Monika Ostap-Chęć

• Master of Science
• PhD Student at Jagiellonian University

Honeybees ( Apis mellifera ) are indispensable pollinators, essential for ecosystem stability and agricultural productivity. However, they face numerous challenges, including pathogens that threaten their survival and ecosystem services. Among these pathogens, Nosema ceranae , a microsporidian parasite, causes significant damage to the intestinal t...

Nosemosis, caused by microsporidian parasites of the genus Nosema, is considered a significant health concern for insect pollinators, including the economically important honeybee (Apis mellifera). Despite its acknowledged importance, the impact of this disease on honeybee survivorship remains unclear. Here, a standard laboratory cage trial was use...

Previous studies on various organisms have suggested that low doses of ethanol can have stimulatory effects, while higher doses may lead to toxicity, a response known as hormesis. Low ethanol concentrations occur naturally in the environment, particularly in fermenting fruits and flower nectar, where pollinators such as honey bees may encounter it....

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are one of the most crucial pollinators, providing vital ecosystem services. Their development and functioning depend on essential nutrients and substances found in the environment. While collecting nectar as a vital carbohydrate source, bees routinely encounter low doses of ethanol from yeast fermentation. Yet, the effe...

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are one of the most crucial pollinators, providing vital ecosystem services. Their development and functioning depend on essential nutrients and substances found in the environment. While collecting nectar as a vital carbohydrate source, bees routinely encounter low doses of ethanol from yeast fermentation. Yet, the effe...

Nosemosis, caused by microsporidian parasites of the genus Nosema , is considered a significant health concern for insect pollinators, including the most economically significant, the honeybee ( Apis mellifera L.). Despite its acknowledged importance, the impact of this disease on honeybee survivorship remains unclear. In this study, we used a stan...

Despite growing knowledge and increasingly advanced methods of treatment, alcoholism still poses a serious, global problem that requires further extensive research. Considering that human research has limitations and raises many ethical issues, animal models are widely used in this type of research. The honeybee Apis mellifera has re-cently emerged...

The honeybee continues to be developed as a model species in many research areas, including studies related to the effects of alcohol. Here, we investigate whether workers display one of the key features of alcoholism, namely withdrawal symptoms. We show that workers fed for a prolonged time on food spiked with ethanol, after discontinuation of acc...

Ectotherms usually require a narrow range of thermal conditions for development; thus, parental selection of oviposition sites is crucial. In a field experiment, we investigated female solitary red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) preferences for potential nest site temperatures and their effects on offspring development. The results showed that bees det...

Among the honeybee workers, extranidal foragers are more rhythmic in their diel activity and more likely to encounter alcohol than intranidal nurses. Foragers are more active and potentially exposed to alcohol during the day, while nurses work around the clock and probably never encounter alcohol. Here, we took advantage of these differences and ch...

A recent study showed that worker larvae fed in a queenless colony develop into another female polyphenic form—rebel workers. The rebel workers are more queen-like than normal workers because they have higher reproductive potential revealed by more ovarioles in their ovaries. However, it was unclear whether eggs laid by rebel workers avoided worker...

Worker honeybees may reproduce in either their own or foreign colonies; the latter situation is termed intraspecific reproductive parasitism (IRP). In this study, we compared the tendency for IRP between normal honeybee workers, which are characterized by a relatively low reproductive potential, and “rebel workers”, a recently discovered subcaste o...