Managing Stress in Bee Colonies
Honey bees face pressures from parasites, pathogens, nutritional ‘gaps’ and chemical exposures. As an applied bee research laboratory, the USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory (Beltsville, MD) seeks management methods that beekeepers can use to avoid colony losses due to these threats. This talk will review current research at the BRL, including 1) efforts to reduce viral and parasite disease and fight Varroa mites, 2) efforts to look at chemicals stress and interactions between exposure and disease loads, and 3) explorations of new products for improving honey bee health.
Good and Bad Microbes
Honey bees are surrounded with microbes that benefit from their richness. Some are benign, some are damaging to bee health, and some are beneficial. I will review current thinking on the interactions among microbes and their collective impacts on honey bee queen, worker, and colony health. A second focus will be on the Bee Disease Diagnostic Service, a decades-old service used by regulators and beekeepers to determine causes of colony loss.
Jay Evans is Research Leader at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bee Research Lab in Beltsville, MD, where he has worked for 20 years. The BRL is focused on the development of management strategies to help honey bees thrive in the face of disease, chemical stress, and inadequate forage. Lab members are developing and testing new nutritional and anti-disease products, and are especially interested in how bees respond to multiple stress factors and the efforts beekeepers might use to help them through these challenges. Jay’s own research uses genetic techniques and controlled experiments to find new ways to reduce the impacts of parasites and pathogens. Current projects involve honey bee immunity, interactions among stress factors, and the development of novel, safe, controls for mites and viruses. Jay received his AB in Biology from Princeton University in 1988 and his PhD in Biology from the University of Utah in 1995.