LE3 .A278 2010

2010

Shutler, Dave

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Biology

Biology

European honey bees ( Apis mellifera) live in closed colonies at high densities with genetically- related individuals ( mostly sisters) in constant high temperatures and humidity, making disease prevention a necessity. Undertakers are a specialist group of honey bee workers that remove dead bees from the hive ( necrophoresis), presumably to restrict the spread of pathogens. Nosema ceranae is an emerging fungal parasite of the European honey bee, and is a serious threat to hive health. The first objective of this study was to test if undertakers distinguished among corpses with different intensities of Nosema- infection. The second objective was to test if undertakers treated corpses consistently in consecutive removals from colonies. Dead bee traps ( 2 m x 1 m) were used to collect corpses that had been uniquely marked with paint or string. I recorded distances at which corpses were dropped from a hive ( drop distance), redeployed them in a second hive, and again recorded drop distances. N. ceranae infection intensity was quantified in recovered corpses. There was no significant correlation between drop distance and N. ceranae intensity. There was also no significant relationship between the initial and subsequent drop distance of corpses experimentally re- introduced to hives. These results suggest that necrophoresis is not pathogen- driven. However, observations suggest a new hypothesis that drop distance depends on how corpses are carried and whether they get tangled with undertakers. This could be investigated by studying how undertakers grasp corpses, how undertakers drop corpses, and how undertakers become tangled with corpses.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:689