@article{BachertScheiner2023,
  author    = {Bachert, Antonia and Scheiner, Ricarda},
  title     = {The ant's weapon improves honey bee learning performance},
  series = {Scientific Reports},
  volume    = {13},
  journal   = {Scientific Reports},
  doi       = {10.1038/s41598-023-35540-7},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-358064},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Formic acid is the main component of the ant's major weapon against enemies. Being mainly used as a chemical defense, the acid is also exploited for recruitment and trail marking. The repelling effect of the organic acid is used by some mammals and birds which rub themselves in the acid to eliminate ectoparasites. Beekeepers across the world rely on this effect to control the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. Varroa mites are considered the most destructive pest of honey bees worldwide and can lead to the loss of entire colonies. Formic acid is highly effective against Varroa mites but can also kill the honeybee queen and worker brood. Whether formic acid can also affect the behavior of honey bees is unknown. We here study the effect of formic acid on sucrose responsiveness and cognition of honey bees treated at different live stages in field-relevant doses. Both behaviors are essential for survival of the honey bee colony. Rather unexpectedly, formic acid clearly improved the learning performance of the bees in appetitive olfactory conditioning, while not affecting sucrose responsiveness. This exciting side effect of formic acid certainly deserves further detailed investigations.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HesselbachScheiner2018,
  author    = {Hesselbach, Hannah and Scheiner, Ricarda},
  title     = {Effects of the novel pesticide flupyradifurone (Sivanto) on honeybee taste and cognition},
  series = {Scientific Reports},
  volume    = {8},
  journal   = {Scientific Reports},
  number    = {4954},
  doi       = {10.1038/s41598-018-23200-0},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-175853},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Due to intensive agriculture honeybees are threatened by various pesticides. The use of one group of them, the neonicotinoids, was recently restricted by the European Union. These chemicals bind to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAchR) in the honeybee brain. Recently, Bayer AG released a new pesticide by the name of "Sivanto" against sucking insects. It is assumed to be harmless for honeybees, although its active ingredient, flupyradifurone, binds nAchR similar to the neonicotinoids. We investigated if this pesticide affects the taste for sugar and cognitive performance in honeybee foragers. These bees are directly exposed to the pesticide while foraging for pollen or nectar. Our results demonstrate that flupyradifurone can reduce taste and appetitive learning performance in honeybees foraging for pollen and nectar, although only the highest concentration had significant effects. Most likely, honeybee foragers will not be exposed to these high concentrations. Therefore, the appropriate use of this pesticide is considered safe for honeybees, at least with respect to the behaviors studied here.},
  language  = {en}
}