Banking on the Future: Ensuring Honey Bee Germplasm Deposits for the Future of Sustainable Beekeeping

Banking on the Future: Ensuring Honey Bee Germplasm Deposits for the Future of Sustainable Beekeeping is sponsored by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). Focuses on collecting honey bee germplasm for cryopreservation and targeted breeding programs to support sustainable beekeeping.

Project Type: Professional Development Program Funds awarded in 2025: $100,000.

00 Projected End Date: 12/31/2028 Grant Recipient: New Mexico Community Capital * Animal Production: genetics, livestock breeding * Crop Production: beekeeping * Education and Training: farmer to farmer, technical assistance, workshop **_Banking on the Future: Ensuring Honey Bee Germplasm Deposits for the Future of Sustainable Beekeeping_** is a grassroots project focused on the need and objectives of collecting honey bee germplasm for cryopreservation and for targeted breeding program interests of the Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance (ABBA).

ABBA is a coast-to-coast network of queen bee producers and scientists working collaboratively to share adaptive bee breeding methodologies, practices, and research interests. In 2022, ABBA received a WSARE Research to Grassroots grant called, ‘Building Comb from Castle to Castle: Collaborations between Queen Breeders & Researchers for supporting Adaptive Reproductive Practices. ’ (SARE WRGR22-006).

In 2016, the National Animal Germplasm Program initiated the American Honey Bee Germplasm Respository Program. The collection of honey bee germplasm involves a nuanced protocol that requires training and repeated practice. Collecting drone (male) honey bee germplasm is a skill that few across the country possess.

Thus, very few contributions to the program have occurred. Training the next generation of professionals to serve as regional liaisons for facilitating collections and for supporting the regenerative and sustainable nature of long-term bee breeding needs is essential.

_**Banking on the Future: Ensuring Honey Bee Germplasm Deposits for the Future of Sustainable Beekeeping,**_ the proposed project, will focus on training these agricultural professionals to collect and deposit diverse honey bee germplasm from California, Oregon, and New Mexico.

In collaboration with the National Animal Germplasm Program (Fort Collins, CO), leading bee breeding researchers from Washington State University (Pullman, WA) and USDA-ARS Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research Lab (Baton Rouge, LA), and ABBA members, this project serves as a cross-country adaptive and adoptable proof of concept.

As the pressure of pest, pathogen and climate challenges increase, this project better supports beekeepers and pollination services that American communities rely upon for food production and security.

### Project objectives from proposal: Key collaborators Kirby, Topitzhofer, Roell, and Mahoney as a team will develop a model for effectively and efficiently collecting samples in the field and match them with mitochondrial DNA analysis and disease profiling. The germplasm collection team proposed in this project will have multiple opportunities to collect germplasm from producers in California, Oregon, and New Mexico.

The hands-on experience and iterative practice to refine techniques will allow team members to reach mastery with this complex microscopic skill, and develop a how-to guide for replication across regions.

In addition to training the initial three agricultural professionals from the Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance, this project will produce one field guide with best practices, host two workshops for producers and agricultural service providers. This project will be successful when each of these objectives is implemented: 1.

Use a peer-to-peer experiential learning model to train three professional beekeepers in germplasm collection by collecting 30 samples of germplasm from producers in California, Oregon and New Mexico over three seasons. 2. Cryopreserve each sample in collaboration with Washington State University and USDA-ARS Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research Lab: Baton Rouge, LA.

Match each germplasm sample to adult drone samples using mitochondrial DNA analysis of drone slurry samples. 3. Develop a protocol for collecting drone carcasses for drone slurry sampling for DNA analysis and disease profiling.

Create drone slurry samples that indicate the genotype and disease profile of each germplasm sample collected. 4. Evaluate the success of the germplasm collection team training by assessing the number of germplasm samples collected and preserved, the number paired for mitochondrial DNA analysis, the number of paired and drone slurry samples.

5. Develop a comprehensive guide to the importance of drone germplasm collection using how-to field guide, illustrated protocols for collection; host two experiential education workshops. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.