Asia Life Sciences

Abstract : Apis dorsata are important pollinators, while their honey is the most popular for consumption in Asia. Although they have an aggressive and very thorough grooming behavior, ectoparasitic mites that can act as disease vectors have been reported. Here, the presence of mites on different developmental stages of A. dorsata was investigated in three hives in Samutsongkram province in February, 2021 to reveal the health status of A. dorsata in Thailand. No ectoparasitic mites were observed under stereo and compound light microscopy based examination of 150 adult bees (50 bees/hive). In contrast, phoretic mites were found on the bee’s thorax, principally the legs of pair no. 3. Morphological analyses, including scanning electron microscopy, placed the mites in the order Oribatida, and possibly Forcellinia faini, but this awaits molecular confirmation. Prevalence of adult bees with phoretic mites from hive no. 1, 2, and 3 was 32%, 20%, and 30%, respectively, with a range of 0–10 mites per bee. No mites were observed on non-adult stadia. No Paenibacillus larvae, which causes American foulbrood disease, was detected in the mites by multiplex PCR using specific primers for 16S rRNA of bacteria and cytochrome b (cytb) for Apis spp. under an optimized PCR condition. Rather the bacterial amplicon showed a 91.5% nucleotide sequence identity to Lactobacillus fermentum (probiotic bacteria). The ecologic impact of this relationship between phoretic mites, probiotic bacteria, and honeybees, as well as the effect of mites on pollination by A. dorsata, needs to be determined.

Abstract :

A total of 180 trawler and 180 gillnet fishing households were interviewed for fishing activities while fish traders/retailers (30) were interviewed for determination of fish channel market. Economic fish species composition was determined through sampling of 30 trawlers and 30 gillnets households. The results showed that trawl and gillnet fishing operated year-round. Fishing voyage of trawl was shorter, 1.9 days in average while fishing voyage of the gillnet has been unchanged. Fishing yield calculated per HP of trawlers (0.895 ton/HP/year) was seven time higher than that of gillnets (0.128 ton/HP/year). The rate of trash fish in trawler and gillnet in this study reduced. The economic efficiency of trawlers and gillnet have been improved. A large proportion of total fishery products was sold to traders/wholesalers and then transported to the processing factories and sold to the retailers in the local markets. Economic fish species from the two fishing activities has shown the typical species catching following types of fishing gears. Inclement weather and lack of capital are two main constrains for the fishing careers