Development and verification of a standardised protocol for the detection of parasite infection levels in commercially-produced bumblebee colonies

每年有数以万计的商业生产的大黄蜂群体被进口到英国用于作物授粉，这是每年超过100万个群体的全球贸易的一部分。来自这些蜂群的病原体溢出对本土大黄蜂构成了重大威胁。我们由NERC资助的研究表明，防止这种威胁的监管和商业尝试都没有成功，而且进口的蜂箱携带许多寄生虫。为了满足相关监管机构(自然英格兰)和保护组织(大黄蜂保护信托基金)确定的主要需求，该项目将开发和验证一个强大的、基于证据的协议，用于商业生产的熊蜂群体的疾病筛查，以及区分本地大黄蜂和进口亚种的遗传标记。这将为世界各地的监管机构和保护组织提供标准化和可靠的协议，他们可以要求这些协议作为其许可证的一部分，或用于验证许可证的合规性。

Tens of thousands of commercially-produced bumblebee colonies are imported to the UK per annum for crop pollination, part of a global trade which exceeds one million colonies per annum. Pathogen spillover from these colonies poses a major threat to native bumblebees. Our NERC-funded research has shown that regulatory and commercial attempts to prevent this threat have been unsuccessful and that the imported hives carry many parasites. To address the major needs identified by the relevant regulatory authority (Natural England) and conservation organisation (Bumblebee Conservation Trust), this project will develop and validate a robust, evidence-based protocol for the disease-screening of commercially-produced bumblebee colonies, and a genetic marker to distinguish native bumblebees from imported subspecies. This will provide regulatory authorities and conservation organisations worldwide with standardised and reliable protocols which they can require as part of their licences or utilise to verify licence compliance.