British Columbia beekeeping revenues and costs: survey data and profit modeling.

British Columbia beekeepers, like many beekeepers around the world, are currently facing declines in honey bee health and high overwinter colony losses. To better understand the economics and the cycle of yearly colony loss and replacement of this critical agricultural industry, we collected and analyzed survey data on beekeeping costs and returns. Forty British Columbia beekeepers provided details about revenue sources, variable costs, capital costs, and investments. Ten surveyed beekeepers managed between 1 and 9 colonies, 10 managed between 10 and 39 colonies, 9 managed between 40 and 100 colonies, 5 managed between 101 and 299 colonies, 3 managed between 300 and 699 colonies, and 3 managed 700 colonies or more. The data was used to calculate beekeeping profit and to parameterize a model that explores the economic impact of colony loss rates and replacement strategies. Survey results show that when the data is aggregated, revenues exceed costs for beekeeping operations in British Columbia with a per colony profit of $56.92 or $0.87 per pound of honey produced. Surveyed operations with fewer than 100 colonies have negative profits, while operations with 100-299 colonies have positive profits. Surveyed operations in the Cariboo, North Coast, and Okanagan regions have the highest profits while surveyed operations in the Peace region have the lowest profits. Profit modeling shows that replacing losses with packages generates lower profit than replacing losses with split colonies. Our modeling shows that operations that diversify their revenue to include bee sales and commercial pollination accrue higher profits and can withstand higher winter loss rates.

Fertility costs of cryptic viral infections in a model social insect.

Declining insect populations emphasize the importance of understanding the drivers underlying reductions in insect fitness. Here, we investigated viruses as a threat to social insect reproduction, using honey bees as a model species. We report that in two independent surveys (N = 93 and N = 54, respectively) of honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens taken from a total of ten beekeeping operations across British Columbia, high levels of natural viral infection are associated with decreased ovary mass. Failed (poor quality) queens displayed higher levels of viral infection, reduced sperm viability, smaller ovaries, and altered ovary protein composition compared to healthy queens. We experimentally infected queens with Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) and found that the ovary masses of IAPV-injected queens were significantly smaller than control queens, demonstrating a causal relationship between viral infection and ovary size. Queens injected with IAPV also had significantly lower expression of vitellogenin, the main source of nutrition deposited into developing oocytes, and higher levels of heat-shock proteins, which are part of the honey bee's antiviral response. This work together shows that viral infections occurring naturally in the field are compromising queen reproductive success.

Review of the Real and Sometimes Hidden Costs in Proteomics Experimental Workflows.

A typical proteomics workflow covers all the steps from growing or collecting the cells/tissues/organism, protein extraction, digestion and cleanup, mass spectrometric analysis, and, finally, extensive bioinformatics to derive biological insight from the data. The details of the procedures employed for this can vary widely by laboratory and by sample type: e.g., hard tissues or cells with walls require much more mechanical disruption to extract proteins than do soft tissues, biological fluids, or wall-less cells. Everything then converges on the mass spectrometer, where there are further choices to be made about how to do the analysis. There is one commonality, however, virtually every group around the world now uses liquid chromatography on-line coupled to tandem mass spectrometry, which means that significant amounts of instrument time are dedicated to every sample. There are many other reviews or methods papers, including in this volume, that cover the details of the various procedures involved in proteomic analyses of all types of samples. Our focus here will be on the cost considerations for such analyses, including considerations to ensure that useful data can be obtained the first time a sample is analyzed. Some of these costs are often overlooked, particularly for those groups who operate their own mass spectrometer(s) and do not have to go to a fee-for-service facility to have something analyzed. The chapter presents several challenges and key suggestions in proving hypotheses in proteomics experimental workflow in different biological systems with specific regard to the costs involved, both real and hidden. The detailed methodology for cost-based studies reported in this chapter can help researchers to set up their laboratory with appropriate equipment as well as to identify potential collaborations based on their analytical instrumentation.

Honey Bee Queen Production: Canadian Costing Case Study and Profitability Analysis.

The decline in managed honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colony health worldwide has had a significant impact on the beekeeping industry. To mitigate colony losses, beekeepers in Canada and around the world introduce queens into replacement colonies; however, Canada's short queen rearing season has historically limited the production of early season queens. As a result, Canadian beekeepers rely on the importation of foreign bees, particularly queens from warmer climates. Importing a large proportion of (often mal-adapted) queens each year creates a dependency on foreign bee sources, putting beekeeping, and pollination sectors at risk in the event of border closures, transportation issues, and other restrictions as is currently happening due to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Although traditional Canadian queen production is unable to fully meet early season demand, increasing domestic queen production to meet mid- and later season demand would reduce Canada's dependency. As well, on-going studies exploring the potential for overwintering queens in Canada may offer a strategy to have early season domestic queens available. Increasing the local supply of queens could provide Canadian beekeepers, farmers, and consumers with a greater level of agricultural stability and food security. Our study is the first rigorous analysis of the economic feasibility of queen production. We present the costs of queen production for three Canadian operations over two years. Our results show that it can be profitable for a beekeeping operation in Canada to produce queen cells and mated queens and could be one viable strategy to increase the sustainability of the beekeeping industry.

A Bio-Economic Case Study of Canadian Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Colonies: Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) in Queen Breeding Affects Beekeeper Profits.

Over the past decade in North America and Europe, winter losses of honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies have increased dramatically. Scientific consensus attributes these losses to multifactorial causes including altered parasite and pathogen profiles, lack of proper nutrition due to agricultural monocultures, exposure to pesticides, management, and weather. One method to reduce colony loss and increase productivity is through selective breeding of queens to produce disease-, pathogen-, and mite-resistant stock. Historically, the only method for identifying desirable traits in honey bees to improve breeding was through observation of bee behavior. A team of Canadian scientists have recently identified markers in bee antennae that correspond to behavioral traits in bees and can be tested for in a laboratory. These scientists have demonstrated that this marker-assisted selection (MAS) can be used to produce hygienic, pathogen-resistant honey bee colonies. Based on this research, we present a beekeeping case study where a beekeeper's profit function is used to evaluate the economic impact of adopting colonies selected for hygienic behavior using MAS into an apiary. Our results show a net profit gain from an MAS colony of between 2% and 5% when Varroa mites are effectively treated. In the case of ineffective treatment, MAS generates a net profit benefit of between 9% and 96% depending on the Varroa load. When a Varroa mite population has developed some treatment resistance, we show that MAS colonies generate a net profit gain of between 8% and 112% depending on the Varroa load and degree of treatment resistance.

Mass spectrometric-based approaches in quantitative proteomics.

Classically, experiments aimed at studying changes in protein expression have always followed a small set of proteins. This focused approach was necessary since tools to efficiently analyze large numbers of proteins were simply not available. Large-scale quantitative proteomics promises to produce reams of data that previously would have taken decades to measure with classical methods. Mass spectrometry is already a well-established protein identification tool and recent methodological developments indicate that it can also be successfully applied to extract quantitative data of protein abundance. From the first reports 4 years ago, numerous schemes to take advantage of stable isotope nuclei incorporation in proteins and peptides have been developed. Here we review the benefits and pitfalls of some of the most commonly used protocols, focusing on a procedure now being used extensively in our laboratory, stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC). The basic theory, application, and data analysis of a SILAC experiment are discussed. The emerging nature of these techniques and the rapid pace of technological development make forecasting the directions of the field difficult but we speculate that SILAC will soon be a key tool of quantitative proteomics.