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Member Symposium

Highlighting Women's Research: Abiotic and Biotic Stressors of Agricultural Food-systems

Honey bee survival and fertility during extreme heat

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

1:35 PM – 1:55 PM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 111/112

Presenting Author(s)

Alison McAfee

Postdoctoral fellow
North Carolina State University; The University of British Columbia
Raleigh, North Carolina

Co-Author(s)

David R. Tarpy

University Scholar Professor
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, North Carolina

Co-author(s)

LF

Leonard Foster

Principal Investigator
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Extreme weather events are becoming more common as the climate changes. In British Columbia last year, temperatures became so hot that beekeepers observed deaths of small colonies, drones, and even queens, and poor queen mating success was observed after the heatwave. Our data show that temperatures upwards of 40 C can damage the fertility of both queens and drones (reproductive females and males), which is in the range of what bees experienced during the heatwave. In this talk, I will discuss what we know about honey bee temperature tolerance limits, what can be done to help protect beehives from the heat, and implications for wild insect conservation.