In an effort to protect and ultimately save the bees of Vermont – and the world – researchers at UVM participated in the National Honey Bee Survey (NHBS), a comprehensive look at colony health throughout apiaries in the United States. Organized by the University of Maryland, in conjunction with the Bee Informed Partnership, the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS), and the Apiary Inspectors of America, the NHBS takes an in-depth, epidemiological approach to document and track honey bee diseases, pests, and pathogens. Since starting in California and Hawaii in 2009, the NHBS acts as a warning sign for emerging invasive threats to US honey bee colony health.
Samantha Alger, a research assistant professor in the college of agriculture and life sciences’ department of plant and soil science, initiated Vermont’s participation in the NHBS in 2015.
“While I was a graduate student at UVM in 2015, I was studying viruses in bees, trying to look for data on what exists about viruses in honey bees,” Alger said. “I came across the NHBS and learned that Vermont had not participated in the survey yet, even though it had been running for quite some time.”
With the blessings NHBS organizers and state officials, Alger spearheaded Vermont’s involvement in the survey. She continues to manage the survey while overseeing the Vermont Bee Lab and teaching beekeeping at the UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center.
Alger holds a drone bee for inspection. Unlike the female worker bee, drones do not have stingers. (Photo by Joshua Defibaugh)
Each year, Alger collects and samples bees from 24 apiaries throughout the state. According to Brooke Decker, a pollinator health specialist and state apiculturist with Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, there are more than 1500 active apiaries with more than 11,000 colonies.
“We send samples to the laboratories in Maryland to get tested for a number of different pathogens and pests,” Alger said. “A subset of those apiaries are also tested for pesticide exposure.” Alger and her team also tests pollen and bee bread, a mixture of pollen and nectar or honey used as a main food source for honey bee workers and larvae.
Alger, her team, and the NHBS test for diseases, pests, and pathogens like varroa mites, a parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees. The mite physically attaches to the body of the bee and weakens it by sucking fat bodies, a form insect tissue. Varroa mite infestation can lead to more problems, namely RNA viruses like deformed wing virus, for which Alger and the NHBS also test.
“The varroa mite is currently the worst, most damaging pest that beekeeping has ever seen,” Alger said. Combined with a global decline in abundance and diversity of flowers and an onslaught of agricultural chemicals, the varroa is one of leading cause of bee colony collapse throughout the world. In 2021, Alger and her team recorded higher than average varroa levels in August, September, and October.
Beyond logging data on current threats to bees, the NHBS can also serve as a warning sign for new threats.
“Because the APHIS runs this survey, they’re looking to identify exotic pests that might come into the US that aren’t here yet, pests that would cause real, significant harm to the honey bees,” Alger said. “One of those pests is the Tropilaelaps mite. It hasn’t been found here, but the idea is that it’s been slowly spreading throughout the world, taking a similar path that the varroa took in the 80s and 90s.”
If the Tropilaelaps mite does show up, the APHIS could slow down the spread using its own survey data.
“If we had a detection of one of those exotic pests like Tropilaelaps, the APHIS could mobilize and try to isolate those areas as best they can and not allow bees to get imported or exported, to ensure that we could track down the source of those exotic pests,” Alger said.
But threats to bees aren’t always living. The NHBS also tracks pesticides in beeswax and bee bread. Beekeepers in Vermont have been particularly troubled by neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides coated on almost all corn and soybean seeds that are planted in Vermont. Due to the nature of how neonicotinoids are used (applied to seeds before the seeds are brought into the state) they are largely unregulated.
“Bees that are exposed to neonicotinoids experience an onslaught of negative impacts including reduced foraging abilities, memory loss, and weight loss,” Alger said. “Bees remember where they forage out in the landscape and where their hives are. They recognize landmarks like trees, rocks, and houses to find their way around.”
A beekeeping student inspects a beehive frame (Photo by Joshua Defibaugh)
The Vermont legislature passed a bill encouraging farmers to limit the use of neonicotinoids. H.626, which goes into effect July 1, requires the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets to adopt best management practices for farmers using seeds treated with neonicotinoids.
While the state develops those best practices, Algers and her team will continue to study the bees at the UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center to better understand the present and future of bees in Vermont.
Source: https://www.uvm.edu/news/ovpr/uvm-researcher-organizes-vermonts-participation-national-honey-bee-survey
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