Managed, feral and wild populations of European honey bee subspecies, Apis mellifera, are currently facing severe colony losses globally.

The dramatic depopulation of honey bee colonies has not yet been associated to a single culprit, although many potential contributing factors have been identified.

The effects on individual honey bees will have a direct impact on the colony by leading to losses in the adult population.

The microsporidium Nosema neumanni n. sp., a new parasite of the honeybee Apis mellifera is described based on its ultra-structural and molecular characteristics. Structures resembling microsporidian spores were found by microscopic examination of honeybees from Uganda.

A recently completed trial on a bee sting vaccine containing a novel adjuvantcalled Advax to increase its efficacy has raised hopes that severe allergicreactions, sometimes fatal, to bee venom in allergic people could be a thing of the past.

Here we discuss how honey bees decrease the risk of disease outbreaks by a combination of behaviors (social immunity) and individual immune function.

Land use, habitat, and forage quality have emerged as critical factors influencing the health, productivity, and survival of honey bee colonies.

Apis mellifera jemenitica is the indigenous race of honey bees in the Arabian Peninsula and is tolerant to local drought conditions.

This paper proposes a new mathematical model to evaluate the effects of artificial feeding on bee colony population dynamics.

Ongoing environmental changes are however leading to pollinator declines that may cause pollen limitation to plants and change the evolutionary pressures shaping plant mating systems.