The efficacy of the antimicrobial Fumagilin-B® against nosemosis was evaluated in both spring and autumn feeding treatments following label directions in seventy-two honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies across three apiaries in Nova Scotia, Canada. The seasonal trend of Nosema spp. spore loads was also tracked in these same colonies throughout a thirteen-month period (February 2018 – March 2019). We found the spring Fumagilin-B® treatment to be effective at significantly suppressing Nosema spp. spore levels below the recommended treatment threshold. There was no effect of Fumagilin-B® treatment in the autumn based on low spore levels at this time. We detected a drastic increase in Nosema spp. spore loads as May progressed but a decline in spores in summer (June–September). By October, there was another increase in spore levels, but this increase did not exceed the economic treatment threshold. Across seventeen collection periods in both control and Fumagilin-B® colonies, 74% (25) of samples tested positive for Nosema ceranae, while 26% (9) contained no Nosema spp. spores. No Nosema apis spores were detected during this trial. Our results indicate that Fumagilin-B® is an effective management practice in the spring, but colonies should still be monitored in the autumn. Our data also support that the Nosema species profile is shifting to be exclusively N. ceranae and the treatment threshold for Fumagilin-B® may need to be updated to reflect this, as the threshold was originally developed for N. apis.
The decline in managed honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colony health worldwide has had a significant impact on the beekeeping industry. To mitigate colony losses, beekeepers in Canada and around the world introduce queens into replacement colonies; however, Canada’s short queen rearing season has historically limited the production of early season queens. As a result, Canadian beekeepers rely on the importation of foreign bees, particularly queens from warmer climates. Importing a large proportion of (often mal-adapted) queens each year creates a dependency on foreign bee sources, putting beekeeping, and pollination sectors at risk in the event of border closures, transportation issues, and other restrictions as is currently happening due to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Although traditional Canadian queen production is unable to fully meet early season demand, increasing domestic queen production to meet mid- and later season demand would reduce Canada’s dependency. As well, on-going studies exploring the potential for overwintering queens in Canada may offer a strategy to have early season domestic queens available. Increasing the local supply of queens could provide Canadian beekeepers, farmers, and consumers with a greater level of agricultural stability and food security. Our study is the first rigorous analysis of the economic feasibility of queen production. We present the costs of queen production for three Canadian operations over two years. Our results show that it can be profitable for a beekeeping operation in Canada to produce queen cells and mated queens and could be one viable strategy to increase the sustainability of the beekeeping industry.
Fluctuating bee (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) populations jeopardise pollination services. Nesting habitat for solitary bees is potentially limited in many agroecosystems, but the provision of artificial nests could augment bee communities and the pollination services they provide. We investigated whether cavity-nesting bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton (Ericaceae)) fields would use artificial trap nests. Different nest designs were compared, as was nesting occupancy between fruit-bearing and vegetative fields. Milk carton nests had significantly more uptake by and emergence of Osmia Panzer and Megachile Latreille than wooden nests. Only 3% of wooden nests had at least one occupied nesting tube versus 73% of milk carton nests, with a total of 34% nesting tubes occupied. Bee emergence was significantly higher in nesting tubes from fruit-bearing fields than vegetative fields. Osmia and Megachile emergence was low from milk carton nests, with bees emerging from less than 10% of occupied nesting tubes, in large part due to parasitism. Overturned clay lids were tested as potential nesting sites for Osmia inermis Zetterstedt, but only 3% of lids had nesting evidence. Our results suggest that certain artificial nests have potential for encouraging communities of cavity-nesting bees, but further study on nest design and handling protocols is needed.
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