Honey bee hygienic behaviour does not incur a cost via removal of healthy brood

Bigio, Gianluigi; Toufailia, Hasan Al; Ratnieks, F. L. W.

doi:10.1111/jeb.12288

Cited by 19 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…4). This has a parallel to recent research on hygienic behaviour in the honey bee, A. mellifera , which also found that colonies that removed higher proportions of freeze-killed brood did not remove higher proportions of healthy brood (Bigio et al, 2014b). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…Hygienic behaviour is not learned, rather, it is an instinctive heritable trait controlled by multiple genetic loci (Jones and Rothenbuhler, 1964; Momot and Rothenbuhler, 1971; Rothenbuhler, 1964a,b; Wilson-Rich et al, 2009). Hygienic behaviour does not result in the excess removal of healthy brood (Bigio et al, 2014b) or reduce honey production (Spivak and Reuter, 1998b). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hygienic behaviour in Brazilian stingless bees

et al. 2016

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Social insects have many defence mechanisms against pests and pathogens. One of these is hygienic behaviour, which has been studied in detail in the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Hygienic honey bee workers remove dead and diseased larvae and pupae from sealed brood cells, thereby reducing disease transfer within the colony. Stingless bees, Meliponini, also rear broods in sealed cells. We investigated hygienic behaviour in three species of Brazilian stingless bees (Melipona scutellaris, Scaptotrigona depilis, Tetragonisca angustula) in response to freeze-killed brood. All three species had high mean levels of freeze-killed brood removal after 48 h ∼99% in M. scutellaris, 80% in S. depilis and 62% in T. angustula (N=8 colonies per species; three trials per colony). These levels are greater than in unselected honey bee populations, ∼46%. In S. depilis there was also considerable intercolony variation, ranging from 27% to 100% removal after 2 days. Interestingly, in the S. depilis colony with the slowest removal of freeze-killed brood, 15% of the adult bees emerging from their cells had shrivelled wings indicating a disease or disorder, which is as yet unidentified. Although the gross symptoms resembled the effects of deformed wing virus in the honey bee, this virus was not detected in the samples. When brood comb from the diseased colony was introduced to the other S. depilis colonies, there was a significant negative correlation between freeze-killed brood removal and the emergence of deformed worker bees (P=0.001), and a positive correlation with the cleaning out of brood cells (P=0.0008). This shows that the more hygienic colonies were detecting and removing unhealthy brood prior to adult emergence. Our results indicate that hygienic behaviour may play an important role in colony health in stingless bees. The low levels of disease normally seen in stingless bees may be because they have effective mechanisms of disease management, not because they lack diseases.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hygienic behaviour in Brazilian stingless bees

et al. 2016

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“…This survey found that colonies headed by queens raised from hygienic queen mothers were 2.8 times more likely to be highly hygienic than colonies headed by queens without this type of selection supporting evidence that queen selection alone is sufficient to increase the frequency of this trait in Australian honey bee populations [34,36,37,38]. This may not be the case in populations with a lower frequency of drones originating from hygienic colonies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Hygienic behaviour selection via freeze-killed honey bee brood not associated with chalkbrood resistance in eastern Australia

Gerdts

Dewar²,

Simone-Finstrom

et al. 2018

Preprint

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35 Hygienic behaviour is a social immune response in honey bees shown to help 36 provide resistance to honey bee pests and diseases. A survey of hygienic behaviour 37 and brood diseases was conducted on 649 colonies in eastern Australia to initiate a 38 selective breeding program targeting disease resistance and provide a level of 39 resistance to Varroa (Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman and V. jacobsoni 40 Oudemans) mites should they become established in Australia. The test population 41 showed a remarkably high baseline level of hygienic behaviour with 17% of colonies 42 meeting or exceeding breeding selection thresholds. Colonies belonging to a 43 breeding program were 5.8 times more likely to be highly hygienic and colonies 44 headed by queens raised from hygienic queen mothers were 2.2 times more likely.45 Nectar availability (nectar yielding flowering plants within honey bee forage range) 46 influenced hygienic behaviour expression but was not a significant predictor of level 47 of hygienic behaviour. Surprisingly, hygienic behaviour was not a significant predictor 48 of the presence of infection of the honey bee brood disease chalkbrood 49 (Ascosphaera apis) and was not influential in predicting severity of chalkbrood the 50 infection in surveyed honey bee colonies. This study, along with reports from 51 commercial beekeepers that chalkbrood infection is on the rise, warrants a deeper 52 exploration of the host-pathogen relationship between Apis mellifera and 53 Ascosphaera apis in Australia. Introduction55 European honey bees (Apis mellifera), are an integral component of food security 56 worldwide. In Australia, honey bees provide essential pollination services for food 57 production, contributing directly to between $8.35 billion and $19.97 billion worth of 3 58 horticultural and agricultural production annually and produce between 20,000 and 59 30,000 tons of honey a year valued at $90 million [1]. Honey bee contribution to 60 Australian food security is only possible because of limited pest and disease 61 exposure as a direct consequence of the country's isolation. Although several major 62 brood diseases are endemic such as, American Foulbrood (Paenibacillus larvae) 63 European Foulbrood (Melissococcus pluton), and chalkbrood (Ascosphaera apis), 64 Australia remains the only country with a significant apicultural industry free of 65 Varroa mites (Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman and V. jacobsoni 66 Oudemans). 67 V. destructor is the foremost cause of honey bee colony losses globally [2,3], 68 impacting both pollination services and honey production. Varroa parasitism has 69 been shown to vector deadly viruses [4] while chemical treatments used to control 70 Varroa in honey bee hives can affect reproduction [5,6,7] and interact negatively with 71 other agricultural chemicals [8]. Furthermore, Varroa species have been shown to 72 develop resistance to acaricides [9,10] rendering the reliance on these chemicals 73 unsustainable in the long term. 74 Once established, the mite will have devas...

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“…for exercise, social) than waste removal, collection of sugar syrup or water, or hovering above the hive entrance for orientation (Capaldi and Dyer, 1999). Colony hygiene was similar to the hygiene of a healthy colony in a non-cage environment with the regular removal of dead bees and waste material from the hive box and defecation outside the hive box (Bigio et al, 2014;Uzunov et al, 2015). There was no evidence of pests on brood frames through the trial, nor disease after the first week.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

A new, practicable and economical cage design for experimental studies on small honey bee colonies

Sonter

Rader

Wilson

2019

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Bees are in decline globally as a result of multiple stressors including pests, pathogens and contaminants. The management of bees in enclosures can identify causes of decline under standardized conditions but the logistics of conducting effect studies in typical systems used across several colonies is complex and costly. This study details a practicable, new and economical cage system that effectively houses live honey bee colonies to investigate the impact of physical conditions, biological factors and environmental contaminants on honey bee health. The method has broad application for a range of effect studies concerning honey bee development, physiology, survival and population dynamics because it enables entire colonies, as opposed to individual workers, to be managed well in captivity.

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Honey bee hygienic behaviour does not incur a cost via removal of healthy brood

Cited by 19 publications

References 31 publications

Hygienic behaviour in Brazilian stingless bees

Hygienic behaviour in Brazilian stingless bees

Hygienic behaviour selection via freeze-killed honey bee brood not associated with chalkbrood resistance in eastern Australia

A new, practicable and economical cage design for experimental studies on small honey bee colonies

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