Bee lab

8/8/2023:

I went out to the field to help Isabelle again. I went and looked at the in the bee colonies infected with chalkbrood. We examined each frame under the queen divider and counted the number of chalkbrood mummies we saw. It was very tedious work for the team. However, it was very cool. I noticed that there were a huge difference in the health of some of the bee colonies even though they were in the same area. Some colonies were very small, while others were very large. This experiment had many different lines of queens, some having hygienic traits others not, and some having a resistance to certain diseases. Overall, it was a very interesting.

8/2/2023:

Today I did a mite wash. This is done by collecting worker bees from the hives and soaking them in alcohol. From there you put the bees in a strainer and wash them with more alcohol until the mites come out. I did this many times, a lot of mites came out. You then have to weigh the sample(with drones removed). 

7/20/2023:

Today I was in the lab and pulled white-eyed pupae for a Deformed wing virus study. The study is looking into the odor of pupae infected with DWV, to see if the odor is different and if bees can detect it. To do so, the researchers will need white-eyed pupae. To do this you would need to uncap the brood and then carefully pull them out of the cell with forceps. This is easier said than done , because the pupae are like sacs of liquid, and the forceps pop them easily. Over time I got much better at pulling the pupae after popping a few at the start. I also brought a few extra home to use as a protein and fat boost for my ants. 

7/13/2023:

I am very fortunate to be working at Dr. Marla Spivak's lab. I went out with Nelson and Isabell to infect some of the colonies with chalkbrood. We placed pollen patties infected with chalkbrood virus into the nests. We then drove to the University of Minnesota arboretum to add new nukes(more space to the hives there).  Today I learned how to operate a bee hive and use a hive tool. I moved a few bee boxes and placed queen-rearing frames into the hive. The Frames were filled with small vials which have larvae with royal jelly(Which means they will become queens).