Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: Cell and Molecular Biology
Session: 2
Room: Marriott Balcony A
Jada Smith - Central State University
The title of this research is called Investigating the Mite Biting Behavior in the Midwest Bee Colony. The central research problem is to find out which colonies of bees are mite biting colonies. The reason for this is to produce more mite biting bees so that the bees can get rid of the mites. It is important to have the mite biting colonies because we need the bees to be more defensive against the mites to decrease the cause of spreading viruses, and loss of bee colonies. If bees didn’t have defense mechanisms against mites, mites would be able to spread more viruses and kill off more bees. This is vital because honey bees are important to our ecosystem. They play an important role in agriculture as pollinators. We need our bees to pollinate to help produce our crops. Honey bees are the main reason our crops grow. Some research that was already completed was examining five different bee colonies from different locations. By examining the different bee colonies, we were able to identify which colonies were mite biting colonies. This research will allow us to have an increase in results, which could be added to the new research that will be performed. The research will be performed by collecting bees and observing their mandibles through a CT scanner. Viewing their mandibles will help determine the behavior of the bee in its defense mechanism. Next I will observe the varroa mites from different bee colonies to examine their damaged limbs and body. Determining how many damaged mites there are in a colony will determine whether the colony is a mite biting colony. It is expected to take about two and half months for this research from the beginning to the conclusion of this research. The expected cost for this project is about $400. Background and Significance Honey bees are highly important to our ecosystem. There are more honey bees than there are any other bees as pollinators. In order for our bees to pollinate, they have to transfer nectar and pollen from one plant to the other plants stigma. Honey bees are the main reason our crops grow. “The honey bee is a major pollinator of many of our food crops, almonds, apples, avocados, blueberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, sunflowers, watermelon and many other crops all rely on honey bees for pollination” (GreenDustries. 2010). Since wild bees have decreased, humans use honey bee colonies for pollination. Plants have evolved over time to be more attractive to the honey bees. The plants have specific scents and bright colors that attract the honey bees. Honey bee parasites including mites are high-risk to the bee colony. Varroa destructor as a major parasitic mite is one of the main reasons to cause colony losses. These mites play a vital role in honey bee colony decline which leads to less pollination. Mites can also transfer viruses from one bee to another, from one colony to another. Mites start off clear color, and as the mite grew, the mite will gain color. Mites come in different sizes between the female mite and the male mite. The female mite is bigger than the male mite. The female mites are 1.1mm long and 1.5 mm wide, when the male mite is .7 mm long and .5 mm wide. The female mite is darker in color than the male mite. The male mite is lighter in color. Pathogens include fungi, bacteria, and viruses. The most threatening pathogen is the parasitic mite Varroa destructor (Martin 2001). The Varroa mite infects the pre-pupa and pupa stages. Peter Rosenkranz described how “there are 2 distinct phases in the life cycle of the Varroa Female: phoretic phase on adult bees and reproductive phase within the sealed drone and worker brood cell”. He also described how males and nymphal stages of the mite are short lived and can be found within sealed brood cells (Rosenkranz.2010: 98). Zachary Huang explains how the varroa mite has a life cycle that it goes through when infecting the honey bees. 1. The adult bee with the varroa mite feeding on the hemolymph. 2. The mite enters the cell with larva of 5 days. 3. The mite moves underneath the larva into the bee food. 4. The mite feeds on the prepupa. 5. The Female lays first egg 60 hours after cell is capped. 6. The developing mite feeds on the bee damaging and leaving the bee exposed to pathogen. 7. The adult mites develop into adults. The female develops within 7-8 days, and the male mite develops within 5-6 days. 8. The mating of the mites begins within the cell. 9. The adult female leaves cell with emerging bee male and immature stages of mites stay in the cell. Lastly, stage 10, the mites transfer close contact between the bees (Huang. 2012). When a bee colony has too many mites, the colony has more of a chance to be killed off. Usually the mites are transmitted through its nutrients when the nursing bees feed them. The mite doesn’t die if it is able to move from one bee to the next, spreading on its virus.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): I would like to thank Dr Hli-Byarlay and Suzanne Marie. They have helped me through the entire process and answered any questions that I have had.
Faculty Advisor: Hongmei Hli-Byaarlay, hli-byarlay@centralstae.edu
Role: During Spring semester of 2018 I have collected a total of 216 mites. There were 71 total damaged mites. These results came form 5 different colonies that were collected from different locations. During Summer 2018, I collected a total of 933 mites, and it was found that 476 mites were damaged, which is a little more than half of the total mites. These results came from 39 different colonies from 4 different locations. Currently I am continuing to collect and record more varroa mites and bee mandibles. This Fall 2018, I have collected 8 pairs of bee mandibles to be scanned. Summer 2018, I collected 12 pairs of mandibles that were scanned through the Heliscan.; I would love to be considered for this opportunity to share my experiment. This experiment will answer many questions that people