by Shelby Lawson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dissimilarity of brain GRN architecture between soldiers and foragers is greater in high-aggression honeybee colonies. Credit: Nature Ecology & Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02090-0

Collective behaviors are present across many different animal groups: schools of fish swimming in a swirling pattern together, large flocks of birds migrating through the night, groups of bees coordinating their behavior to defend their hive.

These behaviors are commonly seen in social insects where as many as thousands of individuals work together, often with distinct roles. In honey bees, the role a bee plays in the colony changes as they age. Younger bees perform duties inside the hive, such as nursing and wax building, while older bees transition to roles outside of the hive, either foraging for food (foragers) or defending the colony (soldiers).

What determines whether older bees become foragers or soldiers is unknown, but a new study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution explores the genetic mechanisms underlying the collective behavior of colony defense, and how these mechanisms relate to the colony’s overall aggression.

“Honey bees do not have a size-based division of labor, like you might see in termites or ants,” said Ian Traniello, former graduate student at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, now an associate research scholar at Princeton University and first author on the study.

“If you ask anyone off the street to guess which ant is a soldier versus a forager, they probably will guess it right 100% of the time, because the soldiers are huge. Honey bees instead have an age-based division of labor, where older bees tend to be foragers or soldiers, both of which are dangerous and potentially lethal roles.”

A genome-wide association study conducted previously on a sub-species of honey bee in Puerto Rico that had evolved to be less aggressive in recent years, revealed strong associations between variation in the sequence of some genes and the level of overall colony aggression. Researchers called these “colony aggression genes.”

In the current study, researchers compared the expression and regulation of genes in the brains of soldiers and foragers, and across colonies that varied in aggressiveness. Researchers measured colony aggressiveness by counting the number of stings on suede patches placed outside the hives after a disturbance.

They identified soldiers as the bees that attacked the patches and foragers as the bees that returned to the hive with pollen. The researchers then used single-cell transcriptomics and gene regulatory network analysis to compare the brains of forager and soldier bees, from low and high aggression colonies.

The researchers found that, although there were thousands of genes in the brain that differed in their expression between soldiers and foragers, none of them were part of the colony aggression gene list. However, when they created models of brain gene regulatory networks, which control when and where specific genes are expressed, the researchers found that the structure of these networks differed between soldiers and foragers—and the differences were bigger when the soldiers and foragers came from a more aggressive colony.

“What we think is happening is that the regulation of genes associated with collective behavior affects the mechanisms that underlie division of labor,” Traniello explained. “So, colonies can become more or less aggressive by influencing the aggression level of the individuals within that colony. Basically, a forager may be more or less likely to transition to a soldier-like state if the environment calls for it.”

The findings highlight the importance of gene regulation to our understanding of the relationship between genes and behavior.

“While a few studies have found potential heritable differences between soldiers and foragers, this study demonstrates that older honey bees may have the potential to take on either role,” said Gene Robinson (GNDP), IGB Director and author on the paper. “In colonies that are more aggressive, likely due to increased danger in the environment, older bees may just be more predisposed to become soldiers to help defend the colony.”

Plans for future directions include developing functional tests to explore the role of the gene networks identified in the study, and to identify spatially where they are being expressed in the brain. Traniello says that he looks forward to exploring these new questions.

“We have extraordinary technologies to probe genes and behavior at an unprecedented scale, both with single-cell and, now, spatial transcriptomics,” Traniello said.

“These give us new means for understanding old questions, like the relationship from individual to collective, or the relationship between genotype to phenotype. It’s exciting to be able to take these tools and apply them in naturalistic contexts, and I hope this work inspires others to do the same.”

More information: Ian M. Traniello et al, Single-cell dissection of aggression in honeybee colonies, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02090-0

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: DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02090-0

This chart shows the estimated share of bee keepers’ colonies lost in the United States from 2016-17 to 2022-23.

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: Chart: U.S. Honeybees Suffer Second Deadliest Season on Record | Statista

Links:

Previous years: https://beeinformed.org/citizen-science/loss-and-management-survey/

BIP website: https://beeinformed.org/

Bee Lab at Auburn University: https://linktr.ee/auburnbees

Bee Lab at University of Maryland: https://www.umdbeelab.com/

Survey question previews: https://beeinformed.org/citizen-science/loss-and-management-survey/

To read the rest of the Preliminary Results, go to Bee Informed Partnership’s website: https://beeinformed.org/

By Bhavana Kunkalikar Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLM

In a recent study published in the Nutrients journal, researchers evaluated using bee pollen as a nutrient source. The study focused on understanding bee pollens’ nutrient richness and possible role in the pathophysiological mechanisms linked to imbalanced nutrient levels.

Study: Translational Research on Bee Pollen as a Source of Nutrients: A Scoping Review from Bench to Real World. Image Credit: TippaPatt/Shutterstock.com

Background

Healthy nutrition is becoming increasingly important in the field of biomedical sciences. The role of nutritional deficiencies and imbalances in causing global public health issues, including cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, has been extensively proven.

Bee pollen has been identified as a potential aid in reducing health issues through nutritional interventions. Bee pollen is currently under extensive study and is a highly nutritious and well-balanced source of nutrients.

About the study

In the present study, researchers explored evidence supporting bee pollen (BP) usage as a nutrient source.

A scoping review was conducted to evaluate the existing evidence on the nutritional benefits of BP in both standard and pathophysiological environments. The team employed available data to assess the evidence, identify areas lacking knowledge, and create recommendations for future study.

Effective strategies have been developed, and efforts have been made to establish standards for framing, normalizing, and reporting conditions and achievements.

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines checklist, which was developed based on the Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of health research (EQUATOR) group’s approaches and released in 2018, is one of the recommended guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

The focus was primarily on publications released within the past four years. The initial literature research revealed that there was repetition among bioactivity-related parameters studied for BP. Two previous general reviews involving BP were published before 2020.

Scientific data for analysis were gathered from various international databases specializing in medical and pharmaceutical fields, including PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The team initially searched using the term “bee pollen” to identify relevant publications.

Results

The team found that BP is a nutrient-rich food source containing proteins, minerals, vitamins, unsaturated fatty acids, and oligo-elements. It is also low in calories and generally well-tolerated and safe, except for the possibility of allergic responses or external pollution, which can be managed and predicted.

Hazards associated with BP can result from external contamination, which can significantly impact pollen due to its sensitivity or from unfavorable storage and processing conditions.

Documenting pollen composition and considering patient sensitivity can prevent allergic responses to the product. Additionally, BP is safe for most physiological situations, including among children, the elderly, and recovering patients. BP is a valuable source of essential elements for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

A study of 27 commercial BP samples found that consuming 40 g of the product daily while breastfeeding can provide a significant portion of daily copper, manganese, iron, and selenium needs.

A review of over 100 published studies found that the primary components of BP, listed in order of weight or weight importance, are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, ash, fibers, and other elements. The presence of polyols in the carbohydrate matrix contributes to its lower caloric value and helps maintain a balanced intake of energy sources and other nutrients.

BP’s rich composition makes it ideal for human nutrition, as it can help rebalance or prevent various nutritional deficiencies along with pathophysiological conditions.

The most extensively researched characteristic of BP is its antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the significance of BP usage lies in its potential as an anti-inflammatory agent.

The activity of bee pollen composition varies greatly depending on various factors such as plant and bee species, geographical region, timing, soil type, processing, and environmental conditions. Comparative studies have found that multi-floral pollens have stronger antioxidant activity than mono-floral pollens.

BP has significant anti-inflammatory effects on various types of inflammation, such as localized and systemic forms like digestive wall inflammations and neuroinflammation.

BP’s anti-inflammatory potential has been extensively researched, with different experimental studies highlighting various mechanisms.

The anti-inflammatory phytochemicals found in BP, including polyphenols, as well as other phytonutrients such as peptides, lipids, polysaccharides, and other compounds, have been linked to these activities.

Additionally, the team noted that the anti-inflammatory activity of BP varies based on bee species, in addition to differences based on botanical origin.

Conclusion

Overall, the study findings suggested that addressing the gaps identified in their study is crucial for improving research on BP.

The researchers recommend utilizing high-throughput technologies like omics sciences and computational-based simulation techniques to analyze the vast and diverse data.

Journal reference:

• Kacemi, R. and Campos, M. (2023) “Translational Research on Bee Pollen as a Source of Nutrients: A Scoping Review from Bench to Real World”, Nutrients, 15(10), p. 2413. doi: 10.3390/nu15102413. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/10/2413

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• Steven M. Carr

Scientific Reports volume 13, Article number: 9386 (2023) Cite this article

• Metricsdetails

Abstract

Figure 3 From: Multiple mitogenomes indicate Things Fall Apart with Out of Africa or Asia hypotheses for the phylogeographic evolution of Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)

Previous morpho-molecular studies of evolutionary relationships within the economically important genus of honey bees (Apis), including the Western Honey Bee (A. mellifera L.), have suggested Out of Africa or Asia origins and subsequent spread to Europe. I test these hypotheses by a meta-analysis of complete mitochondrial DNA coding regions (11.0 kbp) from 22 nominal subspecies represented by 78 individual sequences in A. mellifera. Parsimony, distance, and likelihood analyses identify six nested clades: Things Fall Apart with Out of Africa or Asia hypotheses. Molecular clock-calibrated phylogeographic analysis shows instead a basal origin of A. m. mellifera in Europe ~ 780 Kya, and expansion to Southeast Europe and Asia Minor ~ 720 Kya. Eurasian bees spread southward via a Levantine/Nilotic/Arabian corridor into Africa ~ 540 Kya. An African clade re-established in Iberia ~ 100 Kya spread thereafter to westerly Mediterranean islands and back into North Africa. Nominal subspecies within the Asia Minor and Mediterranean clades are less differentiated than are individuals within other subspecies. Names matter: paraphyletic anomalies are artefacts of mis-referral in GenBank of sequences to the wrong subspecies, or use of faulty sequences, which are clarified by inclusion of multiple sequences from available subspecies.

Phylogeographic evolution in context of geographic distribution2 of subspecies of A. mellifera as inferred from mitogenomic data. Numbered symbols indicate five clades described in the text and in Fig. 2. Dark and light green circles indicate respectively subspecies in the Southeast European and Asia Minor clades included within the Eurasian superclade. Blue symbols indicate the Levantine (circles), Nilotic (squares), and Arabian (A. m. jemenitica) (diamonds) clades. Light and dark purple circles indicate independent A. m. simensis and A. m. unicolor lineages, respectively. Light orange symbols indicate subspecies in the Mediterranean clade. Red circles indicate the paraphyletic assemblage of A. m. scutellata and A. m. capensis, including A. m. adansonii (light red) and A. m. monticola (brown). Base map modified from [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BlankMap-World.svg].

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: Multiple mitogenomes indicate Things Fall Apart with Out of Africa or Asia hypotheses for the phylogeographic evolution of Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) | Scientific Reports (nature.com)

by Zhang Nannan, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Researchers from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of California San Diego have predicted that the presence of Asian honey bee hornets would harm Apis mellifera colonies more than Apis cerana colonies because of their different exposure to Vespa velutina over evolutionary time. The study was published in Entomologia Generalis.

Collective defense is constrained by co-evolution with the predator. In social insects, such as honey bees, collective defense of the nest is essential. However, the potential cascading effects of predator attack on social insects—directly reducing the number of colony members and, indirectly, stressing the colony to reduce its reproduction—are not well understood.

Asian honey bees (Apis species) have co-evolved with predatory Asian hornets (Vespa species) and have evolved several counter-strategies. A. mellifera colonies can respond to attacks by V. velutina hornets by creating a dense “bee carpet” consisting of large numbers of bees gathered at the nest entrance. However, this defense is not always effective.

In view of this, the researchers measured hornet attacks and honey bee colony fitness proxies (number of eggs, pupae, and workers) in apiaries with both bee species but with and without hornets, and quantified fitness effects across seasons in the presence and absence of hornets.

They found that hornet attacks significantly reduced colony fitness of A. mellifera, but not A. cerana. A. mellifera, unlike the native A. cerana, greatly reduced foraging, and experienced higher hornet predation on foragers when attacked by the native V. velutina auraria.

They observed that hornet attacks elicited more guarding and stop signals from A. mellifera than from A. cerana. Attacks resulted in reduced queen egg production, fewer pupae, and fewer workers, and colony mortality in A. mellifera. In contrast, hornet attacks did not result in declines in the same proxy measures of colony fitness for A. cerana.

“In addition to direct predation, predator-induced stress may contribute to A. mellifera colony decline. Our results suggest that a largely ineffective defense, such as bee carpet response in A. mellifera, can contribute to population collapse in a social group,” said Prof. Tan Ken of XTBG.

More information: Shihao Dong et al, Honey bee social collapse arising from hornet attacks, Entomologia Generalis (2023). DOI: 10.1127/entomologia/2023/1825

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: Honey bee populations may collapse due to ineffective defenses (phys.org)

Links:

Brendon.Mott@usda.gov

By Madeleine Muzdakis

Photo: SHAIITH79/Depositphotos

Bees are critical to American agriculture. They pollinate over $15 billion worth of crops across our country each year. But lately, habitat destruction and colony collapse disorder have wreaked havoc on these incredible creatures. As useful as they are to humans, bees do not receive the same care and concern over their emotional wellbeing as other agricultural animals. The tiny critters have brains the size of poppy seeds, yet recent research by ecologists such as Stephen Buchmann suggest they can learn, think, and even likely feel, much like mammals.

Buchmann’s recent book, What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories and Personalities of Bees, collects the work of bee scholars as they work to unpack what goes on in their minuscule brains. What has until recently been a “fringe” scientific field, the insect minds of bees hold a critical place in the American economy. Buchmann’s work also suggests they should hold a special place in our ethical scheme. For Buchmann and some other scientists, what they have learned about bees changes their research strategies to be more ethical, on par with the standards set for vertebrate mammals such as mice and monkeys.

Experiments, the outcomes of which are addressed in the book, illuminate the sentient secret life of bees. Lars Chittka, a University College of London professor in sensory and behavioral ecology, did an experiment 16 years ago where he hid a robotic predatory spider in flowers. The spider would grab an unwary bee that came too close and then release it after giving it a good scare. Chittka observed how the released bees learned to look for the spider and to avoid it. He also observed an almost PTSD-like symptom among the previously captured creatures. Some would be too scared to approach even unoccupied flowers.

Other studies demonstrated that bee brains saw rushes in dopamine and serotonin when they were presented with sucrose (sugar). These happy bees then foraged more than their unrewarded peers. By contrast, stress from poor handling lowered the levels of these happy hormones. Bees must also keep good memories, so that they can return to the best flower patches. “This is not a trivial challenge,” says Chittka. “Different flowers are blooming from one week to the next. And a flower patch you discovered in the morning that was rewarding might be depleted by competitors half an hour later so you have to readjust.”

“Many of my colleagues do invasive neuroscience experiments where bees have electrodes implanted into various body parts without any form of anesthesia,” Chittka says. “The current carefree situation that [invertebrate] researchers live in with no legal framework needs to be re-evaluated.” There are few regulations regarding bee welfare. Vegan favorites such as almond-milk can actually be brutal on bee populations, which are imported en masse to California to pollinate almond groves. Hives have lost increasing numbers of bees in recent years, causing much to be worried about. Buchmann and others have an inkling the “unhappiness” of bees might be a contributing factor to the troubles the species faces.

Bees are critical to feeding the world and to plant survival. But the bees need care too. “The ground used to be buzzing with bees,” Buchmann said of past almond groves. “But no more. Now the almonds fall on bare ground or plastic sheeting and are vacuumed up by big harvesting units.” Reforestation and wild flowers can only do so much. The first step in safeguarding the precious bees is learning more about them and their lives. “These unique minds, regardless of how much they may differ from our own, have as much justification to exist as we do,” says Chittka. “It is a wholly new aspect of how weird and wonderful the world is around us.”

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: Can Bees Feel Emotions? New Study Suggests They Are Sentient (mymodernmet.com)

ENTOMOLOGY TODAY

While analyzing genetic signatures of microbes found in mosquitoes, researchers in Canada were surprised to find black queen cell virus, a common scourge of honey bees. The Aedes vexans mosquitoes in which the virus was identified likely acquired it while foraging for nectar at the same plants as bees, but it’s unclear if mosquitoes have any role in spreading it among bees. (Photo by Katja Schulz via Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

By Andrew Porterfield

Black queen cell virus is a serious problem for beekeepers. It infects developing queen honey bee larvae, turning other pupal cells black and ultimately killing the larval queen. The virus is capable of wiping out entire honey bee colonies and has no known deterrent beyond preventing its spread.

In 2020, when Canadian researchers were looking for viruses and other microbes spread by mosquitoes, a virus known for afflicting honey bees (Apis mellifera) was the last thing they expected to find. But they did.

As the researchers report in April in the Journal of Insect Science, for the first time, black queen cell virus (BQCV) has been discovered in North American mosquitoes. Also for the first time, researchers sequenced the virus’ genome.

Cole Baril, Christophe LeMoine, Ph.D., and Bryan Cassone, Ph.D., researchers at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada, used a genetic sequencing method known as massively parallel next-generation sequencing to identify BQCV in a mosquito (Aedes vexans). The researchers believe that the mosquitoes indirectly acquired the virus by foraging at the same nectar sources as honey bees.

Since its discovery in 1955, BQCV has been known as one of the most common honey bee viruses. It is also one of the most poorly understood viruses affecting bees. Black queen cell virus infects queens and adult bees alike, but adults rarely show any symptoms of infections. It is part of the picornavirus order, and its genome consists of about 8,550 nucleotides of RNA. Exactly how it is transmitted from host to host is not fully understood. It may be spread by the microsporidia Nosema apis or by the Varroa mite, but it also may be transmitted by foraging expeditions of adult honey bees.

The scientists had been carrying out a genomics analysis of various mosquitoes in the Canadian prairie provinces. They identified several novel viruses and other microbial flora and were surprised to find BQCV during that search.

The Brandon researchers collected mosquitoes during 2019 and 2020 with miniature light traps. Aedes vexans mosquitoes were identified, and their RNA isolated. In 2019, 1,783 pooled mosquitos were sequenced; 2,208 were sequenced in 2020. The sequencing data was matched against BQCV sequences using the National Center for Biotech Information (NCBI) database.

The researchers also wanted to determine the evolutionary relationships within BQCVs and compared the new Canadian strain they’d found against existing viral genomes in the NCBI database. One of the sequencing reads matched a BQCV isolate from Sweden. No matches to Varroa mites or Nosema apis genomes were found, largely ruling out the potential for transmission through those organisms. However, three sequences were matched to plant chloroplasts and mapped to plants, trees and shrubs, indicating a foraging route of viral transmission.

Although mosquitoes need to feed on blood to produce eggs, flower nectar is also an important source of nutrition. Sugar deprivation is linked to reduced survival and reproduction capacity in females. However, no evidence exists showing that BQCV can replicate in mosquitoes, indicating that mosquitoes are a dead end for the viruses. But further research will be needed to determine if mosquitoes can transmit the virus to honey bees.

“To our knowledge, this is the first report of BQCV detected in mosquitoes or any other dipteran,” the authors write. “Interspecies transmission of BQCV has been hypothesized to be due to direct (parasitism, predation, and scavenging) and/or indirect (foraging at the same nectar source) interactions between honey bees and these arthropods.”

Cassone says much remains unknown. “The virus has been found in North America; however, never in mosquitoes and never has the genome sequence been characterized,” he says. “It is surprising to me that little work has been done with this virus given its potential determinantal impacts to apiculture.”

The study is also one of the first to use recently developed next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques to characterize the insect and virus genome. The researchers recommended the further use of NGS but with a caveat common to sequencing: “Although it requires considerable integration of bioinformatics, many limitations of traditional approaches for pathogen identification (PCR methods and serological testing) can be overcome using NGS. In addition to its greater resolution and sensitivity, NGS does not require a priori knowledge of the nucleic acid to be sequenced or specific antibodies.”

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: Honey Bee Virus Found in Mosquitoes (entomologytoday.org)

Set to break ground this summer, the new Honey Bee Research Centre on Stone Road will be a state-of-the-art research and education/outreach destination

Barbara Latkowski

A new facility for honey bee research, education, advocacy and outreach is coming to the University of Guelph.

Set to break ground this summer, the new $16.1-million Honey Bee Research Centre (HBRC) will be a state-of-the-art research and education/outreach destination dedicated to all aspects of honey bee health and well-being.

The new HBRC will be located on a former U of G physical resources tree nursery, east of the main campus near the corner of Stone Road East and Victoria Road. Work is currently underway clearing the property.

The current version of the Honey Bee Research Centre is at Townsend House which is a 1960’s bungalow on Stone Road East.

“They’ve outgrown that facility a long time ago,” said John Cranfield, associate dean for external relations at the University of Guelph’s Agricultural College.

The completion of the new Honey Bee Research Centre is projected for fall 2024.

Cranfield said the aim is to have a ground-breaking celebration in June, to not only thank people who have shown their support, but to raise awareness and attention to the project.

“We are really excited about the project and what it can do to raise awareness for the role of pollinators as well as what we are doing at the University of Guelph to make sure that we are addressing pollinator health, wild and managed, because we do both here at our college,” Cranfield said.

With a significant increase in honey bee colony mortality over the last decade, research is becoming increasingly important.

Honey bees are necessary for 1/3 of the food that humans consume. HBRC’S mandate is to support the future of honey bees through research, teaching and outreach.

“There’s one thread that weaves all of humanity together throughout all of time, and that is ‘what we eat.’ We all have to eat, and we know that pollinators of all kinds play an important role in the production of food,” Cranfield said.

“We have a long history. We’ve had a honey bee research centre and apiary since 1894. So, we are well versed on it and that is why we are really excited about this amazing facility.

“Our Honey Bee Research Centre is recognized globally for the science that comes out of the centre and the outreach that happens. There’s the scientific discovery that is fundamental to improving bee health, but there’s also the outreach that makes that research tangible for bee keepers,” Cranfield said

“It’s about putting that knowledge into action and into the hands of bee keepers.”

In addition to a 100 hive apiary, the new HBRC will be a 15,000 sq.ft facility that includes space for research, production and outreach programs, a research laboratory, as well as office and classroom space.

It will also serve as a demonstration facility for best practices in commercial beekeeping and honey production, enable world class research on honey bee health, and act as a vehicle for increased community outreach and public education.

Cranfield said that a very large part of the building will be public-facing.

“We are calling that the discovery centre, and that is the outreach component,” Cranfield said.

“We’ve designed the facility so that we can host school groups and other social functions. There’s a range of different options that can be housed at that facility, and right now, we don’t have that at Townsend House, at least not on the scale that we need.”

The University of Guelph has the largest research apiary in North America, he noted.

“The new centre will offer a dedicated space for learning. It’s a great way to help young people put STEM into action, in helping them understand the important role of pollinators.”

In terms of accessibility, the centre will be near a bus and bike route, surrounded by pollinator gardens and walking trails.

“There are wetlands all around us. What is really key is that there are nearby sources of pollen throughout the year, so when trees are beginning to leaf in the spring, that is an important source for pollinators. Throughout the summer, natural and planted flower beds are important. So, when bees wake up from winter, will have access to pollen and access to the environment which is important for what they do,” Cranfield said.

Located adjacent to the arboretum, Cranfield said this will help create a flow of people between two functional areas of the university.

“Visitors from the arboretum can also discover what we do at the Honey Bee Research Centre,” Cranfield said.

“This is great in making sure that we are all working together to activate that part of the campus and further enhance how we can engage with the public around nature, around pollinators, and around what we are doing at the university to help support both.”

So far, the project has raised $13.38 million towards a $16.1-million goal.

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: New Honey Bee Research Centre creating a buzz at U of G – Guelph News (guelphtoday.com)

by BioMed Central

Managed honey bees. Credit: Bianca Ackermann, public domain

Urban honey bees could be used to gain insight into the microbiome of the cities in which they forage, which can potentially provide information on both hive and human health, reports a study published in Environmental Microbiome.

Cities are built for human habitation, but are also spaces that host a wide range of living species, and understanding this diverse landscape is important for urban planning and human health. However, sampling the microbial landscape in a manner to cover wide areas of a city can be labor-intensive.

Elizabeth Hénaff and colleagues investigated the potential of honey bees (Apis mellifera) to help gather samples of microorganisms across cities, as honey bees are known to forage daily up to one mile from their hives in urban environments. They sampled various materials from three hives in New York as part of a pilot study, and found diverse genetic information, including from environmental bacteria, in the debris accumulated at the bottom of the hives. Subsequent samples of hive debris in Sydney and Melbourne (Australia), Venice (Italy), and Tokyo (Japan) suggest that each location has a unique genetic signature as seen by honey bees.

In Venice, the genetic data was dominated by fungi related to wood rot and date palm DNA. In Melbourne, the sample was dominated by eucalyptus DNA, while the sample from Sydney showed little plant DNA but contained genetic data from a bacteria species that degrades rubber (Gordonia polyisoprenivorans). Tokyo samples included plant DNA from Lotus and wild soybean, as well as the soy sauce fermenting yeast Zygosaccharomyces rouxii. Additionally, the authors compiled genetic material from the hive debris for Rickettsia felis (“cat scratch fever”), a pathogen that is spread to humans via cat scratches. These findings indicate the potential of this as a surveillance method but are currently too preliminary to suggest that this is an effective method of monitoring human diseases.

The hive debris also contained bee-related microorganisms, likely coming from honey bee parts present in the debris. Based on 33 samples from the hives across the subsequent four cities, the authors found known bee microorganisms, whose presence indicate a healthy hive, and in some hives bee pathogens were detected, such as Paenibacillus larvae , Melissococcus plutonius, or the parasite Varroa destructor. The authors suggest these findings indicate that debris may additionally be used to assess the overall health of the hives.

The authors conclude that honey bee hive debris collected by honey bees provides a snapshot of the microbial landscape of urban environments and could be used alongside other measures to assess the microbial diversity and health of cities and honey bees in turn.

More information: Elizabeth Hénaff, Holobiont Urbanism: sampling urban beehives reveals cities’ metagenomes, Environmental Microbiome (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s40793-023-00467-z. www.biomedcentral.com/articles … 6/s40793-023-00467-z

Provided by BioMed Central

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The team is working towards picking up chemical cues in honey to tell the botanical sources of the sweet treat

Grad Assistant Taylor Mac, left, and professor Cory Emal test different types of honey using a variety of methods including taste and aroma.

While Michigan is well-known as a leader in craft brewing, its status as a vanguard in the production of mead—made from fermented honey—is becoming more visible. And like fancy chefs who want to know the origins of every ingredient in their signature dishes, mead-makers are increasingly interested in knowing everything about the honey they use, right down to which plants the bees visited on their daily rounds. Enter EMU chemistry professor and amateur mead-maker Cory Emal, Ph.D. (Emal is also the coordinator of EMU’s Fermentation Science program.)

Leading a team of colleagues and students, Emal is developing a new way to analyze the unique chemical “fingerprint” of honey varieties. The goal of the research is a fast and robust test that will yield a detailed history and provenance of the sweet syrup.

Currently, it can be hard to verify claims on a label and there have been documented instances of honey fraud. A specific variety of honey can be adulterated with other varietals or even with corn or rice syrup. In one case, bees harvesting from the New Zealand mānuka plant made 1,700 tons of honey, but more than 10,000 tons of mānuka honey were sold.

Our five senses can identify honey to a certain point. In Emal’s sensory analysis class, students learn to interpret the unique tastes and aromas that distinguish one honey from another. For instance, meadowfoam honey has a distinct vanilla flavor, while buckwheat honey can be malty or minty. Varieties also range in color from pale yellow to deep molasses.

Brewers and chefs have to trust their senses and the honey labels for reassurance they are getting what they want, but most differences are subtle enough to confuse even the most discriminating palette. The best alternative is a microscopic analysis of pollen grains, a process Emal calls “expensive and labor intensive.”

In a new approach, Emal and his colleagues use nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, to pull out subtle chemical differences in honey. An NMR machine works like a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, but “instead of looking at somebody’s knee, we’re looking at chemical molecules,” explains associate professor of chemistry Gregg Wilmes, Ph.D. “It’s probably the most powerful tool that we have to figure out the structure of molecules, especially organic molecules.”

A number of EMU students have been involved in the project. Undergraduates Alia Frederick, Aubrey Martin, and Maggie McCullough came up with the best sample preparation method and ran the initial data collection on the NMR. Grad student Justin Norris dug through the dizzying spectral data and figured out a good way to process the data. Norris also came up with an organizational method to sort data and start building the spectral honey variety library.

“Every molecule is going to have its own distinct pattern,” says Wilmes. “What we are trying to do is use this to figure out the patterns in honey.”

The team ran five honey varietals through the NMR looking for distinct patterns of peaks in the readout. On first look, the results looked very similar to those for the sugar molecules. “Where we see the differences is when we really zoom in,” says Emal. “Here’s where we can start to see the minor compounds. These are the things that are going to be that signature for the individual types of honey.”

To see if these smaller peaks could tell the difference, Emal and Wilmes enlisted the help of biology lecturer Maria Goodrich, who ran the results through statistical analysis to pull out the parts that best represent a certain honey variety. They found that the five honeys tended to group together by variety. Their work is in the early stages, but so far there seems to be a distinctive chemical fingerprint that can separate one honey from another.

Eventually, they would like to build a library of the chemical traits of honey. As they build their catalog, they hope to be able to tell whether bees visited an orange grove in California, Florida, or Panama. “Even from season to season, because we don’t know what effects climate change is going to have over the years on honey traits,” Emal says. “We want to be able to build a big enough library of trusted samples, so that we have a better idea of the provenance of the honey.”

Visit the EMU Department of Chemistry website to learn more about program offerings and research projects.

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: EMU researchers are chemically “fingerprinting” different varieties of honey – EMU Today (emich.edu)

Their results, reported recently in Scientific Reports, showed that organic and conventional management systems both increased winter survival by more than 180% compared to chemical-free management. Organic and conventional management also increased total honey production across three years by 118% and 102%, respectively. Organic and conventional management systems did not differ significantly in survival or honey production.

Beekeeper-collaborators and research volunteers collect data from honey bee hives as part of a study comparing different beekeeping management systems. Credit: Courtesy of Margarita López-Uribe. All Rights Reserved.

By Chuck Gill

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Honey bee colonies managed using organic methods were as healthy and productive as those managed in conventional systems, while avoiding the use of synthetic pesticides to control pests and pathogens inside the hive, according to newly published research led by Penn State entomologists.

The researchers said they believe that their study, which compared the performance of honey bees under three types of management systems, is the first to show that organic beekeeping management is sustainable and supports high honey-bee survival and honey production.

The methods beekeepers use to manage honey bee colonies are crucial in helping their bees overcome stressors such as pests, diseases, pesticide exposure and nutritional deficiencies, noted study lead author Robyn Underwood, apiculture educator for Penn State Extension.

“Beekeeping management is a key aspect of honey bee health because it can help mitigate some of the negative effects caused by these stressors,” Underwood said. “For example, supplemental feeding can mitigate a lack of flowering plants nearby for foraging, and beekeepers can manage pests such as Varroa mites with cultural, mechanical and chemical control practices.”

Despite these management tactics, 30% or more of honey bee colonies in the United States — including about 40% in Pennsylvania — die each winter, and beekeepers around the world continue to seek advice on best management practices to maintain healthy and productive bees.

Study co-author Margarita López-Uribe, associate professor of entomology and Lorenzo L. Langstroth Early Career Professor in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, pointed out that there has been little research conducted on organic beekeeping, primarily because of requirements that limit beekeepers’ ability to sell their products as certified organic.

“In addition, existing studies largely have looked at the effect of one or two aspects of management at a time,” she explained. “But in reality, risks and benefits occur in the context of numerous other management decisions involved in beekeeping. Studies like ours using a systems approach can help us better understand the long-term trade-offs among the various practices.”

To evaluate the effectiveness of various beekeeping approaches, the researchers studied nearly 300 honey bee colonies located on eight certified organic farms — six in Pennsylvania and two in West Virginia. The research team developed study protocols in collaboration with 30 experienced beekeepers

“We wanted to replicate what beekeepers were doing in their bee yards,” López-Uribe said. “It wasn’t scientists just telling beekeepers how to do things — it was beekeepers telling us how they do things, and then we collected data over multiple years comparing the different systems.”

Colonies in the longitudinal study were grouped under one of three broad beekeeping management systems based on different beekeeping philosophies:

— Conventional management, which is based on frequent intervention and application of any available chemical and nutritional supplement to keep colonies alive. This management system often is used by large-scale commercial beekeepers and incorporates the use of synthetic chemicals and antibiotics for pest and disease control.

— Organic management. This management system is based on intervention only as needed and excludes the application of synthetic chemicals or antibiotics. This system is common among small and medium-scale beekeepers and incorporates an integrated pest-management approach that combines cultural practices with organic-approved chemical treatments for pest control.

— Chemical-free management. Popular among hobbyists, this is characterized by the absence of chemical applications and the minimal frequency of interventions to the colony. This system relies strictly on cultural practices for pest control and the bees’ own defenses against pathogens.

The researchers monitored the colonies over a three-year period, recording overwintering survival and measuring honey production, parasite and pathogen abundance, and the expression of genes regulating immune function as a biomarker of honey bee health.

Their results, reported recently in Scientific Reports, showed that organic and conventional management systems both increased winter survival by more than 180% compared to chemical-free management. Organic and conventional management also increased total honey production across three years by 118% and 102%, respectively. Organic and conventional management systems did not differ significantly in survival or honey production.

For the complete article go to;

Organic beekeeping rivals conventional methods for bee health, productivity | Penn State University (psu.edu)

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: Organic beekeeping rivals conventional methods for bee health, productivity | Penn State University (psu.edu)

The BIP Annual Loss and Management Survey provides data that is important for fellow beekeepers, policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders to understand the snapshot of bee health today.

Completing surveys is an easy, anonymous way to contribute directly to honey bee health research!

Click Here to Take the Survey!

We continue to celebrate $10Million in funded research by highlighting the people behind the work! Project Apis m. has long funded ‘boots on the ground’ tech transfer for beekeepers across the U.S. with Bee Informed Partnership.

The tech transfer teams not only help beekeepers monitor colony health but they also provide trained hands for field research. Get to know some tech transfer team members and how they are helping assess hygienic testing methods in this short video!

Nathalie Steinhauer¹, Mikayla Wilson¹, Dan Aurell², Selina Bruckner² and Geoff Williams^2
1 Department of Entomology, University of Maryland
² Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University

Dear Beekeeper,

An important sign of spring is here: the Loss and Management Survey from the Bee Informed Partnership is live! We need your help to make this year’s survey the best one yet!

As you know, the survey helps us understand the challenges that beekeepers across the country face. This informs extension specialists, scientists, and policy makers about the issues that matter to beekeepers. By participating in the survey, you can help us gather data on colony conditions, management practices, and other important factors that affect the health, productivity, and survival of your bees. Our survey is a long-term effort: we have run the loss section of the survey since 2007. With each additional year of data collection, the dataset becomes more valuable.

How often did you inspect your colonies for pests and diseases?  Photo: Anne Marie Fauvel and Nelson Wililams

The survey allows us to document the level of colony loss experienced by U.S. beekeepers. Comparing the present to the past allows us to see how colony loss improves (or remains high). We also use the survey to understand how management practices and other factors are correlated with colony loss. This epidemiological approach is also used in human health to identify habits that are associated with worse or better health. Just like in human health, this first level of investigation of risk factors paves the way for further investigations in the lab and in the field. Finally, we document trends in beekeeping itself: What management do beekeepers employ throughout the country? Why do beekeepers adopt certain practices and not others? The survey offers a quantitative measure of popular practices as well as beekeepers’ perception of issues.

Did you observe chalkbrood in your colonies? Photo: Rob Snyder

Starting in 2021, each year’s Management Survey now focuses on a specific theme which will reoccur based on a regular rotation schedule. By focusing on one topic each year, the survey is shorter and more focused! Last year, the survey focused on “Nutrition and Environment” and led to insights on how beekeepers perceive the impacts of unusual and extreme weather events (available in the 2023 proceedings of the American Bee Research Conference). This year, the focus is “Pest and Disease Management” and will provide valuable information about the impact of pests and pathogens, and what beekeepers are doing to manage these stressors.

Alcohol wash. What method, if any, did you use to measure Varroa mite infestation in your colonies? Photo: Anne Marie Fauvel and Cade Houston

Ready to Take the Survey?

To take the survey, head over to beeinformed.org. If you want to have a look at the questions beforehand, we have pdf previews that you can download and print. Once you are ready, follow the links to take the survey online!

All beekeepers who keep bees in the U.S. are invited to participate: From backyard hobbyists managing fewer than 50 colonies to large, multistate commercial operations with thousands of colonies. In previous years, about one in 10 U.S. beekeepers – and 14% of the nation’s estimated 2.6 million colonies – were represented in the survey. The more beekeepers spend a few minutes to participate, the more accurate and representative the data from the survey will be.

Thank you for your continued support, and we wish you a happy year of beekeeping!

You can help this effort by responding to the survey and sharing this announcement!

Go to beeinformed.org to get started!