Project Number: 1275-21000-090-06
Project Type: Trust

Start Date: Nov 01, 2008
End Date: Sep 30, 2009

Objective:
We propose to the Honey Bee Technical Council two parallel projects for fiscal year 2009, one aimed at reducing the impacts of Nosema disease on bees and one aimed at developing new genetic markers for distinguishing Africanized from European honey bees (AHB, EHB). Honey bees face numerous disease agents, from viruses to mites and beetles, resulting in losses to beekeepers and the pollination industry in the tens of millions of dollars annually. Two associates of declining colonies are the microsporidian species Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. Both species infect honey bees, but through different means and with different outcomes. The impacts of N. apis have been studied for 100 years, and the impacts of this parasite on infected gut tissue as well as indirect effects on bee health are well known. Relatively little is known about N. ceranae although recent evidence indicates that this parasite invades the bodies of bees more completely than N. apis. Both Nosema species are widespread threats to bees, and we propose using controlled infections of individual bees, analyses of disease impacts on field colonies, and the improvement of genetic markers to track and limit the impacts of Nosema in migratory and stationery bee colonies.

Approach:
We propose to expose bees to Nosema spores in the laboratory, and then analyze how Nosema infections `take hold¿ and how they impact bee health either as single-species or two-species infections. In the field, we would continue analyses of declining and healthy bee colonies from Florida, focusing on Nosema loads in colonies arriving into the state from the Northeast (October) and prior to and after winter/spring movement to California for almond pollination. By surveying colonies prior to major migrations we hope to develop a predictive view of how Nosema affects the abilities of colonies to survive and fulfill pollination needs. While AHB have desirable traits in terms of disease resistance, perceived and actual risks to society from their tendency toward defensive behavior warrant regulation of their spread. We propose, in the next year, to develop an efficient genetic screen for AHB, EHB, and their hybrids, using genomic variants (single-nucleotide polymorphisms; SNP¿s) identified during the Honey Bee Genome Project. Better genetic distinction between AHB and EHB will help both for regulatory use and for future research on disentangling the desirable and undesirable traits found in AHB.