When the guard honey bees, Apis mellifera L., form a clump at the hive entrance or on the flight board, the oriental hornet, Vespa orientails L., either creeps toward the clump or hovers over it in order to take a bee. Once the hornet creeps, only few bees facing the hornet become alert, rock their heads and antennae, open their wings, and take a posture of defense. The rest of the clump stays listless without any signal of concern. However, the clump stays dense and the defending bees do not detach themselves neither from the rest of the clump nor from each other. For this reason, it is very difficult for the hornet to grab a bee unless the latter makes a “mistake” by detaching herself from other adjacent bees. If the hornet grabs such a bee, the other defending bees will not attack the hornet to free that bee even when the latter is one centimeter from the others. The defending bees can capture the hornet only when the latter grabs one of them which stands very close to the others. The hornet seems very “aware” of such a situation; hence she seldom becomes a captive. On the other hand, hovering over the clump makes it easier for the hornet to grab a bee. The hovering puts all the clump, rather than part of it, on alert. If the hornet is persistent, which is not often the case, then the clump will no longer be dense. The bees will panicly disperse all over the flight board; hence the hornet can find a detached bee and grabs it easily. The hornet also waits on wing in front of the hive to capture an outgoing or incoming flying bee but the latter usually maneuver to escape. Also, foraging bees reduce their activity during main hours of hornet presence. Among the main factors reducing the hornet impact are the continuous chasing of hornets to each other and the non-persistent attempts of the hornets when they attack bee clumps.
Environmental stress affects the yield of sorghum. This impact can be reduced by seed stimulation technique and determining the appropriate planting date. An experiment was conducted in the spring and fall seasons of 2022. Randomized complete block design with split-plot arrangement in four replications was used. Planting dates (spring season: February 15th, March 1st, 15th, April 1st, 15th; fall season: June 15th, July 1st, 15th, August 1st, 15th) were assigned to the main plots. Seed stimulation treatments (banana peel extract 35% + citric acid 100 mg L-1 and soaking in distilled water only) were applied to the subplots. The interaction treatment of soaking with banana peel extract + citric acid and the planting date of April 15th showed
... Show MoreThe experiment was conducted in the old botanical garden belong to Biology Department/ College of Education for Pure Science - Ibn Al-Haitham/Baghdad University for growing season 2015-2016 to study the effect of irrigation with four concentrations of sodium chloride (0, 50, 100, 150) mM.L-1 and spraying with selenium in three concentrations (0, 10, 20) mgL-1 on growth of broad bean plant using clay pots. The experiment was design according to completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Results indicated that broad bean plant irrigated with saline water and increasing concentrations of sodium chloride in growth medium caused a significant decreased in the plant growth parameters (plant height, no. of compound leaves. Plant-1
... Show MoreThe extraction of Cupressus sempervirens L. or cypress essential oil was studied in this paper. This cypress oil was extracted by using the hydro-distillation method, using a clevenger apparatus. Cupressus sempervirens L. leaves were collected from Hit city in Al-Anbar province – Iraq. The influences of three important parameters on the process of oil extraction; water which used as a solvent to the solid ratio (5:1 and 14:1 (ml solvent/g plant), temperature (30 to 100 °C) and processing time, were examined to obtain the best processing conditions to achieve the maximum yield of the essential oil. Also, the mathematical model was described to calculate the mass transfer coefficient. Therefore, the best conditions, that were obtained in
... Show MoreSolar collectors, in general, are utilized to convert the solar energy into heat energy, where it is employed to generate electricity. The non-concentrating solar collector with a circular shape was adopted in the present study. Ambient air is heated under a translucent roof where buoyant air is drawn from outside periphery towards the collector center (tower base). The present study is aimed to predict and visualize the thermal-hydrodynamic behavior for airflow under inclined roof of the solar air collector, SAC. Three-dimensional of the SAC model using the re-normalization group, RNG, k−ε turbulence viscus model is simulated. The simulation was carried out by using ANSYS-FLUENT 14.5. The simulation
... Show MoreIn this work, the behavior of reinforced concrete columns under biaxial bending is studied. This work aims at studying the strengthening of columns by using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). The experimental work includes investigation of eight reinforced concrete columns (150*150*500mm) tested under several load conditions. Variables considered in the test program include; effect of eccentricity and effect of longitudinal reinforcement (Ø12mm or Ø6mm). Test results are discussed based on load – lateral deflection behavior, load –longitudinal deflection behavior, ultimate load and failure modes. The CFRP reinforcement permits
a complete change in the failure mode of the columns .The effect of longitudinal reinforcement in
The construction of embankment for roadway interchange system at urban area is restricted due to the large geometry requirements, since the value of land required for such construction is high, and the area available is limited as compared to rural area. One of the optimum solutions to such problem is the earth reinforcement technique which requires a limited area for embankment construction. Gypseous soil from Al-Anbar governorate area was obtained and subjected to various physical and chemical analysis to determine it is properties. A laboratory model box of 50x50x25 cm was used as a representative embankment; soil has been compacted in five layers at maximum dry density (modified compaction) and an aluminum reinforcement strips were i
... Show MoreThe construction of embankment for roadway interchange system at urban area is restricted due to the large geometry requirements, since the value of land required for such construction is high, and the area available is limited as compared to rural area. One of the optimum solutions to such problem is the earth reinforcement technique which requires a limited area for embankment construction. Gypseous soil from Al-Anbar governorate area was obtained and subjected to various physical and chemical analysis to determine it is properties. A laboratory model box of 50x50x25 cm was used as a representative embankment; soil has been compacted in five layers at maximum dry density (modified compaction) and an aluminum reinforcement strips we
... Show MoreThis research estimates the effect of independent factors like filler (3%, 6%, 9%, 11% weight fraction), normal load (5N, 10N, 15N), and time sliding (5,7 , 9 minutes) on wear behavior of unsaturated polyester resin reinforced with jute fiber and waste eggshell and, rice husk powder composites by utilizing a statistical approach. The specimens polymeric composite prepared from resin unsaturated polyester filled with (4% weight fraction) jute fiber, and (3%, 6%, 9%, 11% weight fraction) eggshell, and rice husk by utilizing (hand lay-up) molding. Dry sliding wear experiments were carried utilizing a standard (pin on disc test setup) following a well designed empirical schedule that depends on Taguchi’s experimental design L9 (MINIT
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