2023-12-07 15:48:08
With more than 40 partners from 14 European countries, including ANSES, the PoshBee project aimed to better understand the threats facing three species of pollinating bees used as sentinels: the honey bee, a social species forming large colonies, the terrestrial bumblebee which is a social species forming small colonies and the red osmia, a solitary bee. Funded by the European Horizon 2020 program, PoshBee began in 2018 and ended in 2023. ANSES coordinated the component on measuring exposure to chemicals, pathogens and nutritional problems.
Make data actionable with exposure indices
The multitude of data can represent a difficulty in studying the factors impacting the health of bees and other pollinators: “ High-throughput pathogen detection and quantification analyzes make it possible to collect a large amount of data, explains Marie-Pierre Chauzat, bee monitoring project manager at the Anses animal health laboratory and leader of a multi-partner working group within Poshbee. But we do not necessarily have the statistical tools to exploit them. » Scientists within the PoshBee project have developed indices allowing us to synthesize insect exposure to pathogens. « This is a sort of toolbox detailing three different indices, to be used depending on the type of data and the objective of the study. » specifies Éric Dubois, virology project manager, at the bee pathology unit of ANSES’s Sophia Antipolis laboratory.
Look for correlations between the presence of pathogens and environmental factors
In the context of PoshBee, these indices were, for example, used to study factors influencing the presence of pathogens in pollinating bees. The study was carried out on 128 sites distributed in 8 different countries. Calculating the indices made it possible to group sites that had a similar profile, according to the abundance and type of pathogens present. “ We wanted to know if there were correlations between the distribution of pathogens and factors such as crop type, pesticide use, pathogen interaction or biogeographic zone. », says Aurélie Babin, project manager at the bee pathology unit of the Sophia Antipolis laboratory. This work has not yet been published; it is not possible to detail the results at this time. “ However, we can already emphasize that the most virulent pathogens are not the most interesting for studying the effect of environmental modifications, explains Éric Dubois. On the contrary, they are the pathogens commonly present but usually latent which are the best indicators : exposed to certain new stresses, such as plant protection products, bees will develop clinical forms of diseases caused by pathogens that they tolerated well until now, in any case without showing symptoms. »
Identifying future threats to pollinators
Another PoshBee study in which ANSES participated set out to make a risk overview for honey bees, bumblebees and osmia, but also opportunities to deal with them in the next five to ten years in Europe. “ This study brought together 20 experts from different European countries. It could serve as a basis for new research programs or to develop protection measures at national and European level, or even on other continents.. » explains Marie-Pierre Chauzat.
One of the main threats identified is the increase in new predators and pathogens. For example, the hornet Vespa mandarinia, originating from Asia and which was recently detected in the United States, could establish itself in Europe. At the same time, other exotic species that attack native pollinators and are already present in some European countries, such as the hornet Vespa velutina or the small hive beetle (Aethina was swollen), will likely expand their ranges. THE extreme weather events can also harm pollinators: heat waves, heavy rainfall or severe frost.
Uncertainties about the impact of certain events on bee health
Other developments could, depending on the case, threaten or improve the health of pollinators. For example, the development of pesticides from nanotechnology could make it possible to use fewer chemicals but their effects on the health of pollinators are still poorly understood.
The geopolitical context can also lead to changes in agricultural practices that can affect bees. For example, the European Union has authorized the cultivation of fallow land to compensate for the reduction in trade in agricultural products due to the conflict in Ukraine. Fallows usually provide a food source for pollinators. However, flowering crops, such as sunflowers or clover, can partially compensate for the loss of fallows.
Innovation at the service of bees
Finally, certain future developments could benefit pollinators or mitigate the threats weighing on them. These include technological advances aimed at monitor the health of bees more closely and remotely. Strengthening studies on toxicity of co-formulants used in the composition of plant protection products would also be beneficial to them, as would the selection of honey bees resistant to the parasitic varroa mite.
Other studies from the PoshBee project should be published in the coming months and add to the knowledge on the factors impacting the health of honey and wild bees.
Learn more
M. Huyen Ton Nu Nguyet, S. Bougeard, A. Babin, E. Dubois, C. Druesne, M.P. Rivière, M. Laurent, M.P. Chauzat, Building composite indices in the age of big data – Application to honey bee exposure to infectious and parasitic agents, Heliyon, Volume 9, Issue 4, 2023, doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15244.
Willcox, B.K., Potts, S.G., Brown, M.J.F. et al. Emerging threats and opportunities to managed bee species in European agricultural systems: a horizon scan. Sci Rep 13, 18099 (2023). doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-45279-w
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