Effect of Abscisic Acid (ABA) Combined with Two Different Beekeeping Nutritional Strategies to Confront Overwintering: Studies on Honey Bees' Population Dynamics and Nosemosis.

Nicolás Szawarski,Marcelino Justel,Enzo Domínguez,Pedro Solar,Agustín Saez,Pedro Negri,Alfredo Aliano,Lorenzo Lamattina,Martin Eguaras,Claudia Pons,Omar Garcia,Ignacio Bergara,Ángela De Matteis,Gabriel Carna,Aldo Bolognesi,Carlos Eciolaza,Rachel Dickson,Matías Maggi,Walter Garcia

doi:10.3390/insects10100329

Abstract

In temperate climates, beekeeping operations suffer colony losses and colony depopulation of Apis mellifera during overwintering, which are associated with biotic and abiotic stressors that impact bees’ health. In this work, we evaluate the impacts of abscisic acid (ABA) dietary supplementation on honey bee colonies kept in Langstroth hives. The effects of ABA were evaluated in combination with two different beekeeping nutritional strategies to confront overwintering: “honey management” and “syrup management”. Specifically, we evaluated strength parameters of honey bee colonies (adult bee and brood population) and the population dynamics of Nosema (prevalence and intensity) associated with both nutritional systems and ABA supplementation during the whole study (late autumn-winter-early spring). The entire experiment was designed and performed with a local group of beekeepers, “Azahares del sudeste”, who showed interest in answering problems associated with the management of honey bee colonies during the winter. The results indicated that the ABA supplementation had positive effects on the population dynamics of the A. mellifera colonies during overwintering and on the nosemosis at colony level (prevalence) in both nutritional strategies evaluated.

Highlights

IntroductionColony losses and colony depopulation of the European honey bee Apis mellifera have been reported for several years as a phenomenon in some regions of the world [5,6,7,8]
Pollinators play a key role in the functioning of ecosystems and the conservation of biodiversity [1].Bees comprise one of the main families of pollinators with wide distribution all over the world [2], including native bees and honey bees as the most important pollinators of crops and natural landscapes [3,4].Colony losses and colony depopulation of the European honey bee Apis mellifera have been reported for several years as a phenomenon in some regions of the world [5,6,7,8]
Our results indicated that abscisic acid (ABA) had positive effects on the population dynamics of overwintering A. mellifera colonies and on the prevalence of nosemosis at colony level in the two types of productive management evaluated

Summary

Introduction

Colony losses and colony depopulation of the European honey bee Apis mellifera have been reported for several years as a phenomenon in some regions of the world [5,6,7,8]. Insects 2019, 10, 329 colony losses have reached levels up to 50% [9]. These drastic declines could lead to the loss of pollination services generating significant negative effects that could affect the conservation of wild plant communities, crop production, and food safety [10]. Several factors have been identified as the main drivers of the loss and depopulation of bees

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion