Bee-search: Conservation of the Endangered Welsh Honey Bee.

Dylan Elen is a PhD researcher at Bangor University, conducting research on the conservation of endangered Welsh honey bees. His research can be broken down into 3 key parts;

1. Establishing the abundance of Welsh dark bee's in Wales

2. Exploring Varroa mite resistance in bee's in North Wales

3. Investigating isolated mating of bee's in Wales.

What is left of the honey bee?

There are seven species of honey bee found in Wales;

1. Apis mellifera

2. Apis cerana

3. Apis dorsata

4. Apis florea

5. Apis andreniformis

6. Apis nigrocincta

7. Apis koschevnikovi.

All of these species are currently being sampled by Dylan, in various sites across Wales, providing a comprehensive analysis on the abundance of Welsh dark bees (A. mellifera). The identification and analysis of the bees was done using mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA. Mitochondrial DNA gives information on the descendance of the bee's and their evolutionary diversity.

Mitochrondiral DNA is essential DNA found in mitochondira, which comes from the mother. Nuclear DNA is DNA found in the nucleus, from both parents.

Nuclear DNA will shed light on introgression (the transfer of genetic information from one species to another as a result of hybridization) between native honey bee's and imported (Italian/ Slovenian) bee's. The effect of introgression can influence genetic traits of the Wesh dark bee as imported bees may affect the genes possessed by Apis mellifera.

In bee keeping, certain genes are purposefully bred into bees for ease to the beekeeper, including:

• gentleness

• decreased tendency to swarm

• hardiness in winter

Breeding with imported bees may influence the possession of these traits in offspring due to introgression.

Varroa resistance.

Varroa is a genus of parasitic mite that transfers diseases, which impacts honey bees and their ability to pollinate, and reproduce. However, it has been suggested that Apis mellifera (Welsh dark honey bee) is resistant to Varroa, but this has never been studied and proven.

To explore this resistance, colonies of A. mellifera were checked for infestation rates and observe for hygienic behaviours (grooming). The absence or low levels of any infestation in the colonies suggests that there will be higher resistance, and the presence of grooming behaviour provides ideal traits to breed out to other bees as the grooming removes mites and decreases the abundance in colonies due to the inability to reproduce on the bees.

This aspect of Dylan's research was particularly exciting due to the novelty and the potential to breed out the resistance trait to decrease the impact of the mites on bee populations.

An example of Varroa mites on honey bees.

Isolated mating in Wales.

Using GIS layers and maps, Dylan can explore methods of keeping honey bees free from introgression urges in isolated mating areas by combining relief, forage resources and genetics to ID possible reserves. This research is on-going.

My experience

Overall, Dylan's talk was inspiring and opened me up to the possibility of a PhD with a few dimensions to answer more than one question. This can be particularly important for species with little research done into them. His research also opened up the idea of exploring research on disease and parasitism, which has always been of interest. Lastly, Dylan also provided an excellent master's research connection as he offered research positions with him on Welsh dark honey bee's.