Preadult developmental time, survival rate, female longevity, reproduction, and life table parameters were evaluated according to the age-stage specific life table method. The highest population growth parameters, i.e., net reproductive rate (R₀), intrinsic rate of increase (r), and finite rate of increase (λ) were recorded on kohlrabi (R₀ = 30.45 offspring, r = 0.2174 d⁻¹, λ = 1.2429 d⁻¹). These parameters were the lowest on Chinese cabbage (R₀ = 13.00 offspring, r = 0.1503 d⁻¹, and λ = 1.1621 d⁻¹) and bak choi (R₀ = 16.30 offspring, r = 0.1614 d⁻¹, λ = 1.1752 d⁻¹). The results attained from population growth parameters, together with population projection estimation based on the age-stage, two-sex life table theory, indicated that both Chinese cabbage and bak choi were less suitable hosts for turnip aphids and should be considered as a possible source for developing resistance in breeding programs and integrated pest management strategies.

Insect pollinators are essential for reproduction and survival of several plant species. Agricultural productivity depends on population interactions of these pollinators. A field experiment was conducted at PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Research Farm, Koont, Gujar Khan during 2015 to compare the diversity and abundance of different insect pollinators on canola (Brassica napus L. Var. Chakwal Sarsoon) crops along with managed Apis mellifera. Thirty five insect species belonging to twenty families under five orders were recorded on canola. Among the hymenopterans, abundance of managed A. mellifera was maximum (87.76%) followed by Apis florea (1.11%) and Apis dorsata (0.98%). Peak activity of the insect visitors was observed at the mid of the day i.e., 12:00 pm. The activity of managed A. mellifera started to increase from the third week of blooming (20th Jan, 2015) and reached to maximum in the sixth week (10thFeb, 2015). Among the abiotic environmental factors, temperature had a strong, significant and positive correlation with the foraging activity of A. mellifera on B. napus (r= 0.766; P= 0.0037 **), whereas relative humidity and rainfall had significantly negative correlation (r= -0.759; P= 0.0041 **, r= -0.715; P= 0.0089 **).