This fall marks my fourth semester as a research assistant on the Grove City College (GCC) apicultural studies team. My time on the “bee team” has been filled with lots of learning and laughs, and I’d like to share a bit about my experiences as the semester closes.
I found out about the research team before I became a full-time student at GCC. Before enrolling, I decided to research the biology department and happened upon a brief article about Dr. Farone’s research. Immediately I was drawn to the program, especially because I had recently been helping my neighbor with his backyard beekeeping operation. Through further examination, I found that Dr. Farone’s program explored topics in the fields of public health, animal health, and field work. This was particularly intriguing, especially to a prospective Conservation Biology major who was looking for an opportunity at field-based research.
In my first semester at the college, I received an email from Dr. Farone containing information about some research positions that were opening up on her team the following semester. Initially I thought there was no way I could join the team. I was a first semester freshman, and usually students do not participate in research until at least their sophomore year. Still, I could not contain my excitement. I had to apply! Graciously, Dr. Farone was willing to take me on to her team, and by the beginning of the spring semester, I was ready to learn.
My first semester of research consisted of, well, not much research. Because honey bees are such a niche sector of biology, Dr. Farone requires her first-time students to take part in a course all about bees and beekeeping (usually taught by veteran students on the bee team). By the end of the spring semester, the weather warmed, and we were finally able to begin going out to the bee yard to apply the knowledge we learned in the classroom. Soon, I was helping Dr. Farone and the other researchers find queens, examine nutrition patterns, and make splits (especially in late April and May – the dreaded swarm season!). Yet there was still so much to learn, and fortunately another opportunity came “buzzing” at the door.
The following summer after my freshman year, Dr. Farone needed some research students to help her with maintenance of the bee yard. This was an incredible opportunity where I was able to live at the college over the summer and work with Dr. Farone and another research student, Emily. During this time, I was able to hone my hive inspection skills and expand my repertoire of what bee behavior looks like. Additionally, I was finally able to begin research. A previous research student who had recently graduated had just begun a project examining Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), so we decided to continue with that project. That summer we began performing extensive literature reviews on the topic as well as our first extractions of RNA from our own bee samples. Of course, I was also able to participate in my first GCC bees honey extraction!
This was just the beginning of our research on DWV. The following fall semester, we continued to develop methods for testing the viral load of DWV in our honey bees. We partnered with a fellow biology professor, Dr. Yowler, and some of his research students to continue with RNA extractions. During this time, we also had two new students join our team – Matt and Luke. As a seasoned bee researcher, it was now my duty to help teach the same bee course that I participated in the prior semester. This involved developing presentations and teaching them during our weekly research meetings. This was a excellent opportunity as I had to re-think the material I had learned in a way that allowed me to teach it to the “new-bees”. At the end of the semester, we gave a final exam to Matt and Luke, and they passed! It felt great to have the experience of successfully educating others about the world of bees.
In the next spring semester, we continued our research projects. Deformed Wing testing was still ongoing, and Emily had started up a new honey testing project. This involved sending honey samples to Jonah Ventures, an environmental DNA laboratory, who examined honey pollen content and sequenced its DNA to determine possible plant origins. Luke and Matt also began their own research projects on building a top bar hive and painting hive boxes, which are further discussed in other blog posts. Soon this semester of research was completed, and it was time again for summer maintenance of the hives.
Again, I joined Dr. Farone and a new research student, Moira, the following summer. We stayed on campus and helped take care of our bees. We also continued some honey testing research by sending in more samples to Jonah Ventures. We searched for various samples from farmer’s markets and grocery stores. Ultimately, we wanted to assess the label claims of the honeys and determine whether the floral pollen origins match those of the claims. We continued to compile research results throughout the summer.
Before long, this current semester began, and research was again in full swing! We continued to send in honey samples, and also worked with Dr. Yowler to streamline our methods of DWV research. At that point we had determined the best approach to RNA extraction, and we began to test methods of converting the RNA to DNA to improve its integrity for further testing. We also used a variety of primers to perform Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing to replicate our bee DNA samples. Each of these procedures were performed with the intent of replicating DWV RNA specifically, which would give evidence of the presence of the virus within our own honey bees.
As the semester concludes, we have finalized results from our research. For DWV, our PCR cycles yielded positive results of the virus within our honey bee samples, even in asymptomatic bees. We were able to determine the presence of DWV by comparing the PCR curves with those of positive control samples. A comparison yielding matching curves indicates that our own honey bee DNA was replicated with DWV-specific primers, similar to the positive control. We will continue to numerically analyze our results to determine specifics of how much DNA was replicated and the hives that exhibited the greatest amounts of positive DWV. This research contributes to the collection of knowledge about DWV within the beekeeping and scientific research communities and could potentially help to inform beekeepers and veterinarians about the development of DWV in bees.
For the honey testing research, we compiled Jonah Ventures results from our own summer extraction honeys as well as honeys from local shops. Some of the honeys yielded pollen DNA sources from a variety of plant types, including clover, honeysuckle, maple, and much more. Other honeys gave back monocultured, which could be due to a variety of reasons. Sometimes the honey did not contain enough pollen to properly perform DNA sequencing. This may be due to overheating of the honey pre-bottling to prevent crystallization, which can disrupt the structure of pollen grains. Honey can also be micro-filtered during processing, which can remove pollen. Also, some honey gave results of 100% soy, which may indicate a potential honey adulteration since it is virtually impossible for honey to have only one floral source. Bees can travel 3-5 miles as they are foraging, a route that normally includes many floral sources. Thus, honeys that gave diverse results of plants seem to be legitimate, while honeys that yielded few origin results are suspicious. This research may help to inform consumers about the contents of the honey products they are purchasing and help to ensure that purer honey options are available on the shelves of honey retailers.
Overall, my time on the bee team has been very comprehensive and fulfilling. This research exists at a rare intersection of hands-on, big-picture field work consisting of hive inspections, mite treatments, and honey extraction combined with microscopic analysis down to the DNA level. We have had times of discouragement as our PCR testing yielded insignificant results or as our mite counts reached treatment thresholds, but those lows have been surrounded with much joy and excitement in the process of discovery, fellowship, and community. It is amazing how much delight a little insect such as the honey bee can bring us. Among many other values, my time on the bee research team has taught me virtues of patience, integrity, adaptability, courage, and resilience. I am very grateful to all the other researchers I have worked with over these past two summers and four semesters, and especially to Dr. Farone who has mentored and supported me during this time.
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