Browsing by Subject "honey bee"
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Item A comparison of honey bee-collected pollen from working agricultural lands using light microscopy and ITS metabarcoding(Oxford, 2017) Smart, M. D.; Cornman, R. S.; Iwanowicz, D. D.; McDermott-Kubeczko, M.; Pettis, J. S.; Spivak, M. S.; Otto, C.R.V.Taxonomic identification of pollen has historically been accomplished via light microscopy but requires specialized knowledge and reference collections, particularly when identification to lower taxonomic levels is necessary. Recently, next-generation sequencing technology has been used as a cost-effective alternative for identifying beecollected pollen; however, this novel approach has not been tested on a spatially or temporally robust number of pollen samples. Here, we compare pollen identification results derived from light microscopy and DNA sequencing techniques with samples collected from honey bee colonies embedded within a gradient of intensive agricultural landscapes in the Northern Great Plains throughout the 2010–2011 growing seasons. We demonstrate that at all taxonomic levels, DNA sequencing was able to discern a greater number of taxa, and was particularly useful for the identification of infrequently detected species. Importantly, substantial phenological overlap did occur for commonly detected taxa using either technique, suggesting that DNA sequencing is an appropriate, and enhancing, substitutive technique for accurately capturing the breadth of bee-collected species of pollen present across agricultural landscapes. We also show that honey bees located in high and low intensity agricultural settings forage on dissimilar plants, though with overlap of the most abundantly collected pollen taxa. We highlight practical applications of utilizing sequencing technology, including addressing ecological issues surrounding land use, climate change, importance of taxa relative to abundance, and evaluating the impact of conservation program habitat enhancement efforts.Item Effects of native prairie forbs on the foraging choices and recruitment behavior of honey bees (Apis mellifera)(2020-08) Carr-Markell, MorganRecent increases in honey bee colony mortality have prompted many organizations to plant flowers to improve bee nutrition. However, there remain questions about which flower species to plant and how best to plant them. Honey bees and many non-native species of flowering plants arrived in North America with European colonists. To help restore diverse native species, many organizations would like to increase plantings of native flowers. In the Upper Midwest region, multiple organizations are working to reconstruct tallgrass prairie habitats, including native prairie forb species. However, it was unknown whether those species would attract and benefit honey bees. To inform future bee-friendly prairie planting projects, I conducted studies examining honey bee foraging choices. In Chapter 1, I gave honey bee colonies access to large, reconstructed prairies and recorded their recruitment behaviors (decoding and mapping waggle dance communications). I found that honey bee foragers mainly danced to advertise non-prairie flower patches and non-native flowers as profitable pollen sources, but seven native prairie taxa were also advertised as profitable pollen sources. At one site colonies became significantly more likely to advertise nectar sources in prairies in August/September. In Chapter 2, I gave honey bee colonies access to reconstructed prairies and concentrated plantings of native prairie species to further explore how access to prairies affects colony diet breadth. That study showed major contributions of non-native pollen sources, but colonies collected native prairie and native non-prairie sources as well, especially at the end of the season in most sites. The taxa most frequently collected tend to grow in dense patches, suggesting that planting density may have a strong effect on honey bee recruitment. In Chapter 3, I tested a recently-published method for mapping honey bee waggle dances using data collected during the study presented in Chapter 1. In Chapter 4, I used that new method to examine how the density of flowers in a patch affects honey bee recruitment behavior. This approach was novel as previous studies on recruitment used point-source sugar feeders. While my first attempt did not reveal significant preferences for more dense patches of flowers, it did highlight lessons for future experiments that manipulate variables at the flower patch level to better understand the factors that drive honey bee recruitment. Overall, these results provide insights into which species are most likely to attract honey bees to bee-friendly plantings in the Upper Midwest.Item A national survey of managed honey bee 2013–2014 annual colony losses in the USA(2015) Lee, Kathleen V.; Steinhauer, Nathalie; Rennich, Karen; Wilson, Michael E.; Tarpy, David R.; Caron, Dewey M.; Rose, Robyn; Delaplane, Keith S.; Baylis, Kathy; Lengerich, Eugene J.; Pettis, Jeff; Skinner, John A.; Wilkes, James T.; Sagili, Ramesh; vanEngelsdorp, DennisHoney bee colony losses are a major concern in the USA and across the globe. Long-term data on losses are critical for putting yearly losses in context. US colony loss surveys have been conducted yearly since the winter of 2006–2007. Here, we report the results from the eighth annual survey on winter losses and the second annual survey of summer and annual losses. There were 7425 valid respondents (7123 backyard, 190 sideline, and 112 commercial beekeepers) managing 497,855 colonies, 19 % of the total US colonies. Total losses reported were 19.8 % [95 % CI 19.3–20.3 %] over the summer, 23.7 % [95 % CI 23.3–24.1 %] over the winter, and 34.1 % [95 % CI 33.6–34.6 %] for the whole year. Average losses were 15.1 % [95 % CI 14.5–15.7 %] over the summer, 44.8 % [95 % CI 43.9–45.7 %] over the winter, and 51.1 % [95 % CI 50.2–51.6 %] for the whole year. While total winter loss was one of the lowest reported in 8 years, 66 % of all beekeepers had higher losses than they deemed acceptable.Item The normal and pathological histology of the ventriculus of the honey bee, with special reference to infection with nosema apis(University of Minnesota. Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, 1923-07) Hertig, MarshallItem Sub-lethal effects of dietary neonicotinoid insecticide exposure on honey bee queen fecundity and colony development(2016) Wu-Smart, Judy; Spivak, MarlaMany factors can negatively affect honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) health including the pervasive use of systemic neonicotinoid insecticides. Through direct consumption of contaminated nectar and pollen from treated plants, neonicotinoids can affect foraging, learning, and memory in worker bees. Less well studied are the potential effects of neonicotinoids on queen bees, which may be exposed indirectly through trophallaxis, or food-sharing. To assess effects on queen productivity, small colonies of different sizes (1500, 3000, and 7000 bees) were fed imidacloprid (0, 10, 20, 50, and 100 ppb) in syrup for three weeks. We found adverse effects of imidacloprid on queens (egg-laying and locomotor activity), worker bees (foraging and hygienic activities), and colony development (brood production and pollen stores) in all treated colonies. Some effects were less evident as colony size increased, suggesting that larger colony populations may act as a buffer to pesticide exposure. This study is the first to show adverse effects of imidacloprid on queen bee fecundity and behavior and improves our understanding of how neonicotinoids may impair short-term colony functioning. These data indicate that risk-mitigation efforts should focus on reducing neonicotinoid exposure in the early spring when colonies are smallest and queens are most vulnerable to exposure.