The UC Davis Collection
Via: Brian R. Johnson
Hi Beekeepers! This brief article will introduce you to the Johnson Bee Lab at UC Davis. Our lab stocks the Laidlaw Bee Lab, which is solely off the Davis campus, with two different labs, that of Elina Niño and Neal Williams. Our paintings enhances one every other and in combination we duvet slightly numerous bee biology. I paintings principally on elementary science with honey bees, even supposing we do a little carried out paintings as neatly, whilst Elina works principally on carried out science with a smaller function for elementary paintings. Neal works on non-Apis honey bees, often referred to as local bees. I’ll depart detailed introductions to each and every in their paintings to them. Right here I’ll attempt to duvet what we do in my lab and why I believe it’s fascinating and vital for beekeepers.
Brian Johnson
I’ll get started with introductions. I went to university at UC San Diego and did my PhD at Cornell College with Tom Seeley. I studied principally behavioral ecology as a scholar however switched to genetics all through my two postdoctoral analysis jobs (one at UC San Diego with James Nieh and the opposite at UC Berkeley with Neil Tsutsui). I used to be employed at UC Davis in 2011 and feature been right here ever since. I these days have 3 graduate scholars in my lab (introductions to come back), and the bee lab technician, Joseph Tauzer, who’s shared between all 3 labs. Joe does slightly numerous beekeeping for our crew, even supposing I require each and every scholar to do a vital quantity of their very own beekeeping. We now have two laboratory areas, one on campus, which is the place we do molecular biology, and the opposite at Laidlaw the place box paintings is finished.
So, what attracted me to bees? I didn’t develop up conserving bees, and in all honesty, I used to be no longer extraordinarily all for them as a faculty scholar. To start with of my clinical research, I used to be principally interested in evolution and behaviour in a basic form of sense. I did have a specific hobby within the social habits of bugs, alternatively. I really like how their massive colonies are like puzzles stuffed with other items that paintings in combination. As a scholar I learn a number of books about social bugs and loved Tom Seeley’s The Knowledge of the Hive essentially the most, which resulted in my making use of to Cornell. So, in brief, I learn about bees moderately unintentionally since I’d had been simply as pleased with ants or termites. Alternatively, I’m satisfied that I fell into honey bee analysis. The honey bee is essentially the most amenable to review of all of the social bugs (perhaps all of the bugs) and we all know extra about it than we do about nearly another organism. This permits one to move deeper into their biology and do analysis that will be tough or unattainable with different animals. Additionally, bees are simply attention-grabbing creatures. Mainly, I’ve grown to like the honey bee. To position all of this right into a take house idea, there are two forms of bee scientists: those that love bees, and those that use bees and a fashion device for the science questions they in finding fascinating. I began out as the second one however have grown into an individual who encompasses each.
Having coated the fundamentals, we will now get all the way down to what sort of analysis we do in my lab. My very own analysis covers two primary subjects. First, I’m all for how a colony is designed. That is often referred to as department of work, or group of labor. It’s mainly who does what within the nest and the way. I’ve labored slightly so much at the caste idea, for instance, which organizes the bees within the colony into 4 temporal castes: newly emerged, nurse, heart elderly and foragers. Bees go thru those levels as they age. The biology is slightly very similar to that which controls puberty in ourselves. Once we’re juveniles, now we have hormone ranges that result in juvenile body structure and behaviour. Once we undergo puberty, the hormone ranges alternate and that ends up in the advance of various body structure and morphology (secondary intercourse traits) and behaviour. Bees do the similar. Each and every time they alter caste, their hormones alternate to optimize their habits and body structure for his or her new function within the nest. This will imply turning on brood meals manufacturing in nurses, for instance, or activating portions of the mind to arrange for the complexity of foraging. I learn about what triggers a metamorphosis from one caste to the following, and what genes are concerned. I additionally discover what each and every caste does intimately and the way they keep in touch with one every other.
My 2d hobby is within the evolution of social habits. Right here the purpose is to know how a solitary bee developed first right into a easy social bee and later into a fancy massive colony like that of the honey bee. There are lots of concepts on this box however the primary one has wired that from a genetic standpoint, the similar genes are utilized in solitary and social bees. That is often referred to as the “genetic toolkit” concept. It’s concept that the similar genes evolve new roles within the social bees. There’s indisputably numerous fact to this concept. We now have lots of the similar genes which might be in mice, for instance, or even bees. A few of these genes do the similar issues (like making power which is one thing wanted by means of all dwelling issues) however infrequently the similar genes do various things in numerous animals. My very own paintings has fascinated with another concept to the toolkit concept (no longer mutually unique) that other animals have other distinctive genes that give them a few of their individuality. Bees, for instance, have bee genes (or genes restricted to them and their shut kinfolk like ants and wasps). One of the most bee genes, for instance, play roles in immunity, in brood meals manufacturing and in protection (venoms). I’ve wired in my evolutionary writings that each toolkits and distinctive genes are important for main evolutionary alternate, reminiscent of that which became a solitary bee right into a colony of many hundreds.
Adrian Perez
The scholars in my lab pursue quite a lot of subjects. Generally, there are other philosophies relating to how you can run a lab. Some scientists have their analysis deliberate out years upfront and require that everybody who joins their lab paintings on those initiatives in some capability. They’ll permit some leeway (or none) however the subjects and the fundamentals questions are selected for the scholars. Different scientists permit the scholars to select their very own subject (or that of the advisers) relying on their character and targets. After all, most of the people are someplace between those two extremes. Additionally, there may be a lot to be stated for each approaches as there are execs and cons, relating to the task marketplace, related to each and every. It’s more straightforward to get concerned with vital analysis in case you are plugged into ongoing vital analysis, for instance. Alternatively, to turn that you’re in a position to unbiased analysis and feature your individual concepts, it’s best to broaden your individual venture. I fall strongly into the second one class so my scholars paintings on no matter they prefer.
I these days have two scholars who paintings on bees. My maximum senior graduate scholar, Adrian Perez, has labored on illness dynamics in bees. He has explored how bees engage with one every other, within the hope of finding how they prohibit the unfold of pathogens. He’s these days all for how drones would possibly transmit illness between colonies (a widely recognized however understudied downside).
Marshall Nakatani
The opposite bee scholar, Marshall Nakatani, is starting paintings at the time conserving mechanisms of bees. Bees are well-known for the usage of their clocks in some ways, reminiscent of to keep in mind when a specific flower patch was once blooming. It’s also recognized that nurses should not have a circadian rhythm whilst the older bees do. Those characteristics make bees excellent fashions for learning the molecular biology of the clock.
My final scholar, Nicole Korzeniecki, works on illness dynamics in termites. Termites have so much in commonplace with the social Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps) however are poorly studied relative to them. Termites have fascinating social immunity habits, particularly, with inflamed termites signaling to their nestmates that they want assist. Nicole is exploring what controls this signaling and the way efficient it’s at combating illness.
Nicole Korzeniecki
Except analysis, I’ve two primary different actions: educating and writing books. I train insect habits, however extra related to this text, I train a once a year elegance in bee biology. Right here, I duvet all of the basics of each elementary and carried out bee science. I additionally introduce the scholars to beekeeping. This is a in style elegance and I revel in educating it. Particularly, educating the category forces me to stay up-to-the-minute on all of the analysis going down throughout many subjects on bees. This wide-ranging learn about helped within the writing of my first ebook, Honey Bee Biology which was once revealed by means of Princeton College Press final yr. This ebook was once designed to be an up to date model of the vintage, The Biology of the Honey Bee by means of Mark Winston. That was once, and nonetheless is, a fantastic ebook that served as the usual reference for bee science for lots of many years. Sadly, it’s about 30 years outdated now and a few subjects are outdated. A brand new ebook was once thus important, and I used to be satisfied to jot down it. I additionally not too long ago wrote a ebook on beekeeping, Introductory Beekeeping: Find out how to get Began and Develop as a Beekeeper which is to be had, together with the primary ebook, on Amazon. This ebook covers the fundamentals of beekeeping however supplies extra biology and herbal historical past than you have a tendency to seek out in those books. I’m these days operating on a ebook at the bee disaster (Colony Cave in Dysfunction and the chronically top losses we’ve noticed since). It’s nonetheless early going in this ebook, so I can must replace you on its thesis and due date later.
I’m hoping this creation to our lab was once fascinating. In coming articles, I can drill down on specific subjects in bee science. This serves two purposes. First, I in finding that almost all beekeepers are merely within the biology in their loved bees. They’re attention-grabbing animals in spite of everything. 2nd, in lots of circumstances understanding the biology (habits and herbal historical past particularly) of the bees will let you on your beekeeping. There are lots of circumstances the place it’s not transparent what to do, for instance, and you’ve got to make a wager. In those eventualities, the extra about bees (from each and every standpoint) the easier your wager will probably be. I can give many examples in articles to come back.
Brian Johnson
Division of Entomology and Nematology
One Shields Ave
College of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616