Honey bees may be best known for making honey, but they also play a vital role in Canadian agriculture, acting as pollinators for important crops like hybrid canola, sunflowers and berries. Their work supports billions of dollars in agricultural production and economic activity each year.
The health of the Western honey bee (Apis Mellifera) is under threat from disease and many environmental stressors, including a rapidly changing climate.
Dr. Nuria Morfin, assistant professor in entomology in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, has been awarded a new Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant to study how the community of microbes interact with the honey bee to cause disease.
“It’s estimated that honey bee colonies contribute about $7 billion annually to the Canadian economy through pollinating important crops like hybrid canola,” says Morfin. “We need to better understand how stressors interact and affect honey bee health and productivity.”
Honey bee parasites with devastating effects
Since the 1990s, honey bee populations have faced substantial risks due to the introduction of the ectoparasite Varroa destructor (V. destructor). Winter losses in managed hives have increased, from a historically accepted 15% to upwards of 45% in recent years.
“The ectoparasitic mite V. destructor has been identified as one culprit contributing to honey bee losses,” says Morfin. “This parasite attaches itself to and feeds off the bee’s body. Unfortunately, this parasite can compromise the productivity and survival of bee colonies.”
When a parasite attaches to a bee it significantly weakens its immune system. This often leads to viral infections such as deformed wing virus. Until now, researchers have not concentrated on how V. destructor and the collective community of microbes present in honey bees (like bacteria, viruses and fungi) interact and cause disease.
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