Sugar Water Is Not Honey: Making a better bee feed
Most honey bee colonies in the United States are fed sugar syrup during times of low nectar availability to help the hives survive and grow. Research labs around the country are uncovering the many ways that sugar syrup is deficient compared to bees’ natural diet: pollen, bee bread, nectar, and honey. For the last several years, the WSU bee team has been collaborating with Fungi Perfecti to investigate ways that fungi could be used to improve honey bee health. In this presentation I will discuss current findings about honey bee nutrition and how WSU is working to help create a fungal-based bee feed additive to supplement sugar syrup feeding.
Killing Varroa Mites with Pathogenic Fungi
Varroa mites have consistently evolved resistance to chemical miticides, and chemical miticides are frequently not entirely healthy for honey bee colonies. The WSU bee team is developing a strain of fungus that can infect and kill Varroa mites without harming honey bees. This strain grows quickly in the laboratory and survives well in bee hive temperatures. We are currently exploring optimal growth conditions for larger scale production and possible delivery methods for the easy treatment of hives.
Nick Naeger is an entomologist and geneticist who has been researching honey bees for over half his life. Before joining the WSU team, his doctoral work focused on the genetics of behavior where he documented how networks of genes in the honey bee brain turn on and off foraging or mating behavior. His current research seeks to find innovative ways to improve honey bee health. This includes using fungi to create better bee feed additives and using pathogenic fungi to kill Varroa mites. In the laboratory he uses genetic techniques to measure bee pathogen levels and to test the effect of treatments on the honey bee immune system.