The New Zealand experience of varroa invasion highlights research opportunities for Australia

Iwasaki, Jay M.; Barratt, B. I. P.; Lord, Janice M.; Mercer, Alison R.; Dickinson, Katharine J. M.

doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0679-z

Cited by 36 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…As a consequence, the situation in Australia becomes interesting from an evolutionary and risk assessment point of view (Iwasaki et al . ). In Australia, the population of honeybees are of European origin, and based on the estimates by Oldroyd et al .…”

Section: The Case Of the Western Honeybee A Melliferamentioning

confidence: 97%

“…As a consequence, the situation in Australia becomes interesting from an evolutionary and risk assessment point of view (Iwasaki et al 2015). In Australia, the population of honeybees are of European origin, and based on the estimates by Oldroyd et al (1997) of 40 colonies km À2 in a nature reserve, one would assume that the unmanaged feral population is significantly greater than the 500 000 registered colonies that are managed by bee-keepers.…”

Section: Pollinator Lossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It seems that A. cerana was island hopping from Java, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Australia, and more than 450 colonies have been detected in the far north Queensland between 2007 and 2011 (Hyatt 2012). Therefore, one of the parasites of A. cerana, the Varroa mite, which was absent from Australia until recently (Commerford & Koetz 2013;Koetz 2013;Iwasaki et al 2015), is most likely now present in Australia. There is now a threat that interactions between the invasive A. cerana colonies and feral honeybee colonies could result in disease and pest transmission, which would result in the elimination of the unmanaged population as in Europe and/or put the wild population through a genetic bottleneck such as that which occurred in North America (see fig.…”

Section: Pollinator Lossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Risks and benefits of the biological interface between managed and wild bee pollinators

2016

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Summary1. Increasing global human populations and climate change not only increase the demand for food but require it to be supplied in sustainable quantities. One crucial aspect for sustainability is to ensure pollinator services for crop production and ecosystem services. 2. The global distribution of universal bee pollinators and the different degrees of intensity of bee-keeping have resulted in a high variability of impacts. It is therefore essential to separate the different pollinator populations, in particular the cases of honeybees and bumblebees, into wild/feral and managed populations, which can and will interact. 3. Such interactions can be either beneficial or deleterious. A deleterious interaction between wild/feral colonies and the managed populations may result in disease and pest transmission. 4. However, a wild/feral population could easily buffer the effects of newly introduced pathogens increasing the resistance of the population as a whole. Varroa mites that caused the loss of the wild population of Apis mellifera in Europe have recently been established in South Africa. Studies of the mite's introduction into South Africa suggest that African honeybee populations are less affected by the mite and can deal with and survive parasite loads which would kill colonies in the Northern Hemisphere. 5. This observed resilience in Africa and Americas is most likely based on the interactions between wild and managed bees, since a large proportion of the total honeybee population is wild in these regions and therefore not influenced by humans. This allows the wild population to adapt to new parasites/pathogens, without human interference, with the large numbers of wild colonies ensuring that resilience is high. A high ratio of wild to managed colonies could also ensure that beneficial adaptations in the wild population filter through to the managed population. 6. Whether a similar situation prevails in bumblebees with wild and managed populations needs to be more carefully examined, particularly in the context of the global trade in colonies of these bees. Our current understanding of the interaction between wild/feral and managed populations suggests that transporting of species out of their endemic range should be done with great caution.

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Section: The Case Of the Western Honeybee A Melliferamentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Pollinator Lossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pollinator Lossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Risks and benefits of the biological interface between managed and wild bee pollinators

2016

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“…Due to colony and queen bee trade, V . destructor has spread to all continents with the exception of Australia [11]. The global invasion reached central Europe in the 1970s and the USA in the 1980s [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Construction and Rescue of a Molecular Clone of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV)

et al. 2016

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European honey bees are highly important in crop pollination, increasing the value of global agricultural production by billions of dollars. Current knowledge about virulence and pathogenicity of Deformed wing virus (DWV), a major factor in honey bee colony mortality, is limited. With this study, we close the gap between field research and laboratory investigations by establishing a complete in vitro model for DWV pathogenesis. Infectious DWV was rescued from a molecular clone of a DWV-A genome that induces DWV symptoms such as crippled wings and discoloration. The expression of DWV proteins, production of infectious virus progeny, and DWV host cell tropism could be confirmed using newly generated anti-DWV monoclonal antibodies. The recombinant RNA fulfills Koch’s postulates circumventing the need of virus isolation and propagation of pure virus cultures. In conclusion, we describe the development and application of a reverse genetics system for the study of DWV pathogenesis.

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“…Today, however, both managed and wild populations of honey bees in many regions of the world are experiencing population instability due to pathogens and pests such as the Varroa mite and its associated viruses, and other stressors (Potts et al 2010;Martin et al 2012). Even where honey bees populations are currently stable, the further spread of Varroa, and invasive competitors such as Apis cerana, poses risks for future population health (Koetz 2013;Iwasaki et al 2015). Native bees offer pollinator diversity and thus insurance against honey bee declines and may even be superior pollinators of some crops Garibaldi et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flight range of the Australian stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Smith

Heard²,

Beekman

et al. 2016

Austral Entomology

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Bees are key pollinators in both natural and agricultural environments throughout the world. Estimates of the typical distance from their nest that bees will fly to forage are useful when planning their deployment in commercial pollination or ecosystem management. Stingless bees (Meliponini) are social bees that live in colonies comprising a queen and many workers. They pollinate several key tropical crops and can be housed and transported in hives. Thus, there is increasing interest in their use as managed pollinators in regions where they occur naturally, including Australia. Here, we use a mark and release method to estimate the homing range of the most commonly propagated species of Australian stingless bee, Tetragonula carbonaria (Smith), where homing range serves as a proxy for foraging flight range. We find the typical and maximum homing range of T. carbonaria to be 333 and 712 m, respectively. This range is less than that of the most commonly used commercial pollinator, the honey bee Apis mellifera Linnaeus, which we argue confers both advantages and disadvantages on T. carbonaria as an alternative crop pollinator.

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The New Zealand experience of varroa invasion highlights research opportunities for Australia

Abstract: The Varroa mite (Varroa destructor)

Cited by 36 publications

References 49 publications

Risks and benefits of the biological interface between managed and wild bee pollinators

Risks and benefits of the biological interface between managed and wild bee pollinators

Construction and Rescue of a Molecular Clone of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV)

Flight range of the Australian stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

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