Comparing an inexpensive cooking oil assay side by side with the Ubeeo assay to determine hygienic behavior

Commodities

• Animals: bees

Practices

• Crop Production: beekeeping

Honey bee colony losses in the USA continue to rise, driven largely by Varroa Destructor mites and the viruses they spread and the dependency on commercially produced mite-a-cides, that do not consitently control the varroa mite. Beekeepers urgently need practical, affordable, and reliable tools to identify and propagate hygienic, mite resistant colonies. while Ubeeo-a pheromone based rapid hygienic assay has shown promise for on-farm selection, its cost can be prohibitive. Beekeepers have started experimenting with simple cooking oils applied to capped brood cells to trigger hygenic behavior, however, no controlled research has been evaluated as to whether vegetable oil reliably induces hygienic behaviors, which application method performs best, or how oil based tests correlate with with Ubeeo in real world mite resistance.

This project will evaluate three vegetable oil application methods, thin brush-on film, micro-droplet application, and fine mist spray alongside the Ubeeo assay across 100 colonies distributed among 4 apiaries in Union County Ohio. All colonies will receive Ubeeo and oil-based assays twice per year, accompanied by alcohol wash mite counts and which colonies had to be treated for mites. Statistical comparisons will identify which oil method, if any, provides a reliable, repeatable, low cost alternative to detect hygenic behavior . The project will measure how well Ubeeo and oil-response scores predict mite levels, colony survival, and season performance. A simplified queen replacement plan will maintain research continuity but does not constitute a breeding focused project. The best 4 colonies each cycle will be used as breeding stock for maintaining the150 mating boxes as well as the mating yard support colonies. Twenty control colonies will not be re-queened or have treatment as a control. The remaining colonies will be managed for stability and treated for mites only if they reach a treatment threshold of 3 mites per one hundred bees . The results will provide beekeepers with clear guidance about whether oil based testing is scientifically valid, how it compares to Ubeeo and whether it can help detect mite resistance at minimal cost. If the oil assay is successful, we plan to provide a free downloadable guide for Oil Hygienic Testing .