Thermotolerance of Feral and Managed Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera) in Southern California

Thermotolerance of Feral and Managed Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera) in Southern California
Author: Anngely Leeds
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre:
ISBN:

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) provide pollination services for many crops globally, but extreme weather and changing temperatures due to climate change may threaten the health of this species. Although we know that honey bee survival can decrease due to thermal stress, we know less about how thermal stress affects feral honey bees given that they are potentially adapted to higher temperatures in certain climates. Our research investigated the effect of extreme heat and cold on feral and managed honey bees in San Diego County, California. In this region, managed honey bees are pure European Apis mellifera, while the majority of feral honey bees are genetically admixed with Apis mellifera scutellata, from Africa, which are thought to be limited in their range by cold and to be more tolerant of heat. We measured individual survival between feral and managed honey bees after exposure to incubator heat shock or cold shock, critical thermal maxima and minima, and chill coma recovery time. Feral bees had higher survival compared to managed bees following heat shock or cold shock, but they did not differ with respect to CTmax, CTmin, or chill coma recovery time, suggesting that the effects of temperature upon survival require some time to manifest. Thus, the range of scutellata hybrids may not be constrained by individual survival following cold exposure but by colony-level effects or broader environmental effects linked with colder climates. These hybrids are, however, evidently better adapted to warmer conditions compared to pure European honey bees.

Old World Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) Populations

Old World Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) Populations
Author: Megan Alana Taylor
Publisher:
Total Pages: 105
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN:

Based on microsatellite analysis, Old World honey bee subspecies (A. m. ligustica, A. m. carnica, and A. m. caucasica) had similar levels of overall allelic richness compared to U.S. commercial strains and New World feral populations. However, Old World subspecies contained almost half (47%) of all unique alleles found. The remainder were distributed among U.S. commercial strains (15%) and New World feral populations (38%). Unfortunately, because feral populations have been largely reduced due to the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, U.S. commercial queen producer strains are a more realistic predictor of current genetic diversity within the U.S. Results also indicated that there were significant losses in overall allelic richness through time (QP 2015 vs QP 2004 and QP 1994; p