Oh, Bee-Have! New Study Could Help Keep the Peace for Pollinators

A new University of Florida-led study has identified genetic characteristics relevant to the production and behavioral attributes of two nuisance western honey bee subspecies (Africanized and Cape). What was discovered could be used to help researchers and beekeepers better understand how certain traits, characteristics, and color impact behavior.

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For example, researchers found Cape bees to be significantly darker than Africanized bees. This dark coloring could be genetically correlated to their undesired behavior.

The first bee studied, “killer bee” or “Africanized honey bee,” known scientifically as A.m. scutellata, is a light-colored bee known for its territorial and defensive nature. This subspecies was taken from its native habitat in South Africa to Brazil in the 1950s. There, it hybridized with the European bee subspecies kept by Brazilian beekeepers, and then moved into the U.S.

A.m. scutellata are considered invasive bees and can take over colonies of managed honey bees, which can lower profits for beekeepers. They also are known for their heightened defensive behavior.

The second subspecies studied, the Cape honey bee, known scientifically as A.m. capensis, presents a number of problems for beekeepers. These bees are more docile but are more likely than African honey bees to take over hives. Cape bees are considered social parasites. Unlike other honey bee subspecies, Cape worker bees can clone themselves, producing female eggs without first mating. These clones can take over a hive.

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“More amazing than the Cape bee worker’s ability to clone itself is the rate at which it can take over other colonies,” says Jamie Ellis, UF/IFAS Professor and Director of the school’s honey bee lab and campus. “We are working to ensure these bees do not make their way to the U.S. because in most cases, when these bees take over a colony, the colony is doomed.”

To establish a basis for this study, researchers used data collected from South African bees from a previous USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service-funded study in 2013 and 2014.

“We found really interesting variations in the genes of these bees that can help explain why they look and behave differently,” says Laura Patterson Rosa, UF/IFAS graduate student and co-lead author of the study, which was recently published in the journal PLOS ONE. “There are a lot of implications to what we found. We have not yet been able to verify these new discoveries in additional populations, but if our findings stand the test of time, it could partially explain why we see behavioral changes, why they do not acknowledge the existence of queens of other subspecies and why they can clone themselves when other bees cannot.”

UF/IFAS acknowledges additional supporters of this research, which included USDA-APHIS and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services through the guidance of its Honey Bee Technical Council.

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