Albert J. Robertson Meadow Ridge Enterprisessaskatraz.com/files/ABIC 2010 - Saskatoon.pdf · The...

The Importance of Apiculture, ABIC 2010

The Importance of Apiculture

Albert J. Robertson

Meadow Ridge Enterprises


Outline

Definition of apiculture

Importance of honey bees and apiculture practices

Honey bee health issues

The Saskatraz project


Apiculture

Apiculture is the management and study of domesticated honey bees (Apis Mellifera).

A critically important profession for secure and sustain the world’s food supply.


Responsible for 1/3 of the world’s food supply by pollination of more than 90-100 species of flowering plants (Greenleaf and Kremer, 2006, PNAS, 103: 13890)

Worldwide economic value to food production of 50-100 billion USD annually with little or no “carbon footprint” (Dr. Phippes, Apitrack website)

Indicators of the health of their surrounding ecosystem. Essential for the preservation and sustainability of wild species of flowering plants.

Used for prospecting and detecting land mines.

Importance of Honey bees and Apicultural Practices


Involved with collection of valuable hive products.

Honey

most “green” sweetener; more evidence of health benefits accumulating (Dr. Ron Fessenden, www.foodnavigator-usa.com) diabetes, weight loss, cognitive function, wound healing, chemotherapy induced neutropenia, cough suppression, antioxidant source.

Wax

Long chain aliphatic alcohol (30-32 C)

Cloned gene involved in bee wax synthesis from SAT-28. Prapanan Teerawanichpan, Albert J. Robertson, Xiao Qui, 2010, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 40; 641-

649.

Pollen, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom (apitherapy)

Apicultural Practices

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/




In the media since 2007, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Increased and continued decline in honey bee populations throughout the world is of serious concern.

Possible Causes:

Parasitic mites (Varroa Destructor) Apis cerana Apis mellifera

Pathogens (viruses and microsporidia) associated with the mites

Synthetic chemical miticide treatments Residues, mite resistance, decreased natural immunity and

suppression of the development of natural resistance to mites

Lack of genetic diversity in the managed bee population.

Compounded by poor apicultural practices and agricultural pesticide uses (nicotinoids)

Honey Bee Health Issues


Varroa Mites in Pupae


Scanning Electron Micrographs of Varroa Mite


Established in 2004 in collaboration with Saskatchewan and Manitoba queen breeders.

Involved assembling a large diverse gene pool at an isolated apiary called Saskatraz.

Aimed at using natural selection (no synthetic chemical miticides) to select for honey bee genotypes with tolerance to parasitic mites.

The Saskatraz ProjectSBA Honey Bee Breeding Program

The Saskatraz ProjectObjective: To develop productive, gentle honeybees with

tolerance to mites and brood diseasesBy: Albert J. Robertson

SBA Honeybee Breeding Program

Summer 2004-05


Letters A to G represent isolated apiaries and the year of establishment at Meadow Ridge. Solid arrows indicate genetically diverse gene (GD) flow into

Saskatraz, dashed arrows gene flow out of Saskatraz. (ii) denotes instrumental insemination. RC denotes recurrent selection. 1Denotes no chemical miticides.

Saskatraz Breeding Program Logistics

certified

Saskatraz“Natural Selection1 and Evaluation”

(2004-09)

AMeadow Ridge (MR)

Closed BreedingPopulation

(1992-2003)

BFive Isolated

Russian ApiariesBlue 40, Green, Purple 30Yellow (2001-05) at MR

EColonies selected (127) bySK beekeepers (34), MR (83)Over 6 years(representing selections from > 50,000 colonies)(2004-2009)

GSaskatraz satellite yardsat MR 2006-09(reselected elitebreeding lines forclosed populationmating and stock maintenance)

FCommercial QueenBreeders and Beekeepers(2005-2009)(4200 queen cells, 67 breeder queensdistributed between 2006-09)

CRussian/German hybrids (ii)

UM/German hybrids (ii)NWC crosses (open mated and ii)

(2006) Constructed at MR

DCanadian hygienic

Lines (TSQ)Crossed with

Russian and UM(2005) Constructed at MR

RC

certifiedRC

GD

GD

GD

GD


Saskatraz natural selection yard site fall 2006 – fenced.Selection for this Saskatraz yard site is a death sentence.


Primary Selection Criteria:

1. Honey Production2. Wintering Ability3. Mite Resistance and Suppression4. Resistance to Brood Diseases

(chalk brood, foul brood and virus susceptibility)

Breeding methods used to select and enrich for important traits (natural selection, back crossing, recurrent selection and progeny

analyses).


211

89

230

142

336370

299

371

204

252 250

152

344

103 108

374

112

302

189

330

376

442

254

0

100

200

300

400

500

85 108 109 88 112 110 111 113 116 114 115 118 119 120 117 121 96 122 123 124 126 125Mean

Ho

ney

, lb

s

Colony ID

Saskatraz Honey Production in 2009

1252

181

4970

540145 62 136 189 85 10

209 88 20218 11 48

544124 21 76

3482

237574

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

85 108 109 88 112 110 111 113 116 114 115 118 119 120 117 121 96 122 123 124 126 125Mean

Tota

l Var

roa

Dro

p

Colony ID

2009 Saskatraz Total Varroa Drop (Jul25- Nov.6 2009)


0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Mean

% H

on

ey P

rod

uct

ion

Year

Saskatraz Honey Production as a % of Provincial and Meadow Ridge Hive Production (2005-2009)

% of Prov.

% of MR


0

10000

20000

30000

40000

0 50 100 150 200

Cu

mu

lati

ve V

arro

a C

ou

nt

Days

Cumulative Varroa Mite Drop 2006

SAT 04

SAT 14

SAT 17

SAT 23

SAT 28

SAT 30

SAT 31

SAT 34

SAT 24

SAT 24

SAT 04

SAT 14SAT 30

SAT 17

SAT 31

SAT 28

SAT 34

(May 23) (July 12) (Sept. 2) (Oct. 20)


September 2006

These bees look good, but they are dying.


Colony (2004)

VirusMay

2005June 2005

July 2005

Aug. 2005

Sept. 2005

Oct. 2005

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

Aug. 2006

Sept. 2006

Oct. 2006

SAT 01DWVIAPVKBV

−−−

−−−

+−−

+−−

+−−

−−−

++−

+−−

+++

−++

+++

Dead

SAT 24DWVIAPVKBV

+−−

−

−

+−−

+−−

+−−

+−−

−−−

−−−

++−

Dead Dead Dead

SAT 28DWVIAPVKBV

+−−

−−−

+−−

−−−

+−−

++−

+−−

−−−

+++

−++

+++

SAT 30DWVIAPVKBV

−−−

+−−

+−−

+−−

+−−

−−−

−−−

−+−

−−−

+++

−++

−++

SAT 34DWVIAPVKBV

++−

+−−

++−

−−−

−−−

+++

−−−

−++

+++

−++

SaskatrazApiary

%T%V

0.33−

0.640.06

1.51.6

0.51

0.33.3

0.723.9

0.915

0.7532

Pandemic

Varroa (ND 2005-2006) Were Sampled From All Saskatraz Colonies To Monitor Virus Infection Status of the Varroa Population and Host Colony.

−

−

−

3

1

− − − −

−

−

3 1 7 2

− −

−

1 9

− 2 − − 3 4

− − − − − −

− −

−

1.2 7 1 9 31

− 1.3 − 17 3 33

− − − 12 46

− − 0.9 − 3 10 26 95

− 0.75 − 5 11 26


Progeny Analyses of Selected Breeders and Non-Selected Colonies

•Grooming Assays•Hygienic Behaviour (VSH phenotypes)•Morphometric Analyses•Molecular Marker Analyses•Selecting for variability in virus susceptibility


Grooming Assay

84f84a84c84h0

10

20

30

40

50

No

v. 5

No

v. 6

No

v. 7

No

v. 8

No

v. 1

0

No

v. 1

1

No

v. 1

4

No

v. 1

7

No

v. 2

2

No

v. 2

6

Cu

mu

lati

ve V

arro

a D

rop

Date

SAT - 84

84f 84a 84c 84h

65c65a65d65b0

510

15

20

25

30

35

40

No

v. 5

No

v. 6

No

v. 7

No

v. 8

No

v. 1

0

No

v. 1

1

No

v. 1

4

No

v. 1

7

No

v. 2

2

No

v. 2

6

Cu

mu

lati

ve V

arro

a D

rop

Date

SAT - 65

65c 65a 65d 65b


0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

84f 84c 84h 84a 84m 23b 23d 23c 23a 23m 34d 34g 34h 34i 34m

% V

arro

a M

ites

on

Ad

ult

Bee

s

Colony ID - m denotes mean

Winter Varroa Reproduction in Saskatraz Breeding Lines

04-Nov-08

09-Apr-09


Varroa Mite

Hygienic Behaviour Analyses


German (4)

Unknown

Canadian

Russian

New Zealand

A three dimensional plot showing the grouping of 5 different honeybee populations using 20 informative microsatellite markers.


Selecting for Variability in Virus Susceptibility ofSaskatraz Breeding Lines


Percent of brood cells infested with varroa at Saskatraz on Sept. 16, 2008.(Red bars indicate colonies showing virus infections)

Values plotted are mean, error bars are SE.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

SAT 63 SAT 65 SAT 84 SAT 85 SAT 86 SAT 87 SAT 88 SAT 90 SAT 91 SAT 93 SAT 94 SAT 96

% o

f B

roo

d C

ells

Infe

sted

Colony ID

% of Brood Cells Infested with Varroa at Saskatraz (Sept. 16, 2008)


Screening of Pre-Emergent Pupae From Varroa Tolerant and Sensitive Saskatraz Breeding Lines for IAPV using RT-PCR


Summary

Natural Selection coupled with effective breeding procedures show promise in improving the productivity, health and sustainability of the domesticated honey bee.

Positive selection pressure without the use of synthetic chemical miticides, should allow natural genetic processes to improve tolerance to mites and other pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi).

Apiculture practices should focus more on genetics, breeding and biotechnology to help obtain sustainability of honey bee populations.


Acknowledgements•Saskatchewan Agriculture (ADF), Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan (MB,

AB, BC and Yukon), Meadow Ridge Ent. Ltd., SBA and CBRF

•GenServe Labs (Dr. G. Brown, Bruce Mann, Dr. Yves Plante, Dale Kelly, and

Dr. Steven Creighton, SRC)

•VIDO (Dr. Philip Griebel and Wayne Connor)

•University of Saskatchewan Food and Bioproducts (Dr. Xiao Qiu and San Jei)

•Mohommad Mostejeran (Research associate 2008-present)

•Dr. Filipe Brizuela (Research associate summer 2008-09)

• Saskatchewan Bee Keeper Colony Donators & Contributors

• Dr. Abdullah Ibrahim (Research associate, summer 2007)

• John Pedersen – breeder stock multiplication and selection (2006)

• Eric Pedersen, Lyse Boisvert, Matthew Polinsky and Vika Cummins –

summer student (2005-2008)

• Family members & Meadow Ridge staff: Tom, Jenny, and Cecilia

Robertson, Neil Morrison, Rob Peace.

• Collaborators: John Gruszka (P.A.Sask) Dr. Solignac (Paris, France), Dr.

Ralph Buchler (Germany), Dr. Rob Currie (U of M), and Manitoba

Queen Breeders Association, Dr. S. Pernal (ACC, AB), Drs. T.

Rinderer, & R. Danka (Baton Rouge, LA), S. Cobey (Davis, CA), BC

Queen Breeders Association (T&E Huxter), Geoff Wilson (P.A. Sask).

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