2020 OBA Tech-Transfer Program Research Projects/Programs

The OBA-Tech Transfer Program has had another very active year. The support ongoing support from the OBA and beekeeping industry in Ontario is appreciated and crucial to the longevity of this program. Special acknowledgement needs to be giving to Ontario’s Local Beekeepers Associations for their ongoing support and involvement to provide resources and venues for TTP to deliver knowledge transfer to Ontario beekeepers.  

 

 

Melanie Kempers – Special Projects Administrator

Daniel Borges – Research technician

Kelsey Ducsharm – Research technician

Glenys Robinson - Research technician

Stephanie Otto - Research technician

 

 

The Ontario Resistant Honey Bee Selections (ORHBS) program is a long term program with the objective to incorporate and maintain pest and disease resistant characteristics in Ontario’s honey bee stock.  Hygienic behaviour is important for brood disease resistance within a colony. Each year, breeders select colonies to be tested for hygienic behaviour for breeding purposes. 

 

27 honey bee breeders participated in hygienic testing in 2020. The liquid nitrogen freeze kill method was used to screen 387 colonies. Colonies which ranked in Group 1 (>95% of killed brood cells removed) and Group 2 (>75-≤95% of killed brood cells removed) can be used as breeders to produce the next generation of honey bee stock.

 

You can read more about the ORHBS program and the benefits of hygienic testing here. 

 

 

 

At the time of hygienic behaviour testing, forager bees were collected from each potential breeder colony.  Varroa and tracheal mite infestation levels were determined and nosema spore levels analyzed as an indication of the health of the colonies. Monitoring the health of breeder colonies will ensure the quality of the bee stock produced in Ontario. 

 

Samples from 255 potential breeder colonies from 27 bee breeders have will be analysed for nosema and tracheal mite levels. 377 samples were examined for the presence of Varroa mites.

 

 

 

 

All hands-on workshops in 2020 were cancelled due to COVID-19. Only online workshops were permitted to run.

 

1.  Introductory Beekeeping Workshops (TTP

 

2.  IPM and Beekeeping Workshops (TTP)

 

 

 

Honey bee populations have been declining at an unprecedented rate. In the winter of 2013-2014, for example, more than 50% colony loss was reported in Ontario. Contributing to these alarming losses is Nosema ceranae, an emerging fungal pathogen of honey bees. Our group demonstrated that levels of N. ceranae in colonies in Ontario can exceed more than three times those of N. apis, which until recently was the cause of nosemosis in Ontario. We particularly found high N. ceranae infection levels in colonies used for pollination services compared to fixed apiaries. N. ceranae seems to have displaced N. apis in Ontario, likely, as shown by several studies, because it is more virulent and harmful to colonies than N. apis. Thus, it is critical to control this parasite. However, chemical control of N. ceranae is limited to a single antibiotic, fumagillin, which poses risks of pathogen resistance and honey contamination. Safer, alternative treatments are greatly needed. Using a large number of field colonies, we propose to test certain prebiotics and probiotics that our preliminary work has shown to be effective at reducing N. ceranae infections. We will also assess the value of these natural compounds in enhancing overall honey bee health.

 

START DATE: December 2016

END DATE: December 2019

FUNDING SOURCE: OMAFRA Emergency Management

 

 

 PROJECT TITLE: BeeCSI: ‘omic tools for assessing bee health

The BeeCSI project is a collaboration with Dr. Amro Zayed from York University and Dr. Leonard Foster from UBC, as well as a number of other researchers across the country. This project aims to use genomic tools to develop a new health assessment and diagnosis platform powered by stressor-specific markers. Working with beekeepers, industry technology-transfer teams, and diagnostic labs, in consultation with federal and provincial regulatory entities to ensure that the tools are implemented and accessible to the beekeeping industry by the end of the project.The Ontario tech team led two different parts of the project for the Ontario portion. One part was identifying markers associated with colony stress from different crop systems. Colonies used for pollination of or located in close proximity to high and lowbush blueberry, cranberry, apple, canola, soybean, and corn were sampled throughout the season to examine colony health parameters, and identify markers associated with stress. The corn portion of the project was done in Ontario. For this study, 40 TTP colonies were sampled in one yard in Guelph, before being divided up and moved to 10 different yards – 5 yards near corn (less than 500 m), and 5 yards far from corn (farther than 5 km). These colonies were then sampled and assessed two more times throughout the season.In addition to the crop system part of the project, TTP also led a pilot project aimed at examining the feasibility of beekeepers using BeeCSI diagnostic testing. The pilot project was only done in Ontario, and involved 20 beekeepers and a total of 50 colonies. These beekeepers and colonies were divided up among beekeepers who perform pollination services, commercial honey producers, and hobbyist or small-scale beekeepers. The colonies were sampled and assessed three times throughout the season, similar to the corn experiment, and samples will also be analysed for stress markers. In addition, participating beekeepers filled out detailed questionnaires, and will take part in focus group interviews to discuss their thoughts on the value of the diagnostic testing to their operation and management practices. The BeeCSI study will involve repeating the pilot project sampling in 2021, in order to continue to involve and engage the beekeeping industry that will hopefully benefit from this type of diagnostic testing.