MaPSS: Maths Postgraduate Seminar Series: Zeaiter -- The Effect of Thermoregulation on Honey Bee Colony Health and Survival

Dear all, 

The first postgraduate seminar talk of 2018 will be held on Monday, the 5th of March at
17:00 in Carslaw 535. There will be pizza and soft drink provided following the talk. 

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Speaker: Zeaiter Zeaiter (The University of Sydney) 

Title: The Effect of Thermoregulation on Honey Bee Colony Health and Survival.  

Abstract: 

In recent years honey bee colonies have been experiencing increased loss of hives.  One
cause of hive loss is colony collapse disorder (CCD).  Colony collapse disorder is
characterised by a previously healthy hive having few or no adult bees but with food and
brood still present.  This occurs over several weeks.  It is not known if there is an
exact cause of CCD but rather it is thought to be the accumulation of multiple stressors
placed on a hive.  One of theses stressors is the breakdown of thermoregulation inside
the hive.  The bee life cycle begins with eggs that hatch into larvae that become
brood.  The hive contains combs which are made up of multiple cells; these cells house
the brood.  Pupal cells are capped off by adult bees (and so are known as capped brood)
and they undergo changes to develop into an adult bee.  In order for these capped rood
to develop correctly, physically and mentally, the temperature within the hive must be
regulated by the hive bees to ensure optimal development of the capped brood.
Variations in the temperature, caused by the breakdown of thermoregulation, lead to
deformations in the adults that emerge from capped brood.  This later leads to these
bees becoming inefficient foragers which also have shorter life spans.  We model the
effect of thermoregulation on hive health using a system of DDEs which gives insights
into how varying hive temperatures have an effect on the survival of the colony.  

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Staff, please encourage your students to attend.