Tuesday Colloquium11/13/18
Meddling with Nature: Bees, Mites and Man
Biology
University of Maryland, College Park
Born in 1981 in New York, USA
Studied Biology at Arizona State University
College for Life Sciences
Pollination is a key ecosystem service, but pollinators both native and introduced are in decline or impacted by serious health issues. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) provide critical pollination services valued at over $200 billion worldwide and $17 billion in the United States. The small towers of boxes sitting in long rows along the edges of crop rows are colonies commonly known as European honey bees, highly valued for their contribution to increased crop production and plant diversity through their pollination services.
Humans have had an intricate relationship with honey bees since before we had a written language as evidenced by cave paintings dating back over 8,000 years. According to a recent paper, "the ability to find and exploit beehives using stone tools may have been an innovation that allowed early Homo to nutritionally out-compete other species and may have provided critical energy to fuel the enlarging hominin brain."
Our close association with bees continues to the present day. Humans have played an integral role in the worldwide distribution of honey bees, which now exist on all continents except Antarctica. Due to human transportation, honey bees have moved far beyond their native borders, but globalization has also been hard on honey bee health. Our global trade has introduced honey bee parasites, pathogens and viruses over wide territories, often with devastating initial impacts on colony health.
The most destructive parasite to date has been Varroa destructor, aptly named as it typically leads to colony collapse unless managed. It switched hosts from the Asian honey bee A. cerana to A. mellifera in managed apiaries in Asia, where both types of honey bees were kept in a single location. This host switch most likely occurred sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s, but it wasn't until the 1960s that A. mellifera colonies were reported to collapse from this new parasite. The bees and parasites were transported into eastern Russia by enterprising beekeepers, possibly Russian soldiers returning home from Asia at the end of World War II. Honey bees from this region exhibit a degree of tolerance to varroa, as they have had the longest opportunity for co-evolution.
Another mite with a much faster reproductive rate has shifted from the giant honey bees (Apis dorsata, Apis laboriosa, and Apis breviligula) to A. mellifera in Asia, infiltrating colonies in both tropical and temperate zones. As this new mite could cause considerable economic injury globally, Tropilaelaps has been listed in the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) to prevent accidental introduction and establishment of this mite into new territories. Many scientists fear it is only a matter of time before it arrives on distant shores, due to ultrafast global transit.
My goal is to write a review paper with international collaborators as well as a popular book that turns a deadly parasite into a riveting subject. During my colloquium, I seek your help in formulating probing interview questions I should ask varroa experts. Please bring a pen or pencil.
Traynor, Kirsten S. (
2017)
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and bee age impact honey bee pathophysiology
Traynor, Kirsten S. (
Middletown, MD,
2015)
Simple smart beekeeping
Traynor, Kirsten S. (
Middletown, MD,
2011)
Two million blossoms : discovering the medicinal benefits of honey
Discovering the medicinal benefits of honey
Tuesday Colloquium11/13/18
Meddling with Nature: Bees, Mites and Man