Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2022, Entomology

Honey bees are exposed to an array of potentially toxic chemicals, which differ in aspects of their toxicity as well as their fate in the environment. In Chapter 1 of my thesis, I discuss the exposure and effects of toxic chemicals to honey bees through the lens of chemical kinetics. I also describe applications of kinetic modeling for the development of mechanistic models of colony exposure. In chapter 2, I demonstrate how kinetic modeling (toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic modeling) can be used to predict the long-term effects of chemical exposure on the survival of individual honey bees and the growth of their colonies. I focus on metal pollutants (As, Cd, Li, Pb, and Zn), which honey bees are exposed to in a range of human modified environments. I found that a toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic model (the General Unified Thresholds Model of Survival, GUTS) better predicted the survival of honey bees in the lab than a simple extrapolation of a standard (probit) model that is commonly used in honey bee risk assessments. When predicting the effects of metal exposure on colony growth, differences between modeling approaches were highly case-specific. In chapter 3, I focus on the exposure and effects of metals to immature honey bees. Specifically, I describe an experiment using queen-rearing boxes to measure the accumulation of metals into larval food (nurse jelly) and developing queen larvae. I also describe a laboratory study on the toxicity of different metals to honey bee larvae reared in vitro. I found that Cd and Li translocate into larval foods at a higher rate than has been observed for pesticides. Furthermore, when applied to the larval diet in vitro, As, Li, and Zn affected the survival of honey bee larvae at field-relevant concentrations.

Committee: Reed Johnson (Advisor); Mary Gardiner (Committee Member); James Strange (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology; Environmental Science; Toxicology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2020, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology

Loss of habitat is one of the drivers of bee declines worldwide. However, conservation and habitat recreation often solely focus on the establishment of forbs as a pollen and nectar source while disregarding other resources that bees need to gather from their landscapes. The family Megachilidae is a large and diverse assemblage of bee species, the majority of which require non-floral resources for nest building. Leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile) are perhaps the most well-known bees within the family, using cut pieces of leaves to build their nests. Like all bees, Megachile are central place foragers, requiring all of their food plants, as well as suitable leaves for nest construction, within a limited foraging range of their nest. Each female builds her nest within a tunnel in wood or a hollow stem where she constructs a linear series of brood cells lined with cut discs of leaves that protect her offspring and pollen provisions from parasites and desiccation. Poor quality leaves incur fitness costs for the female bee, including longer processing time and excessive mandibular wear. These costs drive strong preferences for specific species of leaves. I investigated the leaf traits that influence preference in Megachile to better understand how variation in vegetation surrounding the nest might limit bee success through the availability of high-quality leaves. This study focuses on reclaimed coal surface mines in Eastern Ohio because they exhibit variation in vegetation at a landscape scale relevant to bee foraging. Reclaimed mines also present novel ecological conditions that can be used to establish habitat for bee conservation. First, I described the physical characteristics of leaves found on a reclaimed mine in order to determine traits associated with leaf choice. This study focused on a representative species of leaf-cutter bee, Megachile rotundata, because of its abundance at the study site and the availability of published data on the species of leaves it (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Karen Goodell PhD (Advisor); Rachelle Adams PhD (Committee Member); Frances Sivakoff PhD (Committee Member); Rebecca Swab PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Conservation; Ecology; Entomology; Environmental Management

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology

Among flower-visiting insects, bees are widely-considered the most important pollinators of many crop plants and wildflowers, but they are under threat from multiple anthropogenic stressors. Researchers and policy-makers promote wildflower plantings as a bee conservation strategy, but our understanding of how bees use restoration sites relative to other potential foraging habitats is incomplete. Pollinators are mobile and may exploit resources from multiple habitats to meet their nesting and nutritional requirements. Therefore, the efficacy of pollinator habitat restoration depends strongly on the amount and distribution of other suitable habitat in the surrounding landscape. In the heavily forested region of southeastern Ohio, former coal mines reclaimed to grassland are a major component of the landscape and may increase the amount of bee foraging habitat. If they provide favorable habitat, reclamation sites may act as `resource islands' that support conservation of regional bees and plants. Further, the re-establishment of wildflowers and their bee pollinators may also be an indicator of the success of the reclamation process at restoring basic ecosystem services like pollination to these degraded, post-industrial lands. Through four field studies, I investigated the influence of reclamation of former coal mines to grassland on bee abundance, diversity, foraging behavior, and reproduction. I evaluated the extent to which bees use reclamations versus adjacent natural foraging habitats to determine how valuable reclaimed mined lands are as pollinator conservation habitat, and whether their importance to bees increases as reclamation sites mature from ruderal grassland to old field habitat. A core group of bee genera that appeared on all sites, regardless of age class, seemed to establish quickly after reclamation, considering the scale of the initial ecological disturbance and that mine sites often occur in isolation from other suitable bee foraging habi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Karen Goodell Dr (Advisor); Robert Klips Dr (Committee Member); Allison Snow Dr (Committee Member); Carol Landry Dr (Committee Member) Subjects: Animals; Biology; Botany; Conservation; Ecology; Plant Biology; Pollen; Zoology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1981, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2023, Entomology

Bumble bees (Bombus) are essential pollinators for wildflowers and crops worldwide, but many species are currently in decline. Habitat loss and fragmentation are leading factors in these declines. Urbanization is a source of habitat loss and fragmentation; however, robust and abundant bumble bee populations are often found in metropolitan areas. Though prior research has broadly examined bumble bee abundance and diversity in urban areas, little work has focused on individual abundances of different species, which may differ in their relationships with urban land. Furthermore, the potential impacts of urban land on gene flow and other genetic health factors in bumble bees remain largely unknown. The first goal of this research was to evaluate and compare the abundances of three target species—Bombus impatiens Cresson, 1863, B. griseocollis De Geer, 1773, and B. bimaculatus Cresson, 1863—along an agricultural-to-urban gradient in Madison, WI, USA. Bumble bees were collected from 16 sites during the summer of 2019 and 19 sites during the summer of 2020. The second goal was to evaluate genetic differentiation, heterozygosity, allelic richness and colony numbers among populations of these species along the same gradient. Percentage of impervious surface cover was used as a metric for urbanization, and this percentage was measured within both 500 m and 1500 m buffers around each study site to account for both local-scale and landscape-scale effects. Impervious surface cover showed no relationship with abundances of B. impatiens or B. griseocollis, but showed a positive relationship with abundance of B. bimaculatus. Impervious surface cover also showed no relationship with genetic differentiation, allelic richness or colony number for all three species in both years, and no relationship with heterozygosity for any species in 2019. In 2020, heterozygosity was negatively correlated with impervious surface cover for B. impatiens at the 500 m buffer but not the 1500 m buffer. (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jamie Strange (Advisor); Andy Michel (Committee Member); Mary Gardiner (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2023, Environmental Science

Commercial beekeepers transport honey bees across the United States to provide pollination services to almonds and other bee-pollinated crops. Unfortunately, beekeepers have reported honey bee deaths while providing pollination services, possibly due to pesticide applications made during crop bloom. Pesticides contain both active ingredients that carry the pesticidal properties and “inert” or “other” ingredients in the formulation to improve the application properties of the pesticide. Pesticide applications are often made as “tank mixes” of multiple pesticide products, each with their own active and “inert” ingredients, and may also include spray adjuvants, which are formulations of additional “inert ingredients.” Adjuvants are intended to improve the handling or application characteristics of a pesticide application often by increasing the spreading, sticking, and penetration of pesticides through crop leaves. These “inert ingredients” that are present both as pesticide formulation components and as the “principal functioning agents” in adjuvant products do not undergo the same testing and risk assessment that is required of pesticide active ingredients and generally have no mitigation measures that prevent application onto crops during bloom at times of day when bees are foraging. This thesis consists of a literature review, a primary research study, and a research brief. The literature review suggests that the use of agricultural adjuvants and tank mix combinations of adjuvants with pesticides may be contributing to observed colony losses during almond pollination in California, highlighting a need to focus on the toxicity of these “inert ingredients” to honey bees. The research study aimed to determine toxicity of adjuvants to adult worker honey bees, both when applied alone and in adjuvant-pesticide tank mixtures for the suite of fungicides, insecticides, and adjuvants commonly applied as tank mixes to almonds during bloom. Field-relevant combinations of fo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Reed Johnson (Advisor); Megan Meuti (Committee Member); Christopher Ranger (Committee Member); Robyn Wilson (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology; Environmental Science; Toxicology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Entomology

Agriculture dominates Ohio landscapes and landscapes through much of the Midwestern United States. Honey bee colonies are frequently managed in these landscapes, however, the ability for this landscape to provide floral resources for these colonies, as well as potential benefits for honey bees managed in agriculture compared to bees kept in other landscapes are poorly understood. Through spring trees, mass-flowering soybeans, agricultural weeds, and flowers included in supplemental Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) plantings, this landscape has the potential to provide abundant pollen and nectar resources for foraging pollinators through the season. This research aims to assess this potential complementarity of resources in agricultural landscapes for honey bees. Previous methods used to identify honey bee floral resource use have largely relied on the identification of pollen. Nectar is the colony's source of carbohydrates, and robust honey stores are essential for beekeeper extraction for human consumption and colony winter survival. Here, I use a novel integration of colony weight monitoring and pollen metabarcoding of nectar and honey samples to identify the flowers on the landscape that are most important for colony weight gain and honey production. Honey bee colonies have changing needs through the season, and require abundant pollen resources in spring to accommodate high brood rearing. Both agricultural and urban landscapes provide abundant pollen and nectar resources through spring trees, and spring colony performance is similar in both landscapes (Chapter 3). This similarity minimizes the importance of colony placement compared to summer and autumn, when a difference in floral resource availability for colonies in urban and agricultural landscapes becomes apparent (Chapter 4). The extent to which honey bees use soybeans for colony honey production has been previously poorly understood. Ohio growers cultivated more than 4.9 million acres of soybea (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Reed Johnson (Advisor); Kelley Timon (Committee Member); Mary Gardiner (Committee Member); Karen Goodell (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology

Master of Science, University of Akron, 0, Biology

Roadside interchange greenspaces are a target of habitat restoration efforts pollinators in the face of recent pollinator declines. Because plants often rely on pollinators for reproduction, establishing habitats that can foster healthy pollinator population is of great value. I investigated plant and pollinator communities in restored and traditionally managed interchanges to determine 1.) if restored sites supported increased bee and floral abundance and species richness, 2.) if bee and floral communities differed between site types and 3.) whether floral and nesting resources contributed to increased bee diversity. Bee communities were sampled using a combination of aerial netting and bowl traps within restored and traditional interchanges. Restored roadsides supported greater bee and floral abundance and species richness, with restored sites having roughly double the number of bees and more than ten times the number of floral units than traditional sites. Despite these differences, neither floral nor bee community composition were significantly different between site types. Neither bare ground nor woody nesting material differed between interchange types, suggesting that floral diversity has a stronger influence on bee diversity than nesting resource availability. My findings contribute to mounting evidence of the viability of roadsides as healthy habitats for pollinators. Though roads pose challenges to many taxa, interchanges should definitely be considered for the conservation of bees and other pollinators.

Committee: Dr. Randall Mitchell (Advisor); Dr. Jessie Novotny (Committee Member); Dr. Steve Weeks (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Entomology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Entomology

Global populations of bees are in decline, threatening the stability of crop production and disrupting ecological communities. Unexpectedly, cities can harbor rich assemblages and sometimes rare species of bees. Thus, urban areas are increasingly recognized as potential refuge habitats for declining pollinators and as important targets for future bee conservation. Current urban bee populations are thought to be supported by residential gardens, parks, vacant lots and urban farms, which can contain a high floral abundance and therefore foraging resources for bees. Yet, there is no clear consensus about what drives the abundance and distribution of wild bees across cities. We also have little knowledge about how urbanization affects bee fitness, including their reproduction and health. For cities to achieve their conservation potential, we need to better understand what constitutes a high-quality urban habitat and how management can optimize urban greenspace for bee foraging and nesting. Herein, I examine patterns of bee biodiversity, nesting success, and resource capture within Cleveland, Ohio, USA as a case study for urban pollinator conservation. Cleveland is one of 350 legacy cities worldwide which are promising candidates for future bee conservation due to their high abundance of vacant urban land. For example, following protracted economic decline, Cleveland, Ohio now contains over 27,000 vacant properties, representing 1,600 ha of vacant land. While extensive vacant land can be perceived as blight, it has also provided a transformative opportunity for the city of Cleveland to invest in urban greening initiatives, including more than 235 urban farms/community gardens and the large-scale urban field experiment which I conducted this research in. To contextualize current knowledge of urban pollinators, I first review how greenspace design, management, and landscape context alter urban habitat's value for bees (Chapter 1). In addition, I assert that pollina (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mary Gardiner (Advisor); Carol Anelli (Committee Member); Reed Johnson (Committee Member); Norman Johnson (Committee Member) Subjects: Conservation; Ecology; Entomology; Urban Planning

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Environmental Science

Beekeepers are reporting significant honey bee deaths during and after almond bloom. These losses pose a major problem for the California almond industry because of its dependence on honey bees as pollinators. This research aimed to determine if combinations of agrochemicals applied during almond bloom were a possible explanation for losses reported by beekeepers. Common agrochemical mixtures often include pesticides such as insecticides and fungicides, and pesticide adjuvants, which are added to improve the performance of pesticides. This research was performed in two separate studies which both looked at the acute effects of individual and mixture effects on adult honey bee mortality. The first study looked primarily at insecticide-fungicide mixture toxicity, however, the pesticide adjuvant Dyne-Amic was used in this first study as an introduction to pesticide adjuvant toxicity alone and in combination with pesticides. The second study focused primarily on establishing toxicities for a number of different pesticide adjuvants and later looked at the toxicity of some of these adjuvants in combination with pesticides. In both studies, a Potter Spray Tower was used to mimic the spray application route of exposure and apply widely used pesticide and pesticide adjuvant formulations at field relevant application rates to adult honey bees. Previous research has shown that combinations of fungicide and insecticide active ingredients can be more toxic than the individual pesticides. The first study aimed to test the effects of pesticides and pesticide mixtures to honey bees, using formulated pesticide products sprayed on the bees at field relevant concentrations. Insecticides tested included Altacor and Intrepid and fungicides included Tilt, Pristine, Luna Sensation and Vangard, all of which are widely used in almonds during bloom. In the first study, synergistic toxicity was observed when the fungicide Tilt (a.i. propiconazole) was applied with the insecticide Altacor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Reed Johnson (Advisor); Guy Brock (Committee Member); Roman Lanno (Committee Member); Larry Phelan (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology; Environmental Science

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2020, Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology

This dissertation examines how an invasive woody plant, Lonicera maackii, temporally and spatially structures native bee communities of forest-edge habitat in agricultural landscapes. In Chapter 1, I measured bee species composition and pollination services ≤200 m from isolated forest patches in response to L. maackii flower removals. Removing flowers released a subset of small-bodied bees and increased pollination services after two years. Pollination services provisioned by large-bodied and generalist bee species (e.g. Bombus spp) increased when nearby plants were adjacent to intact L. maackii flowers. Findings suggest that L. maackii flowers suppress one component of the bee community and attract another to the forest patch that increases usage of the adjacent crop fields. In Chapter 2, I compared two components of the bee community and their responses to L. maackii density, floral resources of the forest patch, and the surrounding landscape. Bees sampled in pan traps were typically small, specialized, and responded to local patch features. Bees sampled in vane traps were larger in body size, social, and responded to landscape composition 3 km from the forest patch. These findings suggest that L. maackii floral resources support weaker foragers within the forest patch as well as larger bees that forage throughout the landscape. Both components of the bee community responded to tree community composition and were vertically stratified in the tree canopy. In Chapter 3, I measured bee diversity and community composition at different vertical strata in response to L. maackii density and flowering period as well as floral resource availability of woody plants. I found that L. maackii supports a component of the vertically stratified bee community which changes interactions with floral resources of the native woody vegetation at different vertical strata. Collectively, my studies demonstrate that L. maackii structures forest-edge bee communities through mechanisms invo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Thomas Crist (Advisor); David Berg (Committee Member); Amelie Davis (Committee Member); David Gorchov (Committee Member); Jign Zhang (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Biology; Conservation; Ecology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2017, Environmental Science

Varroa destructor mites are the greatest challenge facing modern beekeepers. There are a variety of treatment and monitoring methods available, however, they are variable in efficacy, ease of application, and seasonality of application. In particular, many chemical options can only be used when honey intended for human consumption is not present. There is need for new treatments that can be used by beekeepers in late summer when harvestable honey is present. Known insecticidal properties of a C8910 fatty acid blend suggested that it may be a viable pesticide for controlling Varroa mites that can be used during the summer. Acute contact bioassays showed that the C8910 blend had a sufficient margin of safety to bees, however, the C8910 blend was not effective at controlling mites in full-sized colonies. Acute contact bioassays of shorter fatty acid chains showed that they are more toxic to mites and safer for bees and therefore may be more effective at controlling mites in full-sized colonies. Even though chemical options are essential for preventing colony loss, many beekeepers still choose not to treat with chemical products. It is essential to determine what drives beekeeping decisions in order to create new products that will be utilized by beekeepers. Survey results showed that there are distinctive differences between hobbyist and sideline beekeepers with regards to management methods used and factors used to make management decisions. Hobbyists beekeepers in Ohio used more treatment and monitoring methods that are time-intensive, such as powdered sugar shakes and drone brood removal, than semi-professional sideline beekeepers suggesting that factors pertaining to ease of application may be driving beekeeping decisions by beekeepers managing a larger number of colonies. Hobbyist beekeepers also used more methods that show little effectiveness (screened bottom boards and drone brood removal), suggesting that treatment decisions may be influenced by years of beeke (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Reed Johnson (Advisor); Alia Dietsch (Committee Member); Thomas Janini (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology; Environmental Science

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1983, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Biology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1975, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Biology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2017, Environmental Science

Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) are the most damaging pest in modern beekeeping, and have been linked with elevated levels of colony loss. Experts increasingly recommend an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy to manage Varroa, which incorporates both preventative and therapeutic controls. However, Varroa IPM is complicated and knowledge-intensive. Small-scale beekeepers in particular seem to have difficulty adopting effective Varroa control strategies, and suffer especially high rates of colony loss. This study took an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the adoption of Varroa IPM among small-scale beekeepers. First, I used surveys and interviews to characterize mite management strategies among Ohio small-scale beekeepers, and to explore the effect of experience and risk perception on behavior. Second, as a case study, I took a closer look at the efficacy and adoption of one complex IPM tool – drone brood removal (DBR) – through interviews, surveys, and an on-farm trial. Overall, I found no relationship between beekeeping experience and mite management strategies, but sampling (risk perception) was associated with the use of “soft” miticides (organic acids/essential oils) and DBR. I also found that most beekeepers who used DBR combined it with drone sampling (adjusting DBR based on sampled mite levels), and that labor was the biggest barrier to DBR use. In the on-farm trial, DBR significantly reduced mites in year one but not year two. These results suggest that mite management failures among small-scale beekeepers are not due to inexperience and may indicate a broader communication breakdown. They also suggest that risk perception – beekeepers' understanding that they even have mites – may be a key factor driving adoption of mite management practices. Finally, they point to the fact that DBR is already being used in nuanced ways as a combined management and sampling strategy. They suggest that DBR is not a silver bullet, but can be an effective tool (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Casey Hoy Ph.D. (Advisor); Reed Johnson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Anna Willow Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Entomology; Environmental Science

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Entomology

Bees (Anthophila) worldwide have been experiencing a recent decline in species diversity, abundance, and genetic diversity. There have been many factors implicated in these declines: loss of habitat and resources, urbanization, disease, parasites, pesticides, and heavy metals. I focus here on urbanization, and how the creation of anthropogenically-dominated landscapes influences the structure of bee communities, and heavy metal exposure in bee populations. Derelict habitats within cities are often called vacant lands, areas where previously-built parcels have been repurposed as unbuilt, weedy areas. As local citizens do not fully appreciate the benefits of these habitats, many are transformed by citizen groups into urban gardens, which are valued for local, fresh produce and community revitalization. Pollination services are required in gardens in order to produce fruit of many crops, and depend upon a diverse and abundant bee community to visit flowers. We analyzed bee abundance, diversity, and community structure in order to determine what can be done to maintain or increase pollination services in gardens, as well as the contribution of vacant land to pollinator community stability and pollination services in garden habitats. We found that bee abundance was greater in garden habitats, but this does not necessarily confer pollination services. Bee diversity and pollination services did not differ between habitats in two studies. However, bee visitation behavior and bee community structure differed between habitats, and importance should be given to species-specific interactions to determine what may encourage conservation of bee communities. Another negative legacy of urban areas is a high environmental level of heavy metals. The city of Cleveland has an ecological history of heavy metal deposition due to use of leaded paints and fuels, as well as more specific point sources such as manufacturing sites. Heavy metal contamination is known to be a concern fo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mary Gardiner (Advisor) Subjects: Entomology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Entomology

The unifying thesis of my dissertation is that the biology of a honey bee colony cannot be understood apart from the landscape in which it lives; this influence of landscape applies especially to honey bee foraging biology and toxic exposure, and consequently to apicultural outcomes. In Chapter 1, I present and elaborate this thesis in the context of existing literature and lay out the scope of my dissertation accordingly. In Chapter 2, I describe a study in which I collaborated with volunteer beekeepers to measure the success of honey bee colonies surrounded by different types of landscape in Ohio, USA. The results of this study showed that the most successful colonies tended to be those surrounded by agricultural land as opposed to those in forested or urban landscapes, which was contrary to the prevailing opinion that agricultural landscapes are too dominated by crop monocultures and too contaminated with pesticides to support healthy honey bees. This led me to hypothesize that the relationship between honey bee success and landscape is driven mainly by the availability of certain key floral taxa that, in Ohio, occur most abundantly in the interstices of the agricultural landscape. Chapter 3 further pursues the question of whether honey bees prefer agricultural or urban land use by setting up a foraging choice test between these two landscape types. Using a combination of dance language analysis and pollen identification, I monitored the spatial and taxonomic patterns of honey bee foraging at an apiary located on the interface of urban and agricultural land use. The results indicate a strong and consistent preference for the agricultural landscape, corroborating the results of Chapter 1 with an independent data set and using different lines of evidence. In Chapter 4, I turn my attention to the issue of toxic exposure, constructing a critical review of existing approaches to modeling toxic exposure in honey bees. All existing approaches suffer from seriou (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Reed Johnson (Advisor); Casey Hoy (Committee Member); Mary Gardiner (Committee Member); Karen Goodell (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Entomology; Toxicology

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2015, Environmental Sciences

Bees provide a crucial ecosystem service in crop pollination. Maintaining healthy managed and wild bee populations is critical to continue this important service that also affects many crops and thus the food we eat. This study focuses on the ecosystem service provided by managed bees in the Prairie Pothole region of North Dakota, an area characterized by intensive agriculture and remnant grassland, wetlands, and prairies. A spatially explicit model was used to determine the suitability of the landscape for managed bees using floral resource quality estimates, foraging distances, and land use land cover data for 2008-2012. The model outputs are akin to a floral resource quality index for managed bees. This index was compared with honey production, which is being used as an indicator of managed bee health. The results show a strong positive relationship between honey production and the floral resource quality index in 2008, and a weaker positive relationship in 2009 and 2010. Results for 2012 were inconclusive. A linear mixed effect model was used to account for the sampling of the same locations over multiple years. The models were better than the null models and proved to be statistically significant, indicating the importance of land use land cover suitability for managed bees. The presumed factors contributing to the variability of the relationship between land use land cover and honey production between years are discussed. These include land use land cover changes, Colony Collapse Disorder, pesticide application, beekeeper intervention, and interannual weather variations.

Committee: Amélie Davis (Advisor); Sarah Dumyahn (Committee Member); Mary Henry (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Conservation; Entomology; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Geography; Land Use Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2009, Electrical and Computer Engineering

When a honeybee swarm takes off to fly to its new home site, less than5% of the thousands of bees in the swarm have visited the site and thereby know in what direction the swarm must fly. Here, the method of guidance in honeybee swarms is investigated using both a semi-automated method, as well as a novel image processing technique to extract data from videos of swarm flight. In addition to the investigation of guidance, behaviors of individuals in the swarm are analyzed to study swarm cohesion as well as an apparent feedback process that produces group-level acceleration. Swarm flight is a real-world example of distributed agreement, wherein a few informed individuals are able to make the uninformed thousands agree on a common direction of motion. Here, we use agreement algorithms to investigate solutions for automatic control of lighting, so-called "cooperative lights." Using a micro-test bed, a number of potential challenges of cooperative lighting are revealed and investigated with statistical methods.

Committee: Kevin Passino PhD (Advisor); Andrea Serrani D.Sc (Committee Member); C. Emre Koksal PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Bioinformatics; Electrical Engineering