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Honey Bees:! Pollination in a changing world! Southern California Forest Pest Council
22 October 2013
P. Kirk Visscher! Professor, Dept. of Entomology! University of California, Riverside!
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Adapted from
Robinson et al. 1989
Morse and Calderone 2000
Losey & Vaughan 2006
Bee-o Geography!
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Prehistory
History
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Isle of Wight 1904
Tracheal mites Acarapis woodi a microscopic mite
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• • • •
1904+ Isle of Wight disease
1921 Tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi) described
1922 USA regulates importation of live bees
1984 Tracheal mite entered US
History
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Varroa mites Varroa jacobsonii Varroa destructor a relatively large mite
Varroa mite, Varroa jacobsonii & V. destructor
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Varroa mite Introduction around the world
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Early 1960s
Japan, USSR
1960s-1970s
Eastern Europe
1971
Brazil
Late 1970s
South America
1977
Germany (perhaps from A. cerana introductions from
1971)
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
1980
1982
1984
1987
1987
1989
1992
2000
2006
2007
Poland
France
Switzerland, Spain, Italy
Portugal
USA
Canada
England
New Zealand (North Island)
New Zealand (South Island)
Hawaiian Islands
Varroa mite control materials:
Fluvalinate (Apistan®),
Coumaphos (Checkmite®),
Amitraz, (Miticur®, Apivar® off-label Tactik®
Fenpyroximate (Hivistan®)
Formic Acid,
powdered sugar,
Essential Oils (lemon, mint, thyme),
Mineral Oil
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900
$145
Bee rental, other crops
600
$120
500
$95
400
$70
300
Honey bee colony rental, $
Bee Rental, Almonds
700
$45
200
100
$20
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Colony loss survey (USDA)
40%
Winter Loss
% of colonies dying
CA Almond acreage, 1000's
$170
Almond Acreage
800
Full-year loss
30%
20%
10%
0%
2006-7
2007-8
2008-9
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
20012-13
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Colony Collapse Disorder
In collapsed colonies a. Rapid decline in adult bees, especially older bees, in colonies, •little build up of dead bees in the colonies or in front of those colonies. b. Queen is present c. Large amount of capped brood relative to adult bee numbers. d. The presence of food stores, both honey and bee bread i. which is not immediately robbed by other bees ii. when attacked by hive pests such as wax moth and small hive beetle, the attack is noticeably delayed.
May the 25th 2005
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After 18 months…
December the 8th 2006
December the 11th 2006
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Previous Reports
• 1896 (Howard)
• 1930 (Burnside)
• 1915 Disappearing Disease
– Self limiting as disease disappeared
• Other names
– May disease
– Spring dwindle, fall dwindle, autumn collapse
What potential causes are being investigated?
• Known and unknown pathogens; adult bees and brood
• Parasite load in the bees and brood
• Chemical contamination
– Beekeeper used pesticides - accumulation in wax
– Environmental contaminants - pesticides, particularly neonicitinoids
• Nutritional fitness of the adult bees
• Level of stress in adult bees as indicated by stress induced proteins
• Lack of genetic diversity and lineage of bees
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A new host record for Apocephalus borealis
Core et al. 2012 A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly Apocephalus. PLoS ONE 7(1): e29639.
Photo: Christopher Quock/ San Francisco State University)
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Colony collapse bandwagon
• • • • • •
Cell phones
GMO crops
Climate change
Crop monoculture
Gay marriage
Baggy pants
Diana L. Cox-Foster, Sean Conlan Edward C. Holmes, Gustavo Palacios, Jay D. Evans, Nancy A. Moran, Phenix-Lan Quan, Thomas Briese, Mady Hornig, David M. Geiser, Vince Martinson, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Abby L. Kalkstein, Andrew Drysdale, Jeffrey Hui, Junhui Zhai, Liwang Cui, Stephen K. Hutchison, Jan Fredrik Simons, Michael Egholm, Jeffery S. Pettis, W. Ian Lipkin.! 2007 SCIENCE 318: 283-287!
A Metagenomic Survey of Microbes in Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder!
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History
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Nosema apis
Nosema ceranae
A microsporidian,
reproducing in the bee gut
Nosema spores at 400X ! in hemocytometer!
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Neonicotinoids
Systemic insecticides absorbed by the plant.
Translocated by the plant, may be present, or even concentrated, in nectar and pollen, as well as leaves and stems.
acute oral LD50 = 0.0039μg a.i./bee
“Dead hives were remarkably empty except for stores of food and some pollen left, a resemblance of CCD”
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Neonicotinoids
Systemic insecticides absorbed by the plant.
Translocated by the plant, may be present, or even concentrated, in nectar and pollen, as well as leaves and stems
Beekeeper concerns led to banning of some uses of neonicotinoids in France, but the problems reported did not go away.
Recently, the EU has enacted restrictions.
Neonicotinoids
Systemic insecticides absorbed by the plant.
Translocated by the plant, may be present, or even concentrated, in nectar and pollen, as well as leaves and stems
Beekeeper concerns led to banning of some uses of neonicotinoids in France, but the problems reported did not go away.
Neither did efforts to ban the neonicotinoids
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History
1957-
1990
Spread of Africanized Honey Bee in the Americas
2011
AHB in CA
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Summary points
• Honey bees do the bulk of pollination of crop plants, particularly in areas of intensive agriculture.
• The number of managed honey bee colonies has declined in the US, and may continue to do so.
Summary points
• Many honey bee health problems trace to increased movement of bees and bee materials.
• This has also impacted new bee species brought under management (e.g, bumblebees), and probably will continue to do so.
• Reliance on a single species of pollinator has made crops vulnerable.
• Reliance on just a few species may not improve this situation dramatically, management should be for diversity.
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Summary points
• Honey bees have an unusually large native habitat range, which bodes well for their resilience to climate changes, but also contributes to a large number of diseases
• Feral honey bees still exist in most areas, and may be on the rebound.
• Africanized bees are thriving, and may provide genetic material for breeding for disease resistance.
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