BE-EDNA: ADVANCING MONITORING PROGRAMS FOR HONEY BEE PESTS AND PATHOGENS USING NOVEL EDNA APPROACHES

The western honey bee is an essential pollinator for a variety of U.S. crops but its managed population is threatened by current and emerging pests and pathogens. Early detection of biotic threats to colonies is essential to maintain the pollination services provided by honey bees. Our goal is to improve the health of honey bees by reducing colony losses to pests and pathogens via the creation of a novel monitoring tool that is simple to use, does not rely on direct sampling of adult bees and brood, provides accurate identification of pests and pathogens, and can detect pests and pathogens at low levels of infestation/infection. The collection of environmental DNA/RNA (eDNA/eRNA) satisfies these criteria because it can be paired with high throughput sequencing to offer an indirect and non-targeted method to identify pest and pathogen communities. We propose to advance monitoring programs for honey bee pests and pathogens using a novel eDNA/eRNA approach. Specifically, we aim to build upon our existing experience with eDNA to: (1) determine if eRNA can be used to detect honey bee viruses in and around colonies; (2) determine if eDNA/eRNA can be used to detect emergent threats to U.S. honey bees by testing the methods in locations where potentially invasive species exist and (3) establish an eDNA/eRNA survey method that could be adopted for U.S. honey bee health monitoring programs. The resulting diagnostic tool would help reduce pollinator declines, improve colony health, and limit the impacts of invasive organisms on the U.S. honey bee industry.