Admixture in Africanized honey bees (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) from Panamá to San Diego, California (U.S.A.)

Zárate, Daniela; Lima, Thiago G.; Poole, Jude D; Calfee, Erin; Burton, Ronald S.; Kohn, Joshua R.

doi:10.1002/ece3.8580

Cited by 9 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 78 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The lower amount of African ancestry (~ 40%) reported in the scutellata -hybrids of Southern California, approximately half the amount as that measured in Mexico and South America 43 , 49 , 58 , 64 could explain the reduced hybrid defensiveness that we observed. However, F1 hybrids from the crossing of scutellata -hybrids of high African ancestry and EHB colonies in Mexico exhibited levels of defensive behavior similar to that seen in the parental scutellata -hybrid strain 18 – 25 , 24 .…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 52%

“…In contrast, feral honey bee colonies (ECR apiary) were unmanaged and originated from feral swarms captured throughout San Diego County, likely to have ancestry admixed with A. m. scutellata ( 43 and see “ Results ” below). Feral colonies were not requeened nor treated for Varroa or any other diseases.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Honey bee defense behavior is also of interest because it influences management policies and practices. In regions such as Southern California, where scutellata -hybrids arrived in 1994 and now dominate the very large feral honey bee population, frequent requeening with European varieties is mandated to mitigate the genetically-based defensiveness of scutellata -hybrids 41 – 43 . While many beekeepers follow these practices, the extent to which such requeening maintains genetic purity and gentleness in an area with abundant scutellata -hybrids is unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Seasonal variation in defense behavior in European and scutellata-hybrid honey bees (Apis mellifera) in Southern California

Zarate,

Mukogawa,

Kohn

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nest defense in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a complex collective behavior modulated by various interacting social, environmental, and genetic factors. Scutellata-hybrid (“Africanized”) honey bees are usually considered to be far more defensive than European honey bees which are therefore preferred for commercial and hobbyist beekeeping. In the most recent zone of scutellata hybridization, the southern USA, the degree to which this defensiveness differs among current strains, and the extent to which defensiveness varies across a season has not been measured. We quantified the levels of A. m. scutellata ancestry in colonies and conducted a seasonal assessment (May through November) of colony nest defensiveness in feral scutellata-hybrid and a popular lineage of European honey bee commonly used in managed environments (sold as A. mellifera ligustica) hives at two apiaries in Southern California. Standard measures of defensiveness were low in both scutellata-hybrid and European colonies during May. Defensiveness increased during the later months of the study in scutellata-hybrid colonies. Most measures of defensiveness did not increase in managed colonies. Defensiveness in the scutellata-hybrids appears lower than what has been previously documented in Brazil and Mexico, possibly due to their lower proportion of A. m. scutellata ancestry.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 52%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Seasonal variation in defense behavior in European and scutellata-hybrid honey bees (Apis mellifera) in Southern California

Zarate,

Mukogawa,

Kohn

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The africanized honeybees are more aggressive and adapted to tropical climates than their European counterparts, which genes were common in bees of the first invasion. Recent molecular genetics studies indicate that, after the second invasion, most genes of honeybees from Panama, Costa Rica, and Mexico are of African origin, suggesting an adaptive advantage of those genes over the original European genes (Zárate et al, 2022). Studies of the impact of such invasions on native bees are needed.…”

Section: Exotic Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biophysical and Biocultural Upheavals in Mesoamerica, a Conservation Perspective: Mountains, Maize-Milpa, and Globalization

Castillo

2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Three upheavals shaped southern Mexico to Panama (SMP) biodiversity: 1. The Great American Interchange that allowed migrations between the Neotropical and the Nearctic biogeographic realms; 2. human colonization with the generation of Mesoamerican cultures; and 3. the Spaniards’ arrival and globalization.Tectonic events generated a narrow piece of land with steep topography and high environmental heterogeneity, demanding high levels of local adaptation. Habitat size is usually restricted and reduced by frequent disturbances. Topography imposes few options for individuals forced to displace. Thus, extinction risks should be unusually high. Humans initiated an ongoing defaunation process and introduced the maize and the milpa, an itinerant maize-based slash-and-burn polyculture, which depends on revegetation to re-establish soil fertility. Also, the milpa is a most important pre-Hispanic legacy, a biocultural and landrace reservoir actively affecting landscape configuration, succession, soil development, and the genetic architecture of the species. Unprecedented human epidemics and soil, biodiversity, and culture erosion followed behind the Spanish aftermath and the subsequent globalization. > 63 million people and ≈100 ethnic groups inhabit SMP in 2020, which, with the biota, share the same problems of climate change, disturbance, and acculturation. SMP has been the scenario of severe climate change, fastest and deadliest extinction events (amphibians), a most spectacular exotic-species invasion (Africanized honeybees), and accelerated deforestation, defaunation, and acculturation. Biocultural conflicts between native and non-native people are globalization byproducts and sources of habitat destruction and species decline. Bottom-up initiatives are likely the best option for conservation in indigenous areas, whereas honest (i.e., with truly conservation intentions) top-down initiatives are helpful if the affected people are considered subjects (no objects) of conservation plans. We suggest some unique areas requiring conservation attention and analyzed current conservation initiatives. Not a single initiative is best suited for all conservation needs in SMP. Protection of all successional stages is critical for resilience and revegetation. Conservation of the milpa system (crop fields and subsequent fallows) is an optimal option for minimizing tradeoffs between conservation and people needs and safeguarding traditional culture and local landraces but is limited to areas with indigenous people and may not work for species with large home ranges.

show abstract

“…It would be interesting to conduct some further and systematic sampling and analysis of these two major queen-producing regions to quantify the degree of genetic overlap. Moreover, our results suggest that there is fairly clear, if limited, genetic introgression of AHB alleles into commercial stock ( 57 – 60 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Meta-analysis of genetic diversity and intercolony relatedness among reproductives in commercial honey bee populations

Caren¹,

Delaney

2023

Front. Insect Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Honey bee colonies are large kin groups, each with a single mother queen and thousands of female workers. Queen bees are highly polyandrous, each mating with an average of approximately 12 drones from other colonies. We used a meta-analysis approach to compare the pedigree relationships of honey bee reproductives (queens and their mates) across five different studies and to quantify the overall genetic diversity of breeding populations. We compared the inferred genotypes of queens and their mates from microsatellite analyses of worker offspring from a feral Africanized honey bee population (which served as a negative control for inbreeding), an experimentally derived population of sister queens (which served as a positive control for inbreeding), and three separate commercially managed populations. We then compared the relatedness of all drones mated to each queen (mate-mate), all queens within each population (queen-queen), each queen with each of her mates (queen-mate), and all drones within each population (drone-drone). We found, as expected, the lowest levels of genetic similarity in the outcrossed population and highest levels of genetic similarity in the inbred population. Levels of genetic similarity among the managed honey bee populations were intermediate but closer to that of the inbred population. Genetic structuring of the entire breeding population resulted in two major subpopulations, likely deriving from breeders on the east and west coast. The effects that these findings have on the overall population genetic diversity of managed honey bees is discussed.

show abstract

Admixture in Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera) from Panamá to San Diego, California (U.S.A.)

Cited by 9 publications

References 78 publications

Seasonal variation in defense behavior in European and scutellata-hybrid honey bees (Apis mellifera) in Southern California

Seasonal variation in defense behavior in European and scutellata-hybrid honey bees (Apis mellifera) in Southern California

Biophysical and Biocultural Upheavals in Mesoamerica, a Conservation Perspective: Mountains, Maize-Milpa, and Globalization

Meta-analysis of genetic diversity and intercolony relatedness among reproductives in commercial honey bee populations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About