A historical review of managed honey bee populations in Europe and the United States and the factors that may affect them

vanEngelsdorp, Dennis; Meixner, Marina D.

doi:10.1016/j.jip.2009.06.011

Cited by 958 publications

(764 citation statements)

References 112 publications

(137 reference statements)

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“…This is particularly important for organisms like the honeybee ( Apis mellifera L.), which, through the pollination service it provides, plays a critical role in ecosystem functioning and in food production for humanity. The honeybee is under pressure worldwide due to multiple factors, ranging from emergent parasites and pathogens, and the overuse of agrochemicals, to the less publicized introgressive hybridization mediated by human management (reviewed by Potts et al., 2010; van Engelsdorp & Meixner, 2010). In a global world, where the circulation of commercial queens and package honeybees occurs at a rapid pace, and at large scale, reliable tools for monitoring genetic diversity are becoming indispensable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, the genetic integrity of A. m. mellifera has been compromised by introgressive hybridization and, in some areas, it has even been replaced by subspecies of C‐lineage ancestry (Jensen, Palmer, Boomsma, & Pedersen, 2005; Pinto et al., 2014; Soland‐Reckeweg, Heckel, Neumann, Fluri, & Excoffier, 2009). Yet, maintaining locally adapted subspecies is crucial for the long‐term sustainability of A. mellifera (De la Rúa et al., 2013; van Engelsdorp & Meixner, 2010). Reciprocal translocation experiments have recently shown that local honeybees have longer survivorship (Büchler et al., 2014) and lower pathogen loads (Francis et al., 2014) than introduced ones, reinforcing the importance of preserving the genetic diversity of locally adapted subspecies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Developing reduced SNP assays from whole‐genome sequence data to estimate introgression in an organism with complex genetic patterns, the Iberian honeybee (Apis mellifera iberiensis)

Henriques

Parejo

Vignal

et al. 2018

Evolutionary Applications

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The most important managed pollinator, the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.), has been subject to a growing number of threats. In western Europe, one such threat is large‐scale introductions of commercial strains (C‐lineage ancestry), which is leading to introgressive hybridization and even the local extinction of native honeybee populations (M‐lineage ancestry). Here, we developed reduced assays of highly informative SNPs from 176 whole genomes to estimate C‐lineage introgression in the most diverse and evolutionarily complex subspecies in Europe, the Iberian honeybee (Apis mellifera iberiensis). We started by evaluating the effects of sample size and sampling a geographically restricted area on the number of highly informative SNPs. We demonstrated that a bias in the number of fixed SNPs (FST = 1) is introduced when the sample size is small (N ≤ 10) and when sampling only captures a small fraction of a population's genetic diversity. These results underscore the importance of having a representative sample when developing reliable reduced SNP assays for organisms with complex genetic patterns. We used a training data set to design four independent SNP assays selected from pairwise FST between the Iberian and C‐lineage honeybees. The designed assays, which were validated in holdout and simulated hybrid data sets, proved to be highly accurate and can be readily used for monitoring populations not only in the native range of A. m. iberiensis in Iberia but also in the introduced range in the Balearic islands, Macaronesia and South America, in a time‐ and cost‐effective manner. While our approach used the Iberian honeybee as model system, it has a high value in a wide range of scenarios for the monitoring and conservation of potentially hybridized domestic and wildlife populations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing reduced SNP assays from whole‐genome sequence data to estimate introgression in an organism with complex genetic patterns, the Iberian honeybee (Apis mellifera iberiensis)

Henriques

Parejo

Vignal

et al. 2018

Evolutionary Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…No single causative factor has been identified as responsible for global declines in honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) populations (Potts et al, 2010;vanEngelsdorp and Meixner, 2010;Vanbergen et al, 2013). However, there is general agreement that pesticides, whether acting alone or in combination with other stressors, are major threats to pollinators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resistance of developing honeybee larvae during chronic exposure to dietary nicotine

Human

Archer

Rand

et al. 2014

Journal of Insect Physiology

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The effects of pesticides on honeybee larvae are less understood than for adult bees, even though larvae are chronically exposed to pesticide residues that accumulate in comb and food stores in the hive. We investigated how exposure to a plant alkaloid, nicotine, affects survival, growth and body composition of honeybee larvae. Larvae of Apis mellifera scutellata were reared in vitro and fed throughout development on standard diets with nicotine included at concentrations from 0 to 1000 µg/100 g diet. Overall mortality across all nicotine treatments was low, averaging 9.8 % at the prepupal stage and 18.1 % at the whiteeyed pupal stage, but survival was significantly reduced by nicotine. The mass of prepupae and white-eyed pupae was not affected by nicotine. In terms of body composition, nicotine affected water content but did not influence either protein or lipid stores of white-eyed pupae.We attribute the absence of consistent negative effects of dietary nicotine to detoxification mechanisms in developing honeybees, which enable them to resist both natural and synthetic xenobiotics.

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“…To successfully survive in the wide range of habitats where they naturally occur, as a result of the natural evolutionary process, honey bees have developed into many different geographical subspecies and into a wide variation of ecotypes (Ruttner, 1988;Whitfield et al, 2006;De la Rúa et al, 2009;Le Conte and Navajas, 2008;Meixner et al, 2010). The honey bee sub-species are also described as 'geographic sub-species' since their distributions correspond to distinct geographic areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another important factor shown to contribute to colony decline is the extended use of pesticides in agricultural systems (Desneux et al, 2007;Frazier et al, 2008;van Engelsdorp et al, 2009;Chauzat et al, 2009;van Engelsdorp and Meixner, 2010), and socio-political aspects such as trade or economics (van Engelsdorp and Meixner, 2010). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of genetic origin and its interaction with environmental effects on the survival ofApis mellifera L.colonies in Europe

Büchler

Costa

Hatjina³

et al. 2014

Journal of Apicultural Research

170

122

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SummaryThe survival and performance of 597 honey bee colonies, representing five subspecies and 16 different genotypes, were comparatively studied in 20 apiaries across Europe. Started in October 2009, 15.7% of the colonies survived without any therapeutic treatment against diseases until spring 2012. The survival duration was strongly affected by environmental factors (apiary effects) and, to a lesser degree, by the genotypes and origin of queens. Varroa was identified as a main cause of losses (38.4%), followed by queen problems (16.9%) and Nosema infection (7.3%). On average, colonies with queens from local origin survived 83 days longer compared to non-local origins (p < 0.001).This result demonstrates strong genotype by environment interactions. Consequently, the conservation of bee diversity and the support of local breeding activities must be prioritised in order to prevent colony losses, to optimize a sustainable productivity and to enable a continuous adaptation to environmental changes.

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A historical review of managed honey bee populations in Europe and the United States and the factors that may affect them

Cited by 958 publications

References 112 publications

Developing reduced SNP assays from whole‐genome sequence data to estimate introgression in an organism with complex genetic patterns, the Iberian honeybee (Apis mellifera iberiensis)

Developing reduced SNP assays from whole‐genome sequence data to estimate introgression in an organism with complex genetic patterns, the Iberian honeybee (Apis mellifera iberiensis)

Resistance of developing honeybee larvae during chronic exposure to dietary nicotine

The influence of genetic origin and its interaction with environmental effects on the survival ofApis mellifera L.colonies in Europe

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