<html>
<body>
Not particularly well written, but gets the point across. <br><br>
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-bee-collapse-20130429,0,665794.story">
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-bee-collapse-20130429,0,665794.story</a>
<br><br>
The original paper: <br><br>
<a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/04/26/1303884110.abstract" eudora="autourl">
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/04/26/1303884110.abstract</a><br>
<br>
Mao, W., M. A. Schuler, et al. (2013). "Honey constituents
up-regulate detoxification and immunity genes in the western honey bee
<i>Apis mellifera</i>." <u>Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences</u>.<br>
<dl>
<dd><x-tab> </x-tab>As a
managed pollinator, the honey bee Apis mellifera is critical to the
American agricultural enterprise. Recent colony losses have thus raised
concerns; possible explanations for bee decline include nutritional
deficiencies and exposures to pesticides and pathogens. We determined
that constituents found in honey, including p-coumaric acid, pinocembrin,
and pinobanksin 5-methyl ether, specifically induce detoxification genes.
These inducers are primarily found not in nectar but in pollen in the
case of p-coumaric acid (a monomer of sporopollenin, the principal
constituent of pollen cell walls) and propolis, a resinous material
gathered and processed by bees to line wax cells. RNA-seq analysis
(massively parallel RNA sequencing) revealed that p-coumaric acid
specifically up-regulates all classes of detoxification genes as well as
select antimicrobial peptide genes. This up-regulation has functional
significance in that that adding p-coumaric acid to a diet of sucrose
increases midgut metabolism of coumaphos, a widely used in-hive
acaricide, by . As a major component of pollen grains, p-coumaric acid is
ubiquitous in the natural diet of honey bees and may function as a
nutraceutical regulating immune and detoxification processes. The
widespread apicultural use of honey substitutes, including high-fructose
corn syrup, may thus compromise the ability of honey bees to cope with
pesticides and pathogens and contribute to colony losses.<br><br>
</dl></body>
</html>