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One sultry August morning last year, UGA Ph.D. student Amanda Ellis stood knee-deep in sunflowers and Apis mellifera – or honey bees. Thousands of blossoms bobbed and wobbled their oversized heads. The yellow vision spread over six acres at the horticulture department’s farm headquarters on Hog Mountain Road, intended as bee food for nearly 75 hives humming on the perimeter.
Wearing protective gear, Ellis picked through the flowers, focused on the effects of a parasite she equates to a “honey bee tick.” Her work, the first of its kind, considered the specific effects of parasites on honey bees and plants.
By December, the field lay fallow and the golden vision seemed like a faded mirage. Students at the bee station expertly tended the hives to ensure they would survive the many threats nature posed for bees.
Ellis explains varroa mites are the beekeeping world’s biggest problem. “In fact, this mite has virtually domesticated honey bees in the United States. If we do not keep colonies and treat for this mite, the bees will die. This is why we have seen such a drastic reduction in feral bee colonies over the last 15 years. They are all dying because of varroa.”
Ellis’s research focuses upon two tiny mites, the tracheal and the varroa, each of which have steadily destroyed healthy hives over the past two decades. Reports say that over 80 percent of feral bees have been wiped out nationwide by parasites, reducing beekeepers’ hives by 25 percent each year. Thankfully, Ellis points out, UGA is on the leading edge of research with hopes to help engineer a better, more disease resilient bee.
The United States has no indigenous bee. What is commonly identified as a honey bee here in the United States is European – one of several classifications, or races, of honey bee. “The Italian honey bee is known to be a good producer and gentle,” she mentions. Russian bees are notably more mite resistant. Selective breeding programs further disease resistance among popular bee races such as the Italian.
Bees are bred for qualities that Ellis says increase their production and yet may select against traits that confer resistance. “The UGA bee lab has a major breeding program where they are trying to breed a better, more resistant bee. Once again, UGA is at the cutting edge of bee research,” she adds proudly.
“There are several groups throughout the country doing similar work in breeding resistant bees,” she said. “The special thing about UGA is that we are trying to combine multiple characteristics, such as resistance, honey production, gentleness, etc. In nature, production and health do not always go hand in hand. UGA is breeding for both. This is what is most novel.”
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Ph.D. student Amanda Ellis researches the effects of both varroa mites and small hive beetles on pollination. Varroa mites, Ellis says, are the beekeeping world's biggest problem. She warns that if we do not keep colonies and treat for this mite, the bees will die.
