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Funded Project |
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Funding Program:
Regional IPM Competitive Grants - Northeastern |
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Project Title:
Development and Implementation of Diagnostic Tools to Assess Bee Colony Health |
Project Directors (PDs):
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Lead State: MA Lead Organization: University of Massachusetts |
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Cooperating State(s):
Maine |
| Research Funding: $150,000 |
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Start Date: Jul-01-2008 End Date: Jun-30-2011 |
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Site/Commodity: blueberry, blueberries, cranberry, cranberries |
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Area of Emphasis: bees |
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Summary:
This research project is aimed at improving bee health in the Northeast region and focuses on bees in cranberry and blueberry, two of the most economically important crops in the region. The proposed work addresses priorities developed by the NE-IPM fruit working group http://www.northeastipm.org/work_fruipriority.cfm including studies of "Effective monitoring strategies for key pests in which techniques currently do not exist," and a focus on the extension priorities "Education regarding monitoring techniques, etc." and "Education for growers to recognize new and/or emerging pests and associated damage." We plan to produce assay tools to identify and monitor current and emerging diseases/parasitic mite pests of bee pollinators. Honey bees and bumble bees are the major pollinators of cranberries and blueberries. Since the level of production of these two small fruits is linked to the pollination of bees, factors that affect the health of bees in the region will untimely impact the commerce of both of these small fruits.
Objectives: The goal of this proposal is the improvement of bee health through: 1) Develop molecular monitoring methods to measure pathogen load (detection and quantitation of microbial pathogens) in native and commercially managed bumble bee and honey bee populations in the Northeast region. 2) Compare the microflora identified in Objective 1 to identify microbes that may be indicators of colony health. 3) Test for correlates of microfloral composition with colony exposure to insecticides, miticides and antibiotics as indicators of declining bee health. This information will provide a better understanding of factors affecting bee health and lead to recommendation of IPM practices that will aid in the maintenance of beneficial microbes in association with bees. The adoption of these practices will ultimately lead to the reduction in the use of chemical control agents and lower human health risks from exposure to these compounds. Proposal USDA CRIS data |
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Interim Report: Sep-11-2009 |
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Outcomes The planned research and latest results of our work was presented in the following talks. Update of UMass Bee Project at Massachusetts Beekeeper's Field Day, June 21st, 2008. Colony Collapse Disorder: Good News and Bad News at Franklin County Beekeepers Assoc., January 15th, 2009. Bee Viruses in Massachusetts at Spring Meeting of the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association. March 28th, 2009. A manuscript entitled "Presence and Prevalence of Viruses in Local and Migratory Honeybees (Apis mellifera) in Massachusetts" has been accepted for publication in the invertebrate microbiology section of Applied and Environmental Microbiology. |
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Impacts In the first year of this project we have completed a survey of viral pathogens in honey bee colonies in eastern Massachusetts. Beekeepers in the state are now aware of the fact that it is very likely that the bees in their hives are infected with at least two different viruses. The effect these two pathogens have on bee colony health and performance is no known at the present time, however continued work on this project will allow us to monitor colony health as well as, to determine the presence of other viruses into bee populations in the state. |
Report Appendices
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Interim Report: Sep-27-2010 |
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Outcomes The latest results of our work were presented to beekeepers in the state at the Massachusetts Beekeeper's Field Day, June 26, 2010 in South Deerfield MA, and at the MREC Pollinator Conference, Amherst, MA Oct 2009. Results from our laboratory research were presented at the 41st Annual meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology in Park City Utah, August, 2009. in 3 poster entiled: Presence and prevalence of viruses in local and migratory honeybees in Massachusetts, Molecular dectection of Noesma bombi and Crithidaia bombi in wild and commercial populations of bumble bees in the U.S., and Production of a full length cDNA clone and infectious transcripts of deformed wing virus. A manuscript entitled "Presence and Prevalence of Viruses in Local and Migratory Honeybees (Apis mellifera) in Massachusetts" has been publication in the Invertebrate Microbiology section of Applied and Environmental Microbiology. |
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Impacts In the first year of this project we have completed a survey of viral pathogens in honey bee colonies in eastern Massachusetts. Beekeepers in the state are now aware of the fact that it is very likely that the bees in their hives are infected with at least two different viruses, Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) and Blackened Queen Cell Virus (BQCV). Monitoring of hives on the U-Mass Campus indicated a rise in a third virus Sacbrood Virus (SBV) from less than 1% in Massachusetts bees collected in 2008 to almost 90% in Massachusetts bees collected in 2009. |
| Report Appendices |
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Final Report: |
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Outcomes The results of our work were presented to beekeepers in the state at the Franklin County Beekeepers Assoc., meeting January 15th, 2009, the Spring Meeting of the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association on March 28th, 2009 and at the MREC Pollinator Conference, Amherst, MA Oct 2009. We also discussed various aspects of our research on honey bees at the Massachusetts Beekeeper's Field Day in South Deerfield MA, on June 21st, 2008, June 26, 2010 and June 25, 2011. Results from our laboratory research were presented at the 42st annual meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology in Park City Utah, August, 2009 in 3 poster entitled: Presence and prevalence of viruses in local and migratory honeybees in Massachusetts, Molecular detection of Noesma bombi and Crithidaia bombi in wild and commercial populations of bumble bees in the U.S., and Production of a full length cDNA clone and infectious transcripts of deformed wing virus. We presented our the results of some of our recent research at the 44th annual meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology in Halifax, Nova Scotia, August 2011 in two posters entitled:Detection of Honey Bee Virus Sequences in Native Bee Species from the Maine Blueberry Barrens, and Prevalence of Viral Sequences in Honey Bees from the UMass Apiary. A manuscript entitled Presence and Prevalence of Viruses in Local and Migratory Honeybees (Apis mellifera) in Massachusetts has been publication in the Invertebrate Microbiology section of Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Two additional manuscripts are currently in preparation. |
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Impacts In the first year of this project we have completed a survey of viral pathogens in honey bee colonies in eastern Massachusetts. Beekeepers in the state are now aware of the fact that it is very likely that the bees in their hives are infected with at least two different viruses, Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) and Blackened Queen Cell Virus (BQCV). A third virus, Sacbrood Virus (SBV) was found in less than 1% in Massachusetts bees collected in 2008. Monitoring of hives in the newly established U-Mass apiary over the past two years revealed that the level of all three of these varied dramatically in individual hives throughout the season ranging from between 60 or 80% to barely detectable levels. This wide range of virus prevalence is thought to due to the progression of viral infections and changes in host defenses as well as varying environmental conditions. Our survey of honey bees (Apis), bumble bees (Bombus) and other non-apis, non-bombus bee pollinators collected from different sites in the Maine blueberry barrens showed a positive correlation between the proximity of managed honey bee hives and the presence of the honeybee viruses BQCV, DWV and SBV, in bombus and non-apis, non-bombus bees. A comparison of the partial genome sequence of DWV recovered from different bee species collect at one site suggested that this virus is shared among these different bees. The implication of this result honey bees may serve as sources of viruses that can move into native bee populations possibly having an impact and ultimately contributing to the decline in these native bees. As well, infected non-apis bees could also serve as a source of virus acquired by honey bees brought into a location for pollination services. |
| Report Appendices |
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