D3233: Viral prevalence load on small carpenter bee among three different landscapes

Social bees collect pollen and nectar from floral plants for nutrition and at the same time, they play a key role in pollination ecology. Social behavior in the colonies or nest contributes to potential pathogenic infections to different individual bees. Honeybees (Apis mellifera) and wild bees such as Small Carpenter Bees (SCB) are declining due to pathogenic stressors like viruses. There are different landscapes in farming including (ecological organic farms versus conventional farms) and the usage of pesticides may affect the pollinators health in terms of their levels of viral infections. Common bee viruses such as Deformed Wing virus, Acute Bee Paralysis Virus, Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus, Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus, or Black Queen Cell Virus have been found in honeybees. Potentially these pathogens can contaminate the flowers when wild bees share the same floral resources. In this survey we will quantify the viral load in honeybees and in SCB population via RNA-seq analysis and compare that to the viral load across three different landscapes such as roadside, organic farms, and conventional farms. Our results will gain new knowledge in the viral prevalence of two pollinator species and provide novel information about pollinator health potentially affected by different residue and different landscapes.