Viral diseases and honey bee queens
Among many environmental stressors, viruses pose a significant concern to compromise the queen’s health and reproductive vigor. Viruses have evolved numerous strategies to infect queens either via vertical transmission from the queens’ parents or horizontally through the workers and drones with which she is in contact during development while waiting in the reproductive period in the colony. Over 30 viruses have been discovered in honey bees, but only a few studies exist on the pathogenicity and direct impact of viruses on the queens’ phenotype. We study the interaction between viruses and honey bee queens by integrating field experiments, molecular techniques, and bioinformatic analysis. We are seeking to understand the mechanisms through which honey bee queens are affected by viruses and the subsequent reproductive consequences of post-viral infections. This line of research will help queen breeders and beekeepers to cut viral transmission routes and produce healthy queens.
Egg size plasticity and maternal effects in honey bees
In honey bee colonies, the queen is the sole reproductive individual. She needs to lay enough eggs to maintain colony size and vigor. The queen loads maternally encoded RNAs and proteins into the oocytes, serving as both genomic and nutritional factors. These elements play a crucial role in influencing the survivability, growth, and fitness of the embryo during the initial three days post-egg laying. Furthermore, they may continue to exert maternal effects throughout the progeny's life. Our results from several experiments indicate that egg size differs systematically among individual queens, genetic stocks, and colony conditions. Despite the effect of genetics, egg size is also determined by social factors to which queens are exposed. We are interested in understanding the causes and consequences of egg size on colony health and survivability when queens actively adjust their egg size in response to environmental stressors.
Trans-generational effects in honey bees
Trans-generational effects refer to the phenomenon of parental experiences leading to phenotypic variations in their progeny. Such effects could enable offspring to receive cues early during development, which modify their phenotype adaptively to better respond to their environment. In honey bees, biotic and abiotic can lead to trans-generational effects in different ways. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive knowledge of mechanisms, and the importance of such phenomena in honey bees should be investigated. We are interested in stepping up and elucidating the consequences of environmental effects that can expand to the next generation of honey bees.
Climate change and diseases in honey bees
Honey bee activities highly depend on the climate conditions. Rainfall, low temperatures, and high winds are all known to restrict honey bee foraging activities. In recent years, poor weather in spring and summer, when colonies are highly active, has been a challenge for beekeepers and possibly leads to increased pathogens in honey bee colonies and colony mortality. In collaboration with the Delta Agricultural Weather Center, we are conducting interdisciplinary research to understand the effect of weather and climate warming on the prevalence and expansion of pests and pathogens in honey bee colonies.