Dr Erin Hill, Dr Liz Milla1, Dr Francisco Encinas-Viso, Dr John Roberts
1CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
Biography:
Liz Milla is Research Scientist at CSIRO working on the development and application of novel technologies to study pollination and environmental monitoring. Her research explores the intersection between genomics and pollination ecology.
Abstract:
During foraging, bees collect nectar and pollen while interacting with plants, fungi, pathogens and other insects. This behaviour makes them great surveyors of terrestrial habitats and a potential warning system for environmental threats. European honey bees are particularly amenable for eDNA sampling as they return to a central hive where sampling can take place. Thus, managed beehives can act as surveillance tools, but current sampling methods require specialist beekeeper knowledge and training. In this study, we used four metabarcoding markers to identify plants, insects, fungi and bacteria collected by beehives located within an urban environment. We show that swabbing hive surfaces using forensic swabs performs as well or better than using other pollen sources of beehive eDNA, such as pollen traps, honey or individual bees. We also demonstrate the impact of custom-designed honey bee DNA blocking primers to minimise host reads when sequencing COI. Our results validate a simple collection method for beehive eDNA that can help transform managed beehives into powerful terrestrial monitoring systems.