Regional patterns and climatic predictors of viruses in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies over time.

Honey bee viruses are serious pathogens that can cause poor colony health and productivity. We analyzed a multi-year longitudinal dataset of abundances of nine honey bee viruses (deformed wing virus A, deformed wing virus B, black queen cell virus, sacbrood virus, Lake Sinai virus, Kashmir bee virus, acute bee paralysis virus, chronic bee paralysis virus, and Israeli acute paralysis virus) in colonies located across Canada to describe broad trends in virus intensity and occurrence among regions and years. We also tested climatic variables (temperature, wind speed, and precipitation) as predictors in an effort to understand possible drivers underlying seasonal patterns in viral prevalence.

Accurate Detection of -Hybrids (Africanized Bees) Using a SNP-Based Diagnostic Assay.

Hybrid populations of Africanized honey bees (-hybrids), notable for their defensive behaviour, have spread rapidly throughout South and North America since their unintentional introduction. Although their migration has slowed, the large-scale trade and movement of honey bee queens and colonies raise concern over the accidental importation of -hybrids to previously unoccupied areas. Therefore, developing an accurate and robust assay to detect -hybrids is an important first step toward mitigating risk.

Identifying and modeling the impact of neonicotinoid exposure on honey bee colony profit.

Pollination by the European honey bee, Apis mellifera, is essential for the production of many crops, including highbush blueberries (Vaccinum corymbosum). To understand the impact of agrochemicals (specifically, neonicotinoids, a class of synthetic, neurotoxic insecticides) on these pollinators, we conducted a field study during the blueberry blooms of 2020 and 2021 in British Columbia (B.C.

Pollen foraging mediates exposure to dichotomous stressor syndromes in honey bees.

Recent declines in the health of honey bee colonies used for crop pollination pose a considerable threat to global food security. Foraging by honey bee workers represents the primary route of exposure to a plethora of toxins and pathogens known to affect bee health, but it remains unclear how foraging preferences impact colony-level patterns of stressor exposure. Resolving this knowledge gap is crucial for enhancing the health of honey bees and the agricultural systems that rely on them for pollination.

Higher prevalence of sacbrood virus in Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies after pollinating highbush blueberries.

Highbush blueberry pollination depends on managed honey bees (Apis mellifera) L. for adequate fruit sets; however, beekeepers have raised concerns about the poor health of colonies after pollinating this crop. Postulated causes include agrochemical exposure, nutritional deficits, and interactions with parasites and pathogens, particularly Melisococcus plutonius [(ex.

Honey bee stressor networks are complex and dependent on crop and region.

Honey bees play a major role in crop pollination but have experienced declining health throughout most of the globe. Despite decades of research on key honey bee stressors (e.g.

Post-invasion selection acts on standing genetic variation despite a severe founding bottleneck.

Invasive populations often have lower genetic diversity relative to the native-range populations from which they derive. Despite this, many biological invaders succeed in their new environments, in part due to rapid adaptation. Therefore, the role of genetic bottlenecks in constraining the adaptation of invaders is debated.

Environmental metagenetics unveil novel plant-pollinator interactions.

Honey bees are efficient pollinators of flowering plants, aiding in the plant reproductive cycle and acting as vehicles for evolutionary processes. Their role as agents of selection and drivers of gene flow is instrumental to the structure of plant populations, but historically, our understanding of their influence has been limited to predominantly insect-dispersed flowering species. Recent metagenetic work has provided evidence that honey bees also forage on pollen from anemophilous species, suggesting that their role as vectors for transmission of plant genetic material is not confined to groups designated as entomophilous, and leading us to ask: could honey bees act as dispersal agents for non-flowering plant taxa? Using an extensive pollen metabarcoding dataset from Canada, we discovered that honey bees may serve as dispersal agents for an array of sporophytes (, , , , , ) and bryophytes (, , , ).

Validating a multi-locus metabarcoding approach for characterizing mixed-pollen samples.

Background: The mutualistic interaction between entomophilous plants and pollinators is fundamental to the structure of most terrestrial ecosystems. The sensitive nature of this relationship has been disrupted by anthropogenic modifications to natural landscapes, warranting development of new methods for exploring this trophic interaction. Characterizing the composition of pollen collected by pollinators, e.

Bees in the six: Determinants of bumblebee habitat quality in urban landscapes.

With growing urbanization, it is becoming increasingly important to design cities in a manner that sustains and enhances biodiversity and ecosystem services. Native bees are critical pollinators that have experienced substantive declines over the past several decades. These declines have captured the attention of the public, particularly urbanites, prompting a large interest in protecting pollinators and their habitats in cities across North America and Europe.

Thrice out of Asia and the adaptive radiation of the western honey bee.

The origin of the western honey bee has been intensely debated. Addressing this knowledge gap is essential for understanding the evolution and genetics of one of the world’s most important pollinators. By analyzing 251 genomes from 18 native subspecies, we found support for an Asian origin of honey bees with at least three expansions leading to African and European lineages.

The speciation continuum: population structure, gene flow, and maternal ancestry in the Simulium arcticum complex (Diptera: Simuliidae).

Comparative analyses of populations at different stages of divergence can yield insights into the process of speciation. We assess population structure, gene flow, and maternal ancestry at five locations containing sympatric members of the Simulium arcticum complex at different stages of chromosome divergence. We analyze both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers, including 11 microsatellite loci, as well as COI, COII, cytb, and ND4 gene sequences.

Good species behaving badly: Non-monophyly of black fly sibling species in the Simulium arcticum complex (Diptera: Simuliidae).

Mitochondrial based phylogenetic reconstructions often show deviations from species-level monophyly. We used the Simulium arcticum species complex (Diptera: Simuliidae) as a model system for interpreting non-monophyly in light of chromosomal data supporting species status of siblings. For cytogenetic identification of morphologically indistinguishable black fly sibling species, larvae must be preserved in Carnoy's solution, a fixative known to degrade DNA.