Abstract
The western honey bee remains the most important pollinator for agricultural crops. Disease and stressors threaten honey bee populations and productivity during winter- and summertime, creating costs for beekeepers and negative impacts on agriculture. To combat diseases and improve overall bee health, researchers are constantly developing honey bee medicines using the tools of microbiology, molecular biology and chemistry. Below, we present a manifesto alongside standardized protocols that outline the development and a systematic approach to test natural products as ‘bee medicines’. These will be accomplished in both artificial rearing conditions and in colonies situated in the field. Output will be scored by gene expression data of host immunity, bee survivorship, reduction in pathogen titers, and more subjective merits of the compound in question. Natural products, some of which are already encountered by bees in the form of plant resins and nectar compounds, provide promising low-cost candidates for safe prophylaxis or treatment of bee diseases.
Highlights
The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the single most important managed pollinator of fruit and vegetable crops worldwide
Current registered synthetic products for honey bee health in the U.S include a variety of acaricides aimed at parasitic mites and antibiotics used in the U.S for the control of American and European Foulbrood, which are two highly infectious bacterial disease agents [14]
A key question in studies to combat diseases is ‘do reduced pathogen and parasite loads lead to improved honey bee health?’ We anticipate that natural products that significantly reduce viral or parasite loads will causally improve hive health
Summary
The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the single most important managed pollinator of fruit and vegetable crops worldwide. In the United States, honey bee pollination supports crops with a worth approaching $15 billion annually These include nuts like almonds, macadamia and other high-value nut crops; tree fruits like apples, cherries, oranges, peaches and grapefruit; berries like strawberries and blueberries; and row crops such as cucumbers, melons, pumpkins and cantaloupe. There has generally been a worldwide increase in the number of managed colonies, and beekeepers can compensate for losses by splitting surviving colonies or by purchasing honey bees [1]. Whether or not this is a long-term sustainable practice remains a concern. We examine key pathogens that are negatively associated with honey bee health, current ideas on treating or preventing these diseases and put forth ideas and protocols to discover and test honey bee medicines with the overarching goal to support honey bee populations
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