Project Overview
Commodities
- Animals: bees
Practices
- Animal Production: genetics, livestock breeding
- Crop Production: beekeeping
- Education and Training: farmer to farmer, technical assistance, workshop
Proposal abstract:
Banking on the Future: Ensuring Honey Bee
Germplasm Deposits for the Future of Sustainable
Beekeeping is a grassroots project focused on the
need and objectives of collecting honey bee germplasm for
cryopreservation and for targeted breeding program interests of
the Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance (ABBA). ABBA is a
coast-to-coast network of queen bee producers and scientists
working collaboratively to share adaptive bee breeding
methodologies, practices, and research interests. In 2022, ABBA
received a WSARE Research to Grassroots grant called, ‘Building
Comb from Castle to Castle: Collaborations between Queen Breeders
& Researchers for supporting Adaptive Reproductive Practices.’
(SARE WRGR22-006).
In 2016, the National Animal Germplasm Program initiated
the American Honey Bee Germplasm Respository Program. The
collection of honey bee germplasm involves a nuanced protocol
that requires training and repeated practice. Collecting drone
(male) honey bee germplasm is a skill that few across the country
possess. Thus, very few contributions to the program have
occurred. Training the next generation of professionals to serve
as regional liaisons for facilitating collections and for
supporting the regenerative and sustainable nature of long-term
bee breeding needs is essential. Banking on the
Future: Ensuring Honey Bee Germplasm Deposits for the
Future of Sustainable Beekeeping, the proposed
project, will focus on training these agricultural
professionals to collect and deposit diverse honey bee germplasm
from California, Oregon, and New Mexico. In collaboration with
the National Animal Germplasm Program (Fort Collins, CO), leading
bee breeding researchers from Washington State University
(Pullman, WA) and USDA-ARS Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and
Physiology Research Lab (Baton Rouge, LA), and ABBA members, this
project serves as a cross-country adaptive and adoptable proof of
concept. As the pressure of pest, pathogen and climate
challenges increase, this project better supports beekeepers and
pollination services that American communities rely upon for food
production and security.
Project objectives from proposal:
Key collaborators Kirby, Topitzhofer, Roell, and Mahoney as a team will develop a model for effectively and efficiently collecting samples in the field and match them with mitochondrial DNA analysis and disease profiling. The germplasm collection team proposed in this project will have multiple opportunities to collect germplasm from producers in California, Oregon, and New Mexico. The hands-on experience and iterative practice to refine techniques will allow team members to reach mastery with this complex microscopic skill, and develop a how-to guide for replication across regions.
In addition to training the initial three agricultural professionals from the Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance, this project will produce one field guide with best practices, host two workshops for producers and agricultural service providers. This project will be successful when each of these objectives is implemented:
1. Use a peer-to-peer experiential learning model to train three professional beekeepers in germplasm collection by collecting 30 samples of germplasm from producers in California, Oregon and New Mexico over three seasons.
2. Cryopreserve each sample in collaboration with Washington State University and USDA-ARS Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research Lab: Baton Rouge, LA. Match each germplasm sample to adult drone samples using mitochondrial DNA analysis of drone slurry samples.
3. Develop a protocol for collecting drone carcasses for drone slurry sampling for DNA analysis and disease profiling. Create drone slurry samples that indicate the genotype and disease profile of each germplasm sample collected.
4. Evaluate the success of the germplasm collection team training by assessing the number of germplasm samples collected and preserved, the number paired for mitochondrial DNA analysis, the number of paired and drone slurry samples.
5. Develop a comprehensive guide to the importance of drone germplasm collection using how-to field guide, illustrated protocols for collection; host two experiential education workshops.