Jacques van Alphen The backside of selection: A forgotten cause of bee mortality

In this talk Jacques van Alphen explains how resistance alleles have become rare or have disappeared from breed honey bee populations. Honey bees have the highest recombination frequency of all animals, indicating that pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi and microsporidia are an important source of selection. To respond to new virulent strains of pathogens, honey bees need to have access to rare alleles that could foster immunity against a new pathogen. Restoring large panmictic populations of native subspecies of honey bees can provide a reservoir from which lost alleles can be recovered. Jacques van Alphen is emeritus professor of animal ecology. He has published widely on behaviour and life history evolution of parasitic wasps, their application in biological pest control, on speciation in tropical fish and amphibians. He published also on honey bee behaviour and on natural and artificial selection for Varroa resistance in honey bees and he is author of the book Honingbijen (Honeybees): Brooklyn Publishing 2022).