Project Number: 6413-21000-013-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Oct 01, 2008
End Date: Sep 30, 2013

Objective:
Objective 1: Identify and evaluate traits, genes, and markers associated with honey bee resistance to mites and pathogens, possibly including agents discovered to cause colony collapse disorder (CCD). Objective 2: Use traditional breeding and marker-assisted selection (MAS) to develop commercially desired honey bees (other than Russian bees, which are addressed in a sister project) with resistance to parasites (e.g., mites), depredators (e.g., small hive beetle), and diseases (e.g., fungi causing chalkbrood disease), possibly including agents discovered to cause CCD. Objective 3: Develop resistance-based integrated pest management (IPM) systems for management of pests in commercially desired honey bees (other than Russian bees), particularly systems useful for early spring build up.

Approach:
Description of Problem to be Solved - The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a vital and versatile pollinator of $15 billion worth of crops annually in the United States. Beginning in the 1980s, the parasitic mites Varroa destructor and Acarapis woodi have devastated U.S. beekeeping operations. These mites have driven production costs higher and reduced the number of commercial colonies available for pollination at a time when land use patterns, pesticides and monoculture concurrently increased the need for agricultural pollinators. In particular, varroa is recognized worldwide as the principal biological challenge to beekeeping. Managed honey bees rarely survive unless varroa infestations are treated with miticides. Yet because of issues of chemical contamination of hive products, treatment costs and the development of miticide-resistant varroa, the long-term solution to the problem is regarded to be breeding honey bees resistant to the mites. In addition to challenges from mites, other common beekeeping problems result from pathogens of various taxa and a newly introduced beetle pest, the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida), which attacks honey bee colonies and destroys bee products. Beginning in 2006, the situation worsened as a majority of colonies in some beekeeping operations died or became severely weakened due a syndrome of unknown cause, now called colony collapse disorder (CCD). These problems may warrant research into solutions based on genetic resistance.