Reduction in the population of pollinators can compromise the stability of natural and agricultural ecosystems. One cause of this reduction is contact between pollinators and pesticides. More specifically, pollen and nectar which contain pesticide residues are carried into the colony, in turn, decreasing the resistance of bees to parasites. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the mortality and food consumption of Apis mellifera workers infected, or not, with Nosema microsporidia spores and exposed to a diet containing Roundup^® at the field dose recommended by the manufacturer. Each bioassay was composed of four dietary treatments: control, Roundup^®, Nosema microsporidia spores, and both Roundup^® and Nosema microsporidia spores. Results of both winter and spring bioassays showed that the interaction between Roundup^® and Nosema microsporidia significantly reduced survival rate and increased food consumption of the bees. Therefore, it can be concluded that the large amounts of glyphosate-based herbicides employed on extensive monocultures can, under current agroecosystem conditions, compromise the survival of A. mellifera colonies.

To evaluate the effect of Roundup® on royal jelly production, Apis mellifera hives were exposed to food containing sublethal doses of the herbicide. The bioassay was carried out in field conditions with exposed and not exposed hives to Roundup^®, three replicates per treatment. The Roundup^® diet decreases the amount of royal jelly produced and the number of grafted cells.

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo apresentar um histórico dos avanços e da diversidade de dispersão dos Sistemas Silvipastoris no Brasil, através de informações disponíveis na literatura científica. Utilizou-se como método de pesquisa a revisão sistemática da literatura, usando a base de dados Web of Science. No total, 63 artigos foram selecionados com base em critérios de inclusão e exclusão, de uma amostragem inicial de 374. A análise dos artigos selecionados permitiu identificar 73 sistemas silvipastoris, distribuídos por todas as regiões geopolíticas brasileiras. Os sistemas foram categorizados de acordo com a região de implantação, a diversidade e os objetivos dos estudos, relacionando os componentes animais, pastagem, arbóreo, econômico e silvipastoril como sistema. Por fim, essa revisão sistemática permitiu o desenvolvimento de um mapa de evidências, demonstrando as lacunas de conhecimento sobre o tema, bem como as necessidades de avanço nos estudos.

Scale insects Stigmacoccus paranaensis (Foldi, 2006) associated with bracatinga trees (Mimosa scabrella) in Santa Catarina, Brazil, can play an important economic role and guarantee the production of “bracatinga honeydew honey”. This scale insect has the ability to excrete large amounts of honeydew, of economic importance for beekeepers, especially due to the natural occurrence of host plants at high density, known as “bracatingais”. In this sense, the objective of this study was to evaluate the honeydew produced by scale insects associated with M. scabrella in the Bom Retiro, Santa Catarina, Brazil. We determined the density of the host plant in the studied area, the intensity of infestation by scale insects, and the volume and sugar concentration of excreted honeydew. The average density of bracatinga was 437.5 individuals ha-1, and the average density of scale insects per plant was 8,287. During 10 minutes, the average rate of honeydew excretion by scale insects was 0.45 µl and 0.34 µl, respectively, in 2002 and 2004. The estimated volume of honeydew production was 0.54 L in 2002 and 0.41 L in 2004 tree-1 day-1. The highest sugar concentration was observed in 2004 (28.13%). The excretion rate was affected by climatological factors and the size of the insects. This is the first study presenting a systematic evaluation of honeydew production by scale insects in Southern Brazil. The results of the present study support production of honeydew honey in the Serra Catarinense region as an important sustainable economic and traditional activity.