Research team explores genomic options to enhance honey bee resilience

EST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Beekeepers lose between 30% and 40% of their colonies annually, mostly to parasites and pathogens. Losses during one bad year in Indiana reached 60%.

“The traditional methods of bee breeding have been around for nearly 100 years,” said Purdue University’s Brock Harpur, assistant professor of entomology. Although breeders have made progress, many of their methods remain unchanged even with the recent availability of affordable gene sequencing. 

“The honey bee genome was sequenced in 2006. There really hasn’t been a lot of bee breeding in this country that’s been empowered by that resource,” he said. Harpur aims to change that with Purdue’s Luiz Brito, associate professor of animal sciences, and Gregor Gorjanc of the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. They seek to validate genomic breeding tools while designing a system that bee breeders can implement themselves.

Their work is among the projects supported by $11.6 million in gra...

"https://mailchi.mp/dadant.com/december-6-2023-research-team-explores-genomic-options-to-enhance-honey-bee-resilience"

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