LE3 .A278 2012

2012

Shutler, Dave

Acadia University

Master of Science

Masters

Biology

Biology

Honey bees face a range of challenges that in recent years have led to significant population declines and concomitant economic impacts for agriculture. Nosemosis is a fungal infection of honey bees caused by either Nosema apis, known in Western honey bees for some time, or recently detected N. ceranae. The putative greater virulence of N. ceranae has spurred interest in understanding how it differs from N. apis. Little is known of effects of N. apis or N. ceranae on honey bee learning and memory. Following a Pavlovian model, I assessed learning and memory of honey bees infected with N. apis, N. ceranae, both species, or no Nosema and I tested for differences in learning and memory relative to spore intensity. Within the co-infected treatment, learning was significantly better 14-days-post-infection than 7-day-post-infection. There were no effects of increased spore intensity on learning in other treatments. Memory was significantly reduced 14 days post-infection at higher spore intensities in co-infected bees but not in other treatments or in any 7 day post-infection treatments. Memory was reduced 14 days post-infection in N. apis and N. ceranae treatments versus controls. Honey bees rely on memory to recall profitable food sources and location of their colony, among other things. Reduced memory in Nosema infected bees could explain some of the colony losses observed in recent years.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:237