Winston Szeto · CBC News

The owner of Rushing River Apiaries in Terrace, B.C., announced last week that it had acquired 200 Carpathian queen bees from Ukraine. (Rushing River Apiaries)

A city in B.C.’s North Coast has become a buzzing haven for unique new visitors courtesy of a local beekeeper.

Christine McDonald, owner of Rushing River Apiaries in Terrace, B.C. — about 575 kilometres west of Prince George — recently took to social media to share her delight over the arrival of 200 Carpathian queen bees and 1,000 accompanying worker bees to her farm from Ukraine, through a beekeeping equipment company in Ontario.

McDonald says she acquired 200 plastic cages of the queen bees, each also containing five worker bees and food.

“I knew that these Carpathians are well known for their rugged survival like mountain honey bees, and also being very gentle,” McDonald told host Carolina de Ryk on CBC’s Daybreak North.

“Those are the two qualities that we value a lot, especially because we sell these to newer beekeepers, and we want them to be able to comfortably work with their bees.”

Imports to Canada since 2020

The Carpathian bees get their name from the Carpathian Mountains, a 1,500-kilometre range spanning Central and Eastern Europe from the Czech Republic to Romania.

Alison McAfee, a honey bee specialist at the University of British Columbia, says Ukraine has a thriving beekeeping industry involving over 600,000 people — approximately 1.5 per cent of the country’s population — working with apiaries. Ukraine ranks among the top five honey exporters globally in terms of weight.

In 2020, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) granted approval for Ukraine to export queen bees to Canada.

Prior to Russia’s invasion in 2022, which devastated apiaries throughout Ukraine and displaced tens of thousands of beekeepers, the CFIA also authorized the importation of bee packages consisting of a queen bee, several thousands of worker bees, and a brood of larvae in a hive box.

The federal agency says it has issued six permits for importing queen bees from Ukraine this year so far, and some permit holders distribute the bees to apiaries across Canada.

Bees are pictured in June 2022 at an apiary outside Melitopol, Ukraine. (Yuri Kadobnov/AFP via Getty Images)

Dancing Bee Equipment, based in Port Hope, Ont., is among distributors of Carpathian queen bees. Individual buyers must travel to Ontario to collect the bees at the airport or the company’s warehouse, while commercial buyers can request a shipment of the bees.

CEO Todd Kalisz says the company has imported over 20,000 queen bees from Ukraine since the start of the war, acknowledging the logistical challenges caused by the ongoing conflict.

“There’s no advance notice of the [shipping] schedule … it could change the day after,” he said, adding some customers who failed to check the updated schedule were disappointed after making the long drive to Ontario, only to discover their orders hadn’t arrived.

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: Queen bees from Ukraine find a sweet new home in northwestern B.C. | CBC News

Figure 1. Importance of traits to beekeepers in 2022. The scores given to each trait were summed and then divided by the total.

Australia 2022 Plan Bee Survey results: breeding objectives

2023 By Nadine Chapman And Elizabeth Frost

Plan Bee, Australia’s national honey bee genetic improvement program conducts an annual survey of beekeepers and breeders to determine attitudes and opinions surrounding honey bee genetics.

This annual survey is a crucial activity as it helps guide Plan Bee, ensuring that the needs of the industry are well understood, and that the future direction of the project is aligned to the future of the industry.

In 2022 82 beekeepers gave ‘weights’ to their breeding objectives. For example, they allocated 60% to honey production and 40% to temperament. Honey production (33%) and temperament (23%), were the most sought after traits, just as they were in 2021 (Figure 1). However, since 2021, the weighting of these two traits has increased even further. The next most desired trait was pest and disease resistance (a sum of individual traits relating to hygienic behaviour, chalkbrood, pest/disease, European foulbrood, small hive beetle, American foulbrood, Varroa, Nosema), this totalled 16% of the score. As for past surveys different sectors of the beekeeping community placed different weight on different traits (Figure 2).

To access the complete report go to;

2022 Plan Bee Survey results: breeding objectives – Professional Beekeepers | Professional Beekeepers (extensionaus.com.au)

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: 2022 Plan Bee Survey results: breeding objectives – Professional Beekeepers | Professional Beekeepers (extensionaus.com.au)

Keeping queen bees chilled in indoor refrigeration units can make storing them more stable and less labor-intensive

Washington State University

Summary:

Keeping queen bees chilled in indoor refrigeration units can make the practice of ‘queen banking’ — storing excess queens in the spring to supplement hives in the fall — more stable and less labor-intensive, a study found. It may also help strengthen honey bee survival in the face of a changing climate. In a paper published in the Journal of Apicultural Research, researchers compared queen banks stored in refrigerated units to those stored in the conventional way outdoors and an ‘unbanked’ control group. They found that the queens stored at cooler temperatures had a higher survival rate and required less maintenance.

In a paper published in the Journal of Apicultural Research, researchers compared queen banks stored in refrigerated units to those stored in the conventional way outdoors and an “unbanked” control group. They found that the queens stored at cooler temperatures had a higher survival rate and required less maintenance than those stored outdoors.

This study, and future potential refinement, could be another piece in the ultimate puzzle of reducing the loss of bee colonies each year, said senior author Brandon Hopkins, an assistant research professor in WSU’s Department of Entomology.

“A lot of honey bee losses are queen-quality issues,” Hopkins said. “If we have a method that increases the number of queens available or the stability of queens from year to year, then that helps with the number of colonies that survive winter in a healthy state.”

In the beekeeping industry, queen producers often “bank” queens over the summer by storing them in small cages. Those small cages are then put into a large colony with many workers to care for the caged queens, with as many as 200 queens per bank. A bank of 100 queens has a value of more than $5,000, and producers may have 10 to 20 banks on hand.

For this study, the team prepared 18 banks with 50, 100 and 198 queens per bank. The refrigerated banks matched survival of the outside groups, and in the banks of 100, survival was higher, with 78% of queens surviving the six weeks of storage compared to 62% in the outdoor group. The queens in both groups were of the same quality, showing similar good health. The cooled queen banks also needed less maintenance.

Beekeepers need honey bee queens to sustain colonies that pollinate crops, and there’s a huge spike in demand for queens in the spring. That’s when beekeepers replace their losses from the previous year.

Once queen producers meet that demand, they can’t just turn off queen production. Producers can bank excess queens to help meet the future needs of beekeepers, who often replenish their queen supplies after the summer.

Queens can’t be produced in hot temperatures, Hopkins said. Banking keeps an inventory on hand for when demand returns in the fall.

Keeping a supply of queens available for beekeepers to purchase is growing increasingly difficult. The vast majority of U.S. queen producers are based in California, where rising temperatures and wildfires are becoming more common.

“We heard queen producers in California are having a difficult time banking queens when temperatures are over 100 degrees in the summer,” said Hopkins. “It’s a little scary to be banking 80% of the country’s queen supply in a location prone to wildfires, smoke and high temperatures.”

Hopkins was surprised by how well the experiment worked, considering the challenges of queen banking.

“It’s an art,” he said. “There’s a significant amount of maintenance, skill and care required: managing, feeding and moving resources around.”

The team found that in the refrigeration units, the bees fared well with just food and no human interference.

Hopkins worked on the study with WSU colleagues Anna Webb, Stephen Onayemi, Rae Olsson and Kelly Kulhanek. This project was supported with funding from Project Apis m.

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230227132612.htm

93.79 percent of U.S. honey bees belonged to the North Mediterranean C lineage. The percentage of this lineage is displayed for each state.

DNA Research Finds Low Genetic Diversity Among U.S. Honey Bees

For media inquiries contact: Autumn Canaday, (202) 669-5480

U.S. agriculture owes many thanks to the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), as it plays the crucial role of pollinator within the nation’s food supply. Some of the nation’s food industries rely solely on the honey bee, and it’s estimated that the economic value of its pollination role is worth well over $17 billion each year. With this fact in mind, ARS researchers recently studied the U.S. honey bee’s genetic diversity to ensure that this crucial pollinator insect has sufficient diversity to overcome the growing number of stressors such as parasites, diseases, malnutrition, and climate change.

What they found is alarming: the U.S. honey bee population has low genetic diversity, and this could have a negative impact on future crop pollination and beekeeping sustainability in the country.

The research, recently highlighted in Frontiers, was accomplished by analyzing the genetic diversity of the U.S. honey bee populations through a molecular approach, using two mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers (DNA specifically from a mother). Researchers studied approximately 1,063 bees from hobbyist, and commercial beekeepers in 45 U.S. states, the District of Columbia (D.C.), and two US territories (Guam and Puerto Rico). The data showed that the nation’s managed honey bee populations rely intensively on a single honey bee evolutionary lineage. In fact, 94 percent of U.S. honey bees belonged to the North Mediterranean C lineage. Data reflected that the remainder of genetic diversity belongs to the West Mediterranean M lineage (3%) and the African A lineage (3%).

“It’s important that we have a realistic and accurate estimation of the honey bee’s genetic diversity because this indicates the insect’s ability to respond to disease, adaptation to environment, and productivity,” said ARS Research Entomologist Mohamed Alburaki. “Without this pollinator insect, we will witness a drastic decrease in the quantity and quality of our agricultural products such as almonds, apples, melons, cranberries, pumpkins, broccoli and many other fruits and vegetables that we’re used to purchasing. We can’t wait until a domino effect slowly takes place and affects our food supply.”

The lack of genetic diversity creates a vulnerability for U.S. honey bees to survive in shifting climates that are now wetter or drier than usual. There is also concern that a honey bee’s inability to fight off disease or parasitic infection could negatively impact beekeeping sustainability.  The challenge of U.S. honey bees’ weakened immunity has become an economic burden to bee producers and beekeepers. In the past, U.S. beekeepers suffered less honey bee colony losses and treated against varroa mite (a ferocious honey bee parasite) once per year. In 2023, colony losses and winter mortality are at a high peak and varroa mite requires multiple treatments per year to keep it under control.

“As a honey bee researcher, what worries me the most is that 77 percent of our honey bee populations are represented by only two haplotypes, or maternal DNA, while over hundreds of haplotypes exist in the native range of this species in the Old World, or the honey bees’ native land of evolution,” Alburaki said. “Many of these haplotypes have evolved over millions of years in their native lands, and have developed astonishing adaptation traits that we should consider incorporating in our US honey bee stocks before it is too late.”

These complex factors are driving Alburaki and his ARS research team to develop a solution that’s sustainable for the entire nation.  The research team is currently evaluating the paternal diversity of the previously analyzed populations to acquire a full and accurate picture of the overall genetic diversity of the U.S. honeybee populations. Researchers are also interested in the possibility of diversifying breeding stations with honey bee queens from various genetic backgrounds.

Alburaki’s research also identified and named 14 novel haplotypes in the three evolutionary lineages. These haplotypes have never been reported before and can provide new insights into the U.S. honey bee’s evolution since its importation to North America in the 1600s. There is hope that the researchers can use this information to locate and enhance the numbers of these rare and novel US haplotypes, which could speed the process of reaching a healthier diversity within the nation’s honey bee population.

The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in U.S. agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact.

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAARS/bulletins/349057d

Madeline H. CARPENTER, Brock A. HARPUR Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA Received 2 July 2020 – Revised 27 November 2020 – Accepted 15 December 2020

Abstract – Humans have domesticated hundreds of animal and plant species for thousands of years. Artwork, archeological finds, recorded accounts, and other primary sources can provide glimpses into the historic management practices used over the course of a given species’ domestication history. Pairing historic data with newly available genomic data can allow us to identify where and how species were moved out of their native ranges, how gene flow may have occurred between distantly related populations and quantify how selection and drift each contributed to levels of genetic diversity. Intersecting these approaches has greatly improved our understanding of many managed species; however, there has yet to be a thorough review in a managed insect. Here, we review the archival and genetic history of honey bees introduced to the mainland United States to reconstruct a comprehensive importation history. We find that since 1622, at least nine honey bee subspecies were imported from four of the five honey bee lineages and distributed en masse across the country. Many imported genotypes have genetic evidence of persisting today and may segregate non-randomly across the country. However, honey bee population genetic comparisons on the nationwide scale are not yet feasible because of gaps in genetic and archival records. We conclude by suggesting future avenues of research in both fields.

Apidologie (2021) 52:63–79

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13592-020-00836-4.pdf

Queen bees with viral infections have smaller ovaries than their healthy counterparts, a recent UBC study has found, which could threaten the health and financial viability of their colonies.

Viral infections in honey bees are becoming more intense and widespread. UBC researchers Abigail Chapman and Dr. Alison McAfee found that virus-infected queen bees in the field have shriveled ovaries compared with healthy ones. The researchers then infected queen bees in the lab with a different virus, and noticed the same result.

A queen’s shrunken ovaries could mean fewer eggs, and so, fewer baby bees—something the researchers will investigate in future work. A smaller population would make a colony weak, affecting how much money beekeepers can make from it. Honey bees contribute an estimated $4 to $5.5 billion annually to the Canadian economy.

The researchers are in the very early stages of working on a “queen vaccine” to protect the bees. In the meantime, beekeepers are practicing COVID-style measures to prevent virus spread, including quarantining sick colonies and sterilizing equipment. Local governments could help by subsidizing PCR tests to help beekeepers identify which colonies are sick, says Chapman.

The research was published in Scientific Reports.

We are here to share current happenings in the bee industry. Bee Culture gathers and shares articles published by outside sources. For more information about this specific article, please visit the original publish source: Sick queen bees have shriveled ovaries, putting their colonies at risk (phys.org)

UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

UF/IFAS Communications

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                                                                                                                                                      352-392-7902 Fax

NEWS RELEASE

Bee appearance and behavior may be related, genetic study reveals

By: Tory Moore, 352-273-3566, torymoore@ufl.edu

Recently discovered genetic knowledge of two nuisance western honey bee subspecies will help commercial and hobby beekeepers.

A new UF/IFAS study identified genetic characteristics relevant to the production and behavioral attributes of these two key bee subspecies. For example, researchers found Cape bees to be significantly darker than Africanized bees. This dark coloring could be genetically correlated to their undesired behavior.

Both subspecies are undesired in the United States. The first, the “killer bee” or “Africanized honey bee,” known scientifically as A.m. scutellata, is a light-colored bee known for its territorial and defensive nature. This subspecies was taken from its native habitat in South Africa to Brazil in the 1950’s. There, it hybridized with the European bee subspecies kept by Brazilian beekeepers, and then moved into the U.S. A.m. scutellata are considered invasive bees and can take over colonies of managed honey bees, which can lower profits for beekeepers. They also are known for their heightened defensive behavior.

The second subspecies studied, the “cape honey bee,” known scientifically as A.m. capensis, presents a slew of problems to beekeepers. These bees are more docile but are more likely than African honey bees to take over hives. Cape bees are considered social parasites. Unlike other honey bee subspecies, cape worker bees can clone themselves, producing female eggs without first mating. These clones can take over a hive. These workers cannot reproduce at the same rate as a traditional queen and the colony will eventually dwindle and collapse, a phenomenon coined “capensis calamity.”

“More amazing than the cape bee worker’s ability to clone itself is the rate at which it can take over other colonies,” said Jamie Ellis, UF/IFAS professor. “We are working to ensure these bees do not make their way to the United States because in most cases, when these bees take over a colony, the colony is doomed.”

Genetic studies can be used to understand “why the way things are” for an organism. In this case, researchers sought to understand what genetic traits contribute to the appearance of these bees and their behavior. Using data collected from South African bees from a previous USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service funded study in 2013 and 2014, scientists sought to understand what genes are responsible for the physical characteristics of these subspecies.

“We found really interesting variations in the genes of these bees that can help explain why they look and behave differently,” said Laura Patterson Rosa, UF/IFAS graduate student and co-lead author of the study.

To read the complete article go to;

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0260833

Krispn Given, Apiculture Specialist, Purdue Univ. Department of Entomology

Maintains Purdue’s honey bee breeding program, manages the honey bee lab, conducts experiments and leads bee-related Extension activities.

Recognized for developing Indiana mite biters, a strain of honey bees bred with a particular behavioral trait that impacts overall survival.

Invited speaker to numerous scientific and beekeepers conferences each year, and has co-authored extension materials and several scientific papers in science journals.

When Krispn Given mentions he’s a honey bee researcher, the first question people ask him is whether he gets stung a lot. He doesn’t.

The bees are defensive sometimes but not aggressive, says Given, who is key to the entomology department’s beekeeping and pollinator protection programs. He is widely recognized for his innovative work in honey bee instrumental insemination and honey bee breeding.

Given grew up in the small town of Dayton, Indiana, where his father had two beehives. Young Krispn took care of the hives and earned money by selling the comb honey they produced.

Based on his love of classical piano and composing, he considered music training after high school but ended up working for 10 years as a chef and briefly in manufacturing. He then approached Greg Hunt, Purdue professor emeritus of entomology, who hired him in 2003 as a beekeeping technician to maintain the department’s colonies.

“I think he saw that I had a profound interest in nature and insects,” Given says of Hunt. “He became a mentor and good friend who gave me the opportunity to join him along this amazing scientific journey.”

Today Given is part of the lab of Brock Harpur, assistant professor of entomology. Given does molecular work in the winter but spends most of his time from early March to mid-November working with the colonies at the Entomology Field Operations Building west of campus. The apiary is located at this site, and the building provides support facilities for honey bee research.

Given was instrumental in developing a strain of bees called Indiana mite biters. Bees are dying globally because of a parasitic mite called Varroa destructor, he explains. Purdue bred bees that groom themselves free of mites and then bite them, killing the mites and reducing the deadly viruses they introduce into the colony. Purdue’s bee lab continues to improve the stock and research the genetics, ethology and evolution of this trait.

The mite-biter breeding program inspired serious beekeepers and micro-bee breeders to start a cooperative in 2015. Given is a former president of this Heartland Honey Bee Breeders Coop, and Purdue’s lab disseminates information and genetic stock to its members each year. They call it the annual “Instrumental insemination fest.”

He also teaches two courses, one course in queen rearing, the process beekeepers use to raise queen bees from young fertilized worker bee larvae. His advanced course on instrumental insemination, a method of controlled mating essential to honey bee research, attracts students from around the world. He learned how to successfully inseminate queen bees from Hunt, who learned the technique from the late Harry Laidlaw Jr., the father of honey bee genetics.

Given also was asked to write a book chapter on honey bee breeding for the book “Honeybee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner,” a request from Wiley he calls “a great honor.”

“Veterinary students have become interested in what we do because beekeepers who need antibiotics must get a prescription from their local veterinarian now,” he explains. “Bees get sick, too, and can be helped through medications, so the vets are learning about honeybee biology.”

Maintaining traits in honey bee breeding demands time and resources, says Given, who typically has an undergraduate helper in the lab. “You have to constantly select for the desired phonotypes or some beneficial traits could be lost through time,” he says.

His favorite part of the job is sharing what he’s discovered: “The biggest impact of my research and bee breeding is with entomology students — or prospective ones — but I’ve had several students through the years become interested in honey bee research or other aspects of insect research due to the success of our honey bee breeding program at Purdue.”

Behind the Research: Krispn Given – News & Stories (purdue.edu)

ARS News Service

A honey bee gathering pollen from a zinnia flower.

Breeding Honey Bees for Adaptation to Regionalized Plants and Artificial Diets

For inquiries contact: Kim Kaplan, 301-504-1637

Honey bees could be intentionally bred to thrive on plants that are already locally present or even solely on artificial diets, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study.

ARS researchers found individual bees respond differently to the same diet and that there is a strong genetic component involved in how they respond to nutrition. This points directly to the concept that managed bees can be intentionally bred to do better on different diets, whether you are talking about an artificial diet or a diet based on specific plants already growing in an area, explained lead researcher Vincent A. Ricigliano. He is with the ARS

Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research Laboratory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

“Urban development, modern agricultural systems and environmental alterations due to climate change, invasive plants, and even local landscaping preferences have all had a hand in regionalizing plants that dominate available pollen. It could potentially be more beneficial to tailor honey bees to do better on what is already available instead of working hard to fit the environment to the bees,” Ricigliano said.

The overall aim would be breeding to improve nutrient use by managed honey bees, like we have done for poultry and cattle breeding programs, Ricigliano explained.

“Now that we know there is room for genetic adaptation to diet, we could also look at breeding honey bees with improved nutrient efficiency or identifying genotype biomarkers that respond to various supplements to promote honey bee health,” he added.

In most commercial apiaries, honey bees do not have the opportunity to naturally breed to adapt to local conditions because commercial beekeepers typically replace the queen in each colony every year. The queen in a colony is the only bee that lays eggs to produce the next generation.

Beekeepers usually purchase new queens already inseminated from a handful of queen breeders in the United States. As a result, honey bees across the country generally have the same range of genes for nutritional responses without any specialized adaptation.

Honey bees have already been successfully bred for a very few selected traits, among them Varroa mite resistance. Varroa mites are among the single largest problem afflicting honey bees in the United States today.

“It was a little surprising to find when we started this study that, despite a sizable body of research pertaining to honey bee nutrition, relatively little is known about the effects of genetic variation on nutritional response,” Ricigliano said.

His next step is to refine knowledge about what genes control which nutrient and metabolic pathways and where the greatest amount of genetic variation exists so that breeding plans can be specific and scientifically guided.

The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in agricultural research results in $17 of economic impact.

Breeding Honey Bees for Adaptation to Regionalized Plants and Artificial Diets (govdelivery.com)

From the Editor: Before I moved to Ohio for this position, I lived for a time in Connecticut. My background was in horticulture, and there was a job opening just down the road at White Flower Farm, certainly a Mecca for anyone in the field of producing ornamentals. It was a seasonal position, and lasted only several months, but I applied for the job, and was hired by Eliot Wadsworth, who was then the guy in charge. He also had, If I recall, a hand in producing the magazine HORTICULTURE, which was required reading for anyone trying to get ahead in this field. I got to build green houses, raise all manner of perennials, spring bedding plants, and potted ornamentals, plant bulbs….it was the job of a lifetime and I still brag to those who know about such things that I used to work there.

Eliot is still there, but his son is mostly in charge now, so he has some time, and since he used to keep bees, he looked at that again. He hooked up with Dan Conlon, President of The Russian Bee Breeders Association and they got started with that part of the program. Now, Eliot is looking for someone to make this work as the Beekeeper. The job description is below. The location is incredible, and, in my opinion, the opportunity is a dream. If I was 40 years younger, I’d be standing in the line.

Mission
We’d like to establish a first-class commercial apiary whose primary product would be northern produced bees, preferably tied in to the Russian strains, and present these bees in combination with pollinator plants plus excellent information and service in a form similar to what we do with ornamental plants. This offering would exist as a department within the existing business of White Flower Farm and would be located in Morris, CT.

We anticipate developing product lines in honey and beekeeper supplies (we have marketing and distribution capability for both already in place) AFTER we have established our ability to produce first class bees and service.

Our launch platform includes land, office and lab space, temperature-controlled winter storage space, plus all the administration and logistics (finance, marketing, customer service, shipping) we’ve built for the farm.

The Job
We are seeking a skilled and seasoned beekeeper, preferably with experience in the northeast, to manage the production and breeding portions of the operation and blend the production with existing capacity in the areas noted above. Because this is a start-up operation, the ideal candidate would play an active role in developing our facilities to support the mission.

Our position offers a salary plus health insurance, an attractive private residence on property, and a vehicle for business use. Interested parties please contact Eliot Wadsworth via email at Ewadsworth@whiteflowerfarm.com.

Clarence Collison

By Clarence Collison

OXALIC ACID VARROA TREATMENTS

Standard Oxalic Acid treatments, techniques and results.

Oxalic Acid (OA) is a natural constituent of honey and very effective against the Varroa mite, Varroa destructor (Rashid et al. 2011). Uses of oxalic acid for the control of Varroa have been rapidly increasing in recent years. Three different treatment techniques (i.e. trickling, evaporation or sublimation, and spraying) have been developed and tested for the application of OA against the mite (Rademacher and Harz 2006).  Trickling Treatment – Using a syringe or a similar applicator, oxalic acid dehydrate solution is trickled directly onto the bees in the spaces between combs, normally when colonies are in the broodless phase. This application is quick (about one minute per hive), cost effective and easy.  Sublimation Treatment – Oxalic acid dehydrate in the form of crystals, gelatin capsules or tablets are heat-evaporated (sublimated) with different types of evaporators, predominantly during the broodless period. This application takes about four minutes per hive and requires complex equipment.  Spraying Treatment – Solutions of oxalic acid dehydrate are sprayed onto the bees on both sides of each comb and the bees resting on the hive walls; spraying is normally carried out during the broodless period. This application takes four to five minutes per hive.

Laboratory bioassays were performed to characterize the acute contact toxicity of oxalic acid to Varroa mites and their honey bee hosts. Specifically, glass-vial residual bioassays were conducted to determine the lethal concentration of oxalic acid for the mite, and topical applications of oxalic acid in acetone were conducted to determine the lethal dose for honey bees. The results indicate that oxalic acid has a low acute toxicity to honey bees and a high acute toxicity to mites. The toxicity data will help guide scientists in delivering optimum dosages of oxalic acid to the parasite and its host, and will be useful in making treatment recommendations (Aliano et al. 2006).

Nine divided hives were constructed to study the distribution of oxalic acid.  Experimental colonies were split into two equal, queenright sections with one of three divider types.  The first divider allowed trophallaxis to occur between adult bees on each side, but did not allow bee-to-contact. The second divider did not allow trophallaxis or bee-to-bee contact. The third divider allowed both bee-to-bee contact and trophallaxis between the two sides. All three dividers allowed gas exchange of volatile materials. The objective was to investigate factors that contribute to the distribution of oxalic acid in a hive by monitoring mite mortality.  Forty ml of a 3.5% oxalic acid sugar water solution was trickled on one side of the divider. Sticky boards were used to quantify mite fall before, during, and after OA treatment on both treated and untreated sides. Trophallactic interactions and fumigation did not significantly influence the distribution of oxalic acid. Bee-to-bee contact was the primary route for oxalic acid distribution (Aliano and Ellis 2008).

Three oxalic acid solutions were applied to 24 colonies to test acaricidal effects on the mites.  Daily natural mite drop per colony averaged 0.52. Higher mite mortality (18.33) was found after three August OA treatments. The mean efficacy’s of the three water solutions of OA/sucrose (w/w) 3.4%/47.6%, 3.7%/26.1%, and 2.9%/31.9% applied in the presence of brood, was 52.28%, 40.66% and 39.16 %, respectively.  A significantly higher efficacy was recorded when 3.4%/47.6%, was applied in comparison to 2.9%/31.9% solution. There was no difference in efficacy between OA solutions administered during a broodless period on October 28.  The average efficacy in all colonies was 99.44%.  The results suggest that OA has limited acaricidal effect in colonies with brood, but it is highly effective in a broodless period (Gregorc and Planinc 2001).

Twenty-four colonies were used to monitor the efficacy of a solution of 2.9% oxalic acid and 31.9% sugar against Varroa mites. Mite mortality was established prior to and after oxalic treatments, which were conducted in August and September. The treatments resulted in 37% mite mortality as opposed to 1.11% in the controls.  Oxalic acid treatment conducted in September on previously untreated colonies resulted in 25% mite mortality. 

Oxalic acid treatments in October and November resulted in approximately 97% mite mortality.  These results again suggest that oxalic acid is effective during the broodless period and less effective when applied to colonies with capped broods (Gregorc and Planinc 2002).

The toxicity of various concentrations of oxalic acid dihydrate (OA) in aqueous and sucrose solutions to Varroa mites  and to honey bees was assessed using submersion tests of caged bees and by spraying bees in colonies with and without brood (Toomemaa et al. 2010). An aqueous solution of 0.5% OA gave effective control of the mite and was non-toxic to bees whereas higher concentrations of OA (1.0-2.0%) were highly toxic to bees.  Submersion tests into solutions with 0.1% OA were acaricidal both in aqueous (59.9 %) and in 50% sucrose solution (71.1%) whereas concentrations of 0.2-0.5% OA were highly effective; OA in sucrose solution was more toxic to bees than OA in the aqueous solution.  Spraying with 0.5% OA solution at a dose of 25 ml per comb in May 2003 and in April 2004 was 99.01-99.42% effective in mite control in Estonian standard one box long beehives with 22 frames (each 414 x 277 mm, area 1000 cm² per comb side).  Most mites fell after the first spraying. In Autumn, spraying test colonies that had little capped brood once or twice with a 0.5% OA solution gave effective mite control (92.94% and 91.84%, respectively) with no noticeable toxicity to bees.

Two oxalic acid treatments were given to five colonies in autumn and five colonies in Spring.  In each treatment, colonies were treated every seven days for four weeks with a 3% sprayed oxalic acid. Another five colonies in each season served as controls and were sprayed only with water. Efficacy of OA in autumn was 94% and in spring was 73%. A long-term study of the colonies for three to four months after the last application of oxalic acid showed a statistically significant negative effect of the acid on brood development. In addition, three queens died in the treated colonies (Higes et al. 1999).

“Oxalic Acid has a low acute toxicity to honey bees and a high acute toxicity to mites.”

Rashid et al. (2011) evaluated fall OA treatments in Islamabad, Pakistan. Colonies were divided into four groups of five colonies each. Oxalic acid was applied in sugar syrup with 4.2, 3.2 and 2.1% concentrations. The OA with different concentrations was trickled directly on the adult bees in between two frames using a syringe applied three times on different dates at five day intervals.  Average mite efficacy of OA with 3.2, 4.2 and 2.1% was 95, 81 and 46%, respectively. No queens were lost, and there was no adult bee mortality in any of the colonies during the experiment. They concluded that 3.2% OA concentration is very effective in controlling mites and can be used without any side effects during the broodless condition.

The effects of OA administered by the trickling method on brood development of honey bee colonies were evaluated (a) by observing the development of marked cells of young (<3 days old) and old (>3 days old) larvae, and (b) by measuring the area of open brood for several weeks post application.  Oxalic acid, dissolved in a 50% sugar solution, with an end concentration of 3% w/v oxalic acid, was applied twice by the trickling method during Summer to 10 colonies. A high percentage of young (12.6% and 9.5%) and old honey bee larvae (10.6% and 5.6%) were removed from their cells after the first and second oxalic acid applications, respectively. The surface of the open brood area was also reduced by 17.5% after the two oxalic acid applications and stayed low for about two months.  For the same period of time the open brood area in 10 control colonies increased by 34.5%. The two oxalic acid applications removed 60 ± 12% of Varroa mites adhering to adult honey bees, while the natural fall of mites measured in control colonies (for a period of 40 days) was 32 ± 4%. Combining the detrimental effect on brood development with the low relative effectiveness on Varroa removal, oxalic acid application by the trickling method when open brood is present is not as safe as has been regarded in the past.  Consideration needs to be given to the use of different sugar and oxalic acid concentrations in the treatment solution in order to minimize its adverse effects on open honey bee brood (Hatjina and Haristos 2005).

Toufailia et al. (2015) determined the efficacy of the natural chemical oxalic acid in killing phoretic Varroa mites on adult worker bees under field conditions in southern England.  They compared three oxalic acid application methods (trickling, spraying and sublimation) at three or four (sublimation) doses, using 110 broodless colonies in early January 2013. Treatment efficacy was assessed by extracting mites from samples of c. 270 worker bees collected immediately before and 10 days after treatment. All three methods could give high Varroa mortality, c. 93-95%, using 2.25 g OA per colony. However, sublimation was superior as it gave higher mortality at lower doses (.56 or 1.125 g per colony; trickling 57% mortality; spraying 86%; sublimation 97%). Sublimation using 2.25 g of OA also resulted in three and 12 times less worker bee mortality in the 10 days after application than either trickling or spraying, respectively, and lower colony mortality four months later in mid Spring. Colonies treated via sublimation also had greater brood area four months later than colonies treated via trickling, spraying or control colonies. A second trial in December 2013 treated 89 broodless colonies with 2.25 g OA via sublimation to confirm the previous results.  Varroa mortality was 97.6% and 98% of the colonies survived until Spring. This confirms that applying OA via sublimation in broodless honey bee colonies in Winter is a highly effective way of controlling Varroa mites and causes no harm to the colonies.

Some experiments have shown that a single spray with OA in aqueous or sucrose solution is considerably more effective than trickling (Brødsgaard et al. 1999; Bahreini 2003), indicating that greater wetting of bees increases the effectiveness of the oxalic acid in mite control. Toomemaa et al. (2010) using submersion tests also showed the importance of thorough wetting for good mite control. A lower concentration may be considerably less effective in trickling due to less contact of the solution with the bees and mites. 

Honey bee colonies in five apiaries were divided into three groups to test if the concentration or the total amount of oxalic acid applied for Varroa control determines treatment efficacy when trickling OA for Varroa mite control (Fries 2001). The treatment groups were 30 ml sugar solution (1:1 weight: volume), 30 ml 3.2% OA in sugar solution and 60 ml 1.6% OA in sugar solution. The results clearly demonstrate that it is the concentration of oxalic acid that is critical for high mite efficacy, rather than the total amount of oxalic acid used. The results also confirm earlier results from trials under Swedish and Norwegian conditions that 30 ml 3.2% for normal sized colonies can be used for mite control with good results without obvious adverse effects on bee colonies over Winter.  Fries (2001) found that trickling a 1.6% oxalic acid solution at a higher dose (60 ml per colony), was 92.2% effective. Although concentrations of <4.6% have been tolerated well by bees in experiments by several researchers, in some experiments colonies have been weakened considerably following a single trickling treatment.

Rademacher et al. (2017) investigated lethal and sublethal effects of oxalic acid on individually treated honey bees kept in cages under laboratory conditions as well as the distribution in the colony.  After oral application, bee mortality occurred at relatively low concentrations (No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL)) 50 µg/bee; (Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level (LOAEL)) 75µg/bee compared to the dermal treatment (NOAEL 212.5 µg/bee; LOAEL 250 µg/bee). The dosage used in regular treatment via dermal application (circa 175 µg/bee) is below the LOAEL, referring to mortality derived in the laboratory.  However, the treatment with oxalic acid dehydrate caused sublethal effects: this could be demonstrated in an increased responsiveness to water, decreased longevity and a reduction in pH-values in the digestive system and the hemolymph (blood). The shift towards stronger acidity after treatment confirms that damage to the epithelial tissue and organs is likely to be caused by hyperacidity.  The distribution of OA within a colony was shown by macro-computed tomography; it is rapid and consistent. The increased density of the individual bee was continuous for at least 14 days after treatment indicating the presence of oxalic acid dehydrate in the hive even long after a treatment.

Numerous studies have investigated using oxalic acid to control Varroa mites in honey bee colonies.  In contrast, techniques for treating package bees with oxalic acid have not been investigated. The goal of this study was to develop a protocol for using OA to reduce mite infestation in package bees (Aliano and Ellis 2009). They made 97 mini packages of Varroa-infested adult bees.  Each package contained 1,613 ± 18 bees and 92 ± 3 mites, and represented an experimental unit. They prepared a 2.8% solution of OA by mixing 35 g OA with 1liter of sugar water (sugar:water =1:1; w:w). Eight treatments were assigned to the packages based on previous laboratory bioassays that characterized the acute contact toxicity of OA to mites and bees.  They administered the treatments by spraying the OA solution directly on the bees through the mesh screen cage using a pressurized air brush and quantified mite and bee mortality over a 10-day period.  Their results support applying an optimum volume of 3.0 ml of a 2.8% OA solution per 1,000 bees to packages for effective mite control with minimal adult bee mortality.  The outcome of their research provides beekeepers and package bee shippers guidance for using OA to reduce mite populations in package bees.

References

Aliano, N.P. and M.D. Ellis 2008. Bee-to-bee contact drives oxalic acid distribution in honey bee colonies. Apidologie 39: 481-487.

Alino, N.P. and M.D. Ellis 2009. Oxalic acid: a prospective tool for reducing Varroa mite populations in package bees. Exp. Appl. Acarol.  48: 303-309.

Aliano, N.P., M.D. Ellis and B.D. Siegfried 2006. Acute contact toxicity of oxalic acid to Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) and their Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) hosts in laboratory bioassays. J. Econ. Entomol. 99: 1579-1582.

Bahreini, R. 2003. A comparison of two methods of applying oxalic acid for control of Varroa. J. Apic. Res. 42: 82-83.

Brødsgaard, C.J., S.E. Jensen, C.W. Hansen and H. Hansen  1999. Spring treatment with oxalic acid in honeybee colonies as Varroa control. DIAS report, Horticulture 6: 1-16.

Fries, I. 2001. Is the total amount or the concentration of oxalic acid critical for efficacy in Varroa mite control? European Group for Integrated Varroa Control, York, http://www.apis.admin.ch/host/varroa/york.htm

Gregorc, A. and I. Planinc 2001. Acaricidal effect of oxalic acid in honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies. Apidologie 32: 333-340.

Gregorc, A. and I. Planinc 2002.  The control of Varroa destructor using oxalic acid. Vet. J. 163: 306-310.

Hatjina, F. and L. Haristos 2005.  Indirect effects of oxalic acid administered by trickling method on honey bee brood. J. Apic. Res.  44: 172-174.

Higes, M., A. Meana, M. Suárez and J. Llorente 1999. Negative long-term effects on bee colonies treated with oxalic acid against Varroa jacobsoni Oud. Apidologie  30: 289-292.

Rademacher, E. and M. Harz  2006. Oxalic acid for the control of Varroosis in honey bee colonies- a review. Apidologie 37: 98-120.

Rademacher, E., M. Harz and S. Schneider 2017. Effects of oxalic acid on Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Insects  8(3): 84  doi:10.3390/insects8030084

Rashid, M., E.S. Wagchoure, A.U. Mohsin, S. Raja and G. Sarwar 2011. Control of ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor, in honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies by using different concentrations of oxalic acid. J. Anim. Plant Sci.  22: 72-76.

Toomemaa, K. A.-J. Martin and I.H. Williams 2010. The effect of different concentrations of oxalic acid in aqueous and sucrose solution on Varroa mites and honey bees. Apidologie 41: 643-653.

Toufailia, H.A., L. Scandian and F.L.W. Ratnieks 2015. Towards integrated control of Varroa: 2) comparing application methods and doses of oxalic acid on the mortality of phoretic Varroa destructor mites and their honey bee hosts. J. Apic. Res.  54: 108-120.

Photos courtesy Bee Culture magazine, and Frances L.W. Ratnieks, Luciano Scandian, Hasan Al Toufailia

Clarence Collison is an Emeritus Professor of Entomology and Department Head Emeritus of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS.

Where Do We Go?

The CRSAD (Animal Science Research Center) is a non-profit corporation in Deschambault, Quebec that carries out and supports research and development in animal sciences according to a collective strategy, to enrich the expertise of various livestock industries. It operates on over 150 hectares of land and in a context of consultation and partnership. The CRSAD has research projects in seven agricultural sectors: apiculture, dairy and beef cattle, pigs, dairy goats, and hen and broiler chickens.

At the CRSAD, we have had a honey bee breeding program running since 2010. We had isolated mating apiaries during the first years of the program, but had low mating success with them which I suspect was due to bird predation since they were in a forested area. We relocated the breeding apiary to an area near the research center, where we have had much improved mating success (85%). We produce a few artificially inseminated queens, but most of our queens are naturally mated.

To control the origin of the drones mating with our queens, we flood the area with drones from selected breeding colonies. We select our breeders for honey production, hygienic behavior, brood production and winter food consumption; we run 100 colonies and select the 20 best ones to graft and raise drones with. With the selected colonies, we create 120 nucs for the following year’s selection.

For drone production, we put a drone comb frame in the middle of the brood chamber in eight to 10 of the selected colonies. This ensures the production of 20,000 to 30,000 drones every 24 days. Since we can’t be 100% sure that our queens really mate with those drones, we wanted to better understand the reproduction dynamics occurring with our mating apiary. The first step of this process was to find the drone congregation area (DCA) of our breeding apiary.

A DCA is the area where sexually mature drones congregate and wait for virgin queens. This area is located at the same place year after year and the presence of a queen is not a necessity for its formation. DCAs are formed in areas protected from winds where flight is unimpeded. There are no obstacles within the DCA, but there should be some surrounding it for wind protection and to help the bees with orientation. In optimal weather conditions, drones in a DCA patrol a zone 100 – 200m wide at an altitude of five – 40m, and this area gets smaller in less favorable weather conditions. When a queen enters a DCA, a swarm of pursuing drones rapidly forms behind the queen in a comet shaped formation. The borders of the DCA are well defined, and when a queen leaves it, the drones rapidly cease pursuit.

Most of the drones in a DCA come from nearby apiaries. More than 96% come from apiaries located at an average of 900 m from the DCA. They transit between their apiary and the DCA via migration pathways that can form in areas protected from winds by the landscape or by buildings. Only 0.5% of these drones successfully mate with a queen. From a biological point of view, the closer the DCA is from the apiary, the higher the chances are for a drone to successfully mate. Since drones wait for queens and can’t fly indefinitely, a short transit distance will increase the time they can spend in a DCA.

Drones have two types of flight: short orientation flights of one to six minutes and long mating flights of 32 ± 22 minutes. Flight duration is limited by the honey they can stock in their crop and between two mating flights, they spend an average of 17 minutes feeding inside the hive. Drones don’t necessarily come back to their native colony, and can choose to stop in a colony closer to the DCA they are visiting. Weather greatly influences the flight activity of drones. Favorable weather includes a sunny or partly clouded sky, temperature in the 19-38ºC range and wind under 22 km/h. Normally, peak mating flight activity occurs between 2pm and 5pm.

DCA localization techniques can be complicated and strenuous: listening for the buzzing of drones, queen observations, radar surveillance or landscape analysis. In 2014, Mortensen and Ellis developed a simple method that can be executed by a single person. This method consists of positioning drone traps in potential DCA areas that were identified beforehand via satellite imagery. This was the method that we adapted to locate our DCA.

Figure 7. Identification of potential DCA areas with Google Earth.

The first step was to use Google Earth software to locate potential DCA areas within a 1 km radius from our breeder’s apiary (areas in open fields with protection from wind). We identified 13 such areas that were further subdivided up to six subplots (figure 7).

Then we built drone traps (figure 1). For each trap, the following material was required:

• White nylon tulle fabric (5” x 63”)
• Steel wire (.060”), used to form three rings of respectively 8.5”, 14” and 20” of diameter
• Fishing nylon mono line
• 6 cigarette filters
• Black spray paint
• Hot glue
• 4 virgin queens
• 3 steel nuts (approximately ¾”)
• 2 balloons (35”)
• Kite line (150’)
• Helium tank
• A 3-way ball bearing swivel
• A 2-way ball bearing swivel
• Sewing thread
• Kite reel

The three steel wire rings and the nylon tulle were sewn together to form a trap with a height of 40”, in a cone shape. The 8.5” ring was at the top, the 14” in the middle and the 20” at the bottom. The top of the trap was closed with tulle, but the bottom remained open. The cigarette filters were painted in black and randomly attached inside the trap with fishing line (approximatively 6-9” of line). A drop of hot glue was used to secure the filters to the lines; these represent drone dummies. We don’t know if the dummies are necessary, but since they were used in previous research and were cheap to produce, we put some in our traps.

A fishing line was fixed across the middle ring and a second one across the bottom ring. In the middle of each line, we fixed a fishing line 8” long, ended by a small hook (figure 1). This small hook serves to easily attach and remove queens from the trap. We used three short pieces of fishing line to bind the top ring of the trap to one end of the two-way ball bearing swivel. To the other end, we fixed a 35” kite line and the end of this kite line was bound to one end of the three-way ball bearing swivel. A 15’ kite line was fixed to another end of the three-way swivel and served to tie the balloons. The remaining kite line (125’) was tied to the last end of the three-way swivel.

Figure 1. Schema of the drone trap model on the left (adapted from William, 1987) and on the right (Mortensen and Ellis, 2014).

To help us estimate the height of the trap, we put paint marks on the kite line every 15’. We also built a homemade reel with a wood plank, 12” nails and a plastic tube (google would help you with that). The steel nuts are fixed to the bottom ring to prevent the trap from being pushed horizontally by the wind; you can adjust the quantity to match your weather conditions.

We used two 36” party balloons, which are much cheaper than weather balloons, but also more fragile. The grass is as sharp as a needle for an inflated balloon! One balloon didn’t have enough lift power and three balloons offered too much wind resistance, which tends to send the trap close to the ground, unable to gain height. We found that two of the balloons worked well. To be able to reuse the balloons on multiple days, we cut a 50 mL plastic test tube and secured it to the balloon with a rubber castrating ring. This allowed us to inflate and deflate the balloons at will.

Figure 2. Virgin queen tied with sewing thread.

We tied the virgin queens with a 4” sewing thread between the abdomen and the thorax (figure 2). You need to be careful to avoid tying the queen’s legs or wings. The sewing thread with the bound virgin queen was fixed to the small hook of the free fishing line; one on the middle ring and one on the bottom ring of the trap. We replaced the queens after one hour to prevent them from dying of exhaustion. Since we needed to add weight with steel nuts to our traps, we believe that using plastic queen cages would be an interesting option instead of tying queens with thread, which is a difficult task to complete. We will try using plastic cages in future tests.

Figure 5. Drone hunting with Émile Houle (left), Pierre
Giovenazzo (middle) and Aude Sorel (right).

Next was the drone hunting part. During the afternoon on sunny days, we went onto a field identified with Google Earth as a DCA potential zone (figure 5). Since the DCA size is quite small, instead of fixing the traps on the ground, we patrolled the whole DCA potential zone. Two people patrolled the zone in an “S” pattern, maintaining the trap at an elevation close to 30’; when higher than 30’, it is difficult to see the drones in the trap. When drones were seen entering the trap the evaluator stopped and waited 20 minutes. After the time was elapsed, the trap was lowered, and the drones were counted. If the count was below 50, the evaluator moved further away in the zone. If the count was over 50, a second measurement over a 20 minute period was done to confirm the DCA (figure 3).

Figure 3. Drone trap in action.

When you count 20-30 drones over a 20 min period, this is a possible indication of a migratory pathway, and you can try following it until you reach the DCA. You can also use visual and auditory cues to locate a DCA such as the direction drones are taking when leaving their hive, the buzzing of the drones in flight when you are close to the DCA or the formation of drone comet (figure 4).

Figure 4. Comet of drones pursuing a virgin queen.

We patrolled half of the potential DCA zones before finding a DCA which was only 60 yards away from the breeding apiary (figure 6). The drones were going through a small patch of trees to access an open field highly protected from winds by the trees and by a small hill. On days with weak winds, the DCA extended over the treeline bordering it (left side in figure 6). During our hunt, we had a windy period with winds of 15-20 mph/h but still got lots of drones in our traps at the DCA, so even if the weather conditions are not optimal, you can still find a DCA.

Figure 6. The apiary in blue, the migratory pathway in white and the DCA in red.

We tested half the potential DCA areas identified by with Google Earth, and only found one DCA. By the distance from the apiary and the number of drone comets we were observing, we are confident that most of our selected drones were going there. Still, we intend to test the other half of the identified areas as well as marking selected drones, and trying to capture them back at the DCA. These are future projects. Eventually, we also would like to find a way to track queens, and observe if they are going to other DCA areas that are further away.

I would like to thank Émile Houle (CRSAD) for the design and building of the drone traps as well as the field support. I also thank Pierre Giovenazzo (Université Laval) for traineeship supervision. Pictures in this article are from Aude Sorel and Mélissa Girard.

First published in BeesCene, from the British Columbia, Canada Beekeepers Association. Heather Sosnowski, Editor.

References

Clement, H.; Bruneau, E.; Barbancon, J. M.; Bonnafe, P.; Domerego, R, Fert, G.; Le Conte, G.; Ratia G.; Reeb, C.; Vaissiere, B. (2015). Traité rustica de l’apiculture(le) n. Éd., Rustica, 528.

Galindo-Cardona, A.; Monmany, A. C.; Moreno-Jackson, R.; Rivera-Rivera, C.; Huertas-Dones, C.; Caicedo-Quiroga, L.; Giray, T. (2012). Landscape analysis of drone congregation areas of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Journal of Insect Science, 12: 122.

Koeniger, N. ; Koeniger, G. (2004). Mating behavior in honey bees (Genus Apis). TARE, 7, 13–28.

Koeniger, N. ; Koeniger, G. (2005). The nearer the better? Drones prefer nearer drone congregation areas. Insect Soc 52, 31-35.

Koeniger, G. ; Koeniger, N.; Ellis, J. ; Connor, L. (2014). Mating biology of honey bees. Wicwas Press, 50-75.

Koeniger, N.; Koeniger, G.; Gries, M.; Tingek, S. (2005). Drone competition at drone congregation areas in four Apis species. Apidologie 36, 211–221.

Koeniger, N.; Koeniger, G.; Tingek, S. (2010). Honey Bees of Borneo. Exploring the Centre of Apis Diversity. Natural History Publications. Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, 262 P.

Loper, G. M.; Wolf, W. W.; Taylor, O. (1987). Detection and monitoring of honey bee drone congregation areas by radar. Apidologie, 18(2) :163-172.

Loper, G. M.; Wolf, W. W.; Taylor, O. R. (1992). Honey-bee drone flyways and congregation areas – radar observations. J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 65, 223–230.

Mortensen, A. N.; Ellis, J. D. (2014). Scientific note on a single-user method for identifying drone congregation areas, Journal of Apicultural Research, 53:4, 424-425.

Ruttner F. (1956). The mating of the honeybee. Bee World 3:2-15, 23-24.

Ruttner, F. (1985). Reproductive behaviour in honeybees. Fortschr. Zool. 31, 225–236.

Scheiner, R.; Abramson, C. I.; Brodschneider, R.; Crailsheim, K.; Farina, W.; Fuchs, S.; Grünewald, B.; Hahshold, S.; Karrer, M.; Koeniger, G.; Koeniger, N.; Menzel, R.; Mujagic, S.; Radspieler, G.; Schmickll, T.; Schneider, C.; Siegel, A. J.; Szopek, M.; Thenius, R. (2013) Standard methods for behavioural studies of Apis mellifera. In V Dietemann; J D Ellis; P Neumann (Eds) The COLOSS BEEBOOK, Volume I: standard methods for Apis mellifera research. Journal of Apicultural Research, 52:4, 1-58.

Soland-Reckweg, G. (2006). Genetic differentiation and hybridization in the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) in Switzerland. PhD thesis, Universität Bern, Bern.

Williams, J. L. (1987). Wind-directed Pheromone Trap for Drone Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae), U.S Department of Agriculture.

Witherell, P.C. (1971). Duration of flight and of interflight time of drone honeybees, Apis mellifera. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 64:609-612.

A young honey bee worker emerging from the cell in which it developed. Credit: Vincent Dietemann, Agroscope

In honey bee colonies, a single queen is laying eggs from which thousands of worker bees are born. At a young age, workers care for the brood, then build and defend the nest and eventually, towards the end of their lives, leave the safety of the nest to forage for food. This major step in their lives is speeding up ageing because searching the environment for food exposes these foragers to a wide range of stressors, such as pathogens, predators and adverse weather conditions.

Despite her title, the queen is not deciding who does what in the honey bee colony. How work is distributed between nestmates in these societies is not fully understood. Previous research has shown that tasks are allocated based on communication between the queen, brood and individual workers performing these tasks. For example, the presence of foragers in hives reduces the number of younger bees leaving the hives to start foraging. It is also known that the presence of larvae reduces the life expectancy of bees due to the need for adult workers to tend to them and forage to feed them. This was shown by an increase in longevity of workers after experimental removal of larvae. Since their removal also resulted in the removal of young adults that develop from them, the observed effect could not be attributed to the young workers or to the brood until now.

‘By experimentally separating the effect of brood and of young adults on their nestmates’ destiny, we could tease apart the role of these two actors’ says senior author Vincent Dietemann from Agroscope. ‘We saw that both the presence of brood and of young workers shortened the life expectancy of their nestmates’ adds lead author Michael Eyer from both Agroscope and Institute of Bee Health. The newly discovered role of young workers in honey bee social organisation adds to our knowledge of how demography shapes colony functioning. ‘These social regulation mechanisms of food collection allow the fast adaptation of the colony to a changing environment’ says co-author Peter Neumann from the Institute of Bee Health.

Understanding insect societies, ageing and significance for beekeeping

These findings are significant for our understanding of social organization in insects, which often inspires technological innovations. They also provide information on general ageing processes beyond social insects. Indeed, honey bees are used as model system to understand ageing in other organisms, including humans. The acquired knowledge has practical implications for beekeepers because colony management can include removal of brood and thus of young workers. This for example can occur before a treatment to control the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. The extension of worker lifespan induced by the removal allows the colony to compensate this absence and continue functioning.

Honey bee duties and pollination – Background

In spring and summer, honey bee colonies are composed of so called ‘summer bees’. During the first one to three weeks, they perform tasks such as nursing and cleaning within the nest and later leave its protection to forage for nectar and pollen required for colony growth, before dying. In late summer, falling temperature reduces foraging activity and brood rearing declines. The so-called long-lived ‘winter bees’ emerge from the last brood reared. Their tasks consist in maintaining the nest at temperatures that ensure the survival of the colony over several winter months and in resuming brood rearing in the next spring, before they start foraging again in spring. Worker life expectancy is thus plastic and varies according to each phase of a colony’s life history.

In addition to producing honey, wax, propolis and royal jelly, honey bees contribute to the pollination of a large variety of commercial food crops – a service valued at over 150 billions Euros globally. Moreover, honey bees together with other insects pollinate many wild flowers and are therefore central to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, of which the economical value is order of magnitudes higher.

More information: Michael Eyer et al. Social regulation of ageing by young workers in the honey bee, Apis mellifera, Experimental Gerontology (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2016.11.006

By Taryn Phaneuf in Civil Eats

On a hot evening in June, Washington State University (WSU) entomologist Brandon Hopkins sat in front of a microscope in Orland, California, handling one honeybee after another as each committed one of life’s most important acts. Hopkins squeezed one drone at a time, contracting the male’s abdominal muscles to mimic a natural mating event. As the pressure exposed the drone’s penis and a speck of semen, Hopkins vacuumed it off carefully. “You do that hundreds and hundreds of times as quickly as possible,” he said.

The process is much more technical than the actual reproductive rituals of bees (which usually happen in mid-air), but the outcome is the same: The drone gives his life, and the species lives on. Rather than immediately contributing to the growth of the colony, however, this bee’s semen will be stored in liquid nitrogen and shipped to another state.

Hopkins is collecting the first-ever honeybee samples to deposit into the National Animal Germplasm Program, a national livestock gene bank run by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the main research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The bank contains the genetic material of approximately 31,000 species that have been deemed agriculturally important in the United States.

Housed in Fort Collins, Colorado, the repository began in 1957 as a seed library, but in 1999, the ARS started collecting the genetic material of animals used for food or fiber as well, including various kinds of beef cattle, freshwater fish, yaks, and bison. Researchers selecting for certain traits, or breeders trying to introduce greater variability to their stock, can draw from the ever-growing gene bank. And, in the event of catastrophic disease or man-made extinction, the library’s stock could be used to rebuild a population.

For the rest of this story, head over to Civil Eats by clicking http://civileats.com/2016/11/02/a-new-sperm-bank-for-honeybees-could-save-agriculture/