Project Overview
Commodities
- Animals: bees
Practices
- Animal Production: animal protection and health, parasite control
- Crop Production: pollinator health
- Education and Training: extension, workshop
- Pest Management: other
Proposal abstract:
Biomonitoring should be an essential cornerstone of commercial honey beekeeping practices (Apis mellifera), ensuring colonies remain healthy in pollination and honey production, and is a key component in the effort to prevent novel pest species from invading colonies (ex: Northern Giant Hornet, Yellow-legged hornet, Tropilaelaps species). Biomonitoring is done throughout the year in many ways (mite shakes, sticky cards, hive inspections, uncapping brood, etc.), however these methods are costly, time consuming, and are only performed on a fraction of colonies within one operation at a time. In addition, colonies in a single operation are often spread across hundreds of miles, making it strategically difficult to get an overview of an operation's health. During the winter, however, 30-40% of all US colonies are placed at indoor storage facilities, making it the only time of year when all colonies of a single operation are localized in a single controlled environment. This presents a novel opportunity to conduct extensive diagnostic testing on thousands of colonies at once via environmental DNA and RNA (eDNA/RNA). Our proposal is aimed at exploring and developing eDNA/RNA collection methods beginning with small scale storage containers starting in September of 2026 with the intent on deploying these methods in a large-scale commercial facility in November-December of 2026. We expect the detection of honey bee pest eDNA and are hopeful for the first detection of honey bee or honey bee viral eRNA. Results will be shared with commercial beekeepers within Western SARE jurisdiction to inspire further research and method deployment
Project objectives from proposal:
Research Objective 1: Determine what basic honey bee pest species and gut microbes (infectious and beneficial) are detectable in overwintering storage containers through the testing of 4 eDNA collection strategies from September 1, 2026 through October 31, 2026 .
Research Objective 2: Investigate the potential for detecting RNA of honey bee viruses from various environmental samples collected from overwintering storage containers from September 1, 2026 through October 31, 2026.
Research Objective 3: Deploy developed eDNA/eRNA methods in a commercial scale overwintering shed from November 1, 2026 through December 20, 2026.
Educational Objective 1: Beekeepers will be able to define eDNA/RNA and their applications in other agricultural industries for pest and pathogen monitoring and management.
Educational Objective 2: Beekeepers will identify the applications of eDNA/RNA in honey bee science.
Educational Objective 4: Honey bee (Apis mellifera) scientists will be able to identify key potential implementations of eDNA in overwintering storage facilities.