Crop Pollination and Honey Bee Health

Good things happen when beekeepers, scientists and growers work together

Marion Ellis University of Nebraska Department of Entomology

Almond Growing Area of California

CA Almond Production (million lbs)

698

1,084
824

1,092 1,033

998

912

698

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004 2005

2006

Source: Almond Board of California

Almond Bearing Acres

Bearing Acres
600,000
510,000 580,000

500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000

327,000

411,000

248,000

169,936

91,000

1950

1960

1970

Source: California Agricultural Statistics Service

1980 1990 Year

2000

2006

U.S. Almond Production and Grower Prices

Pounds

1200 1000 800

Price

$/lb. 3.0 2.5

2.0 1.5 1.0

600 400
200
Production

0.5 0.0

0
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995

2000 2005 f

f = forecast Source: National Agriculture Statistics Service, USDA

Average Almond Pollination Fees, 1995-2006

Dollars Per Colony 140

120 100
80

60
40 20

0
1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

Year

Giannini Foundation

Pollination requirements Self incompatible Requires cross pollination

Not thinned
100% of flowers must be cross pollinated for good crop

Largest managed pollination event in the world

580,000 acres requiring bees 1.3 million colonies requires (2/acre) 2.4 million colonies in U.S. .5 million colonies in California .8 million colonies come from outside California

Acceptable colonies for pollination

8 frames of bees Frame - 1 standard deep frame, 2/3 to 3/4 covered with bees at 600F (15.60C)
800 inch2 (5200 cm2) of brood Bloom season is early Any colony not in top shape by Sept. 1 will be substandard

Pollination Practices (Almonds)

Bring in bees at first bloom or earlier Strong colonies more important than distribution

Usually dropped in groups of 16-32

Bee density recommendations average 2.5 colonies per acre

Remove promptly when done

Pollination Practices (Almonds)

Growers want bees in place from first blossom to last petal fall

Pesticide exposure is possible before bloom (dormant sprays) and after bloom (Egyptian alfalfa weevil, grape cutworm)

In and out dates are specified in contracts

Nutrition Issues

Poor foraging conditions prior to almond pollination

Almonds are a monoculture in the central valley

We do not have a nutritionally complete pollen substitute

Almond pollination and honey bee health

The spread of diseases and pests

1.2 million colonies moved into central valley of California

Colonies subsequently moved across the entire country

The spread of miticide resistant genes

Undermines resistance management

Almond pollination and honey bee health

The impact of pesticide exposure

Pesticides used to control crop pests Pesticides used to control bee pests
Frequency of treatment Residues, interactions,

Invasive species 1984-2007

Tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi) 1984

Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) 1987 Small hive beetle (Athenia tumida) 1998

Nosema ceranae 2002

Israeli acute paralysis virus (2007)

Deformed wing virus Israeli acute paralysis virus

Other bee viruses

The small hive beetle life cycle

Beetles fly into colonies

Eggs laid in protected places

Young beetles hatch after 3-4 weeks

Eating phase of larvae

Larvae leave hive to pupate in soil

Adapted from Otto Boecking, Ceile Germany 2005

Nosema ceranae

Microscopic examination is necessary for diagnosis Economic threshold is 10,000 spores per bee Phase contrast microscope and blood counting chamber are required for diagnosis

Pesticides and bee toxicity

Until 1985 focus on pesticides applied to crops and unintentional exposure of foraging bees In last 27 years pesticides have been intentionally put in beehives to control pests

Both the intentional and unintentional exposures have resulted in residues in beeswax

Losses from 1966-1985

Attributable to organochlorines, carbamates, organophosphates and pyrethroid compounds Most efforts to protect bees focused on restricting application during bloom
Residual products were never effectively addressed

Honey bee injury potential

Plant growth stage Relative toxicity of the chemical

Choice of formulation

Residual action

Honey bee injury potential

Drift
Temperature

Distance from treated fields Time of application

Formulation and Injury Potential

Microencapsulated products Dusts

Wettable powders Emulsifiable concentrates Solutions

Ultra low volume (ULV) Granular products

Pollinator protection What can applicators do?

Do not treat fields in bloom Do not allow spray to land on blooming weeds

Pollinator protection What can applicators do?

Choose short residual materials and low hazard formulations Avoid spray drift

Pesticides and bee toxicity

1985-2011 Genetically modified crops Neonicotinoids Phenylpyrazoles Miticides in beehives Pesticide residues in beeswax Fungicides applied during bloom

Neonicotinoids, phenylpyrazoles and bees

Low toxicity in single exposure bioasssays Multiple and prolonged exposures - systemic How to assess injury - acute mortality, immune system function, learning, navigation?

When drugs interact.

One plus one can = 17

Some examples of human drug interactions

Erythromycin with oral contraceptives (anything with estrogen) will render the contraceptive ineffective
Flagyl (giaridia treatment) and ethanol makes you nauseated and inhibits aldehyde dehydrogenase

Lipitor interacts with azole fungicides (Diflucan) used to treat yeast infections. The fungicide inhibits Lipitor metabolism causing the level of Lipitor to become too high leading to muscle breakdown

coumaphos

tau-fluvalinate amitraz

thymol

fenpyroximate

oxalic acid

Legacy drugs, pesticides and fungicides in brood nest wax

Frazier et al., 2008. American Bee Journal Mullin et al., 2010. PLoS ONE

A basic axiom of toxicology

"All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous Paracelsus 1493-1541

no effect therapeutic

harmful

deadly

tau-fluvalinate

coumaphos

Johnson et al. accepted; PLoS ONE.

Fungicides?

chlorothalonil

boscalid + pyraclostrobin

Group 3 sterol biosynthesis inhibitors

SBI fungicide

tau-fluvalinate

pre-treatment

propiconazole metconazole

fenbuconazole

myclobutanil

no effect therapeutic

harmful

deadly

N Cl Cl S O P O O O O F N O O O

coumaphos
Cl

tau-fluvalinate

Cl

O O Cl
N N O N O

S O P

OH

fungicides
O HO OH

non-hive pesticides
O
OH HO

natural toxins

Drugs detoxified by P450s

tau-fluvalinate coumaphos fenpyroximate

1. Avoid repeated use of drugs that are detoxified by P450s

Drugs detoxified by P450s

P450-inhibiting Group 3 fungicides

tau-fluvalinate coumaphos fenpyroximate

X X

1. Avoid repeated use of drugs that are detoxified by P450s 2. Avoid the use of P450-detoxified miticidal drugs when bees are also exposed to P450-inhibiting Group 3 fungicides

Synergistic interactions summary

no increase in miticide toxicity ~ increase in miticide toxicity less than 20 fold ! increase in miticide toxicity greater than 20 fold !! increase in miticide toxicity of nearly 1,000 fold

16 University and USDA Laboratory partners $4 million dollars over 4 years Division of labor, no redundancy Only collaborative intiatives considered