Honey bee colonies provided with natural forage have lower pathogen loads and higher overwinter survival than those fed protein supplements

DeGrandi-Hoffman, Gloria; Chen, Yanping; Rivera, Raúl; Carroll, Mark J.; Chambers, Mona; Hidalgo, Geoffrey; Jong, Emily Watkins de

doi:10.1007/s13592-015-0386-6

Cited by 93 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In addition to quantity, diet quality is also very important. Diverse pollen sources help honey bees combat pathogens and parasites [20,21,22,23] and increase their ability to detoxify pesticides [24]. Colonies living in the temperate zone must respond to frequent changes in the species of blooming flowers from spring to fall [25,26] and may experience periods of dearth where temperatures remain high but few rewarding flowers bloom [27,28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do honey bee (Apis mellifera) foragers recruit their nestmates to native forbs in reconstructed prairie habitats?

et al. 2020

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Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies are valued for the pollination services that they provide. However, colony mortality has increased to unsustainable levels in some countries, including the United States. Landscape conversion to monocrop agriculture likely plays a role in this increased mortality by decreasing the food sources available to honey bees. Many land owners and organizations in the Upper Midwest region of the United States would like to restore/reconstruct native prairie habitats. With increasing public awareness of high bee mortality, many landowners and beekeepers have wondered whether these restored prairies could significantly improve honey bee colony nutrition. Conveniently, honey bees have a unique communication signal called a waggle dance, which indicates the locations of the flower patches that foragers perceive as highly profitable food sources. We used these communication signals to answer two main questions: First, is there any part of the season in which the foraging force of a honey bee colony will devote a large proportion of its recruitment efforts (waggle dances) to flower patches within prairies? Second, will honey bee foragers advertise specific taxa of native prairie flowers as profitable pollen sources? We decoded 1528 waggle dances in colonies located near two large, reconstructed prairies. We also collected pollen loads from a subset of waggle-dancing bees, which we then analyzed to determine the flower taxon advertised. Most dances advertised flower patches outside of reconstructed prairies, but the proportion of dances advertising nectar sources within prairies increased significantly in the late summer/fall at one site. Honey bees advertised seven native prairie taxa as profitable pollen sources, although the three most commonly advertised pollen taxa were non-native. Our results suggest that including certain native prairie flower taxa in reconstructed prairies may increase the chances that colonies will use those prairies as major food sources during the period of greatest colony growth and honey production.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do honey bee (Apis mellifera) foragers recruit their nestmates to native forbs in reconstructed prairie habitats?

et al. 2020

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“…One possible explanation may be related to a better nutritional source provided by subtropical climate as the pollen reserves in these colonies were significantly higher than in temperate colonies. As previously reported, nutritional status has an outstanding impact on colony health (Alaux et al ., ; Giacobino et al ., ; DeGrandi‐Hoffman et al ., ). When climate is included in the analysis, we found a less significant contribution of the autumn infestation level of Varroa mites to DWV amounts (Meixner et al ., ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Varroa destructor and viruses association in honey bee colonies under different climatic conditions

Giacobino

Molineri

Pacini

et al. 2016

Environ Microbiol Rep

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Honey bee colonies are threatened by multiple factors including complex interactions between environmental and diseases such as parasitic mites and viruses. We compared the presence of honeybeepathogenic viruses and Varroa infestation rate in four apiaries: commercial colonies that received treatment against Varroa and non-treated colonies that did not received any treatment for the last 4 years located in temperate and subtropical climate. In addition, we evaluated the effect of climate and Varroa treatment on deformed wing virus (DWV) amounts. In both climates, DWV was the most prevalent virus, being the only present virus in subtropical colonies. Moreover, colonies from subtropical climate also showed reduced DWV amounts and lower Varroa infestation rates than colonies from temperate climate. Nevertheless, non-treated colonies in both climate conditions are able to survive several years. Environment appears as a key factor interacting with local bee populations and influencing colony survival beyond Varroa and virus presence.

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“…Colonies fed with protein supplement have more Nosema (and BQCV) than when they were fed with pollen (from Brassica rapa; DeGrandi-Hoffman et al, 2015). Also, an increased probability of Nosema infection was evident in bees that consumed pollen with a higher fungicide load, an issue that should be taken into account in the future.…”

Section: Can Chronic N Ceranae Infection Break Colony Resilience?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nosema ceranae in Apis mellifera: a 12 years postdetection perspective

Martín-Hernández

Bartolomé

Chejanovsky

et al. 2018

Environmental Microbiology

150

118

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Nosema ceranae is a hot topic in honey bee health as reflected by numerous papers published every year. This review presents an update of the knowledge generated in the last 12 years in the field of N. ceranae research, addressing the routes of transmission, population structure and genetic diversity. This includes description of how the infection modifies the honey bee's metabolism, the immune response and other vital functions. The effects on individual honey bees will have a direct impact on the colony by leading to losses in the adult's population. The absence of clear clinical signs could keep the infection unnoticed by the beekeeper for long periods. The influence of the environmental conditions, beekeeping practices, bee genetics and the interaction with pesticides and other pathogens will have a direct influence on the prognosis of the disease. This review is approached from the point of view of the Mediterranean countries where the professional beekeeping has a high representation and where this pathogen is reported as an important threat.

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Honey bee colonies provided with natural forage have lower pathogen loads and higher overwinter survival than those fed protein supplements

Cited by 93 publications

References 43 publications

Do honey bee (Apis mellifera) foragers recruit their nestmates to native forbs in reconstructed prairie habitats?

Do honey bee (Apis mellifera) foragers recruit their nestmates to native forbs in reconstructed prairie habitats?

Varroa destructor and viruses association in honey bee colonies under different climatic conditions

Nosema ceranae in Apis mellifera: a 12 years postdetection perspective

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