7:00-8:30 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time)
Please join us for this month’s Zoom webinar generously sponsored by Olivarez Honey Bees!
Speakers:
Dr. Michelle Taylor, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited; Hamilton, New Zealand
Michelle has 22 years of experience conducting bee research related to pollination, pests, disease, pesticides, and environmental monitoring. Her primary interest is colony health to maximize production. She recently completed studies of the microbiota in the honey bee gut and their association with bee health. She will be presenting an overview of the gut microbiome and research regarding bacteria in the digestive tract of honey bees and the effects of sugar supplements on bacteria in the gut of bees. Dietary regimes did not alter the relative abundance of dominant core bacteria. Sucrose-rich diets increased the relative amounts of three sub-dominant core bacteria, significantly altering the bacterial composition.
Dr. Jeni Walke, Assistant Professor of Biology at Eastern Washington University; Cheney, Washington, USA
Jeni is a molecular microbiologist specializing in the molecular biology and population ecology of the honey bee. She and her students study the role of beneficial and disease-causing microorganisms on their hosts, asking whether or not a healthy bee gut can mitigate Nosema and pesticides? Recently awarded a prestigious grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Walke’s team, along with collaborators at Virginia Tech, will be investigating the interactions among bees, their symbiotic gut microbes, and pathogens that affect their health. She and her team also intend to develop a computer science and biology-based outreach module for elementary school students.
