Genetic Diversity, Pathogens and Parasites of Feral Honey Bees in Swarms from Eight Mississippi Counties

Authors

A. L. Szalanskl, University of ArkansasFollow
C. E. Trammel, University of Arkansas
D. Cleary, University of Arkansas
A. D. Tripodi, USDA-ARS

Abstract

A study was conducted on the genetic diversity of honey bees, Apis mellifera L., from feral colonies and swarms collected from Mississippi by sequencing a portion of the mitochondrial DNA COI – COII region. From the 38 samples analyzed, we observed 11 haplotypes collected from eight counties. These haplotypes represented three of the four A. mellifera lineages known to have been imported into the United States (C, M and O). Of the seven C lineage haplotypes, three were not found in previous queen breeder studies in the United States. The O lineage, with two haplotypes observed, accounted for 18% of unmanaged colonies. This lineage has not been observed in queen breeder studies in the United States. The M lineage accounted for 16% of samples with two haplotypes observed. Samples were also screened for the honey bee pathogens Nosema ceranae, N. apis and the honey bee parasite Varroa destructor. Four samples were positive for Nosema (3 N. apis and 1 N. ceranae) and four were positive for V. destructor, with two samples positive for both Nosema and V. destructor. The detection of genetically distinct maternal lineages of feral honey bees in Mississippi relative to managed honey bee colonies suggests that these haplotypes may have existed outside of the managed honey bee population for a long period of time.

Recommended Citation

Szalanskl, A. L.; Trammel, C. E.; Cleary, D.; and Tripodi, A. D. (2016) "Genetic Diversity, Pathogens and Parasites of Feral Honey Bees in Swarms from Eight Mississippi Counties," Midsouth Entomologist: Vol. 9: No. 2, Article 1.
Available at: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/midsouthent/vol9/iss2/1