Chiara Benedetta Boni

Project Title: Impacts, threats, and sustainability of beekeeping management

Abstract: Beekeeping management is defined as the breeding and commercialization (management) of certain bee species (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) for production purposes and for ecosystem services such as the pollination of agricultural crops. Despite the essential role that these livestock activities can play in maintaining proper ecosystem functioning through pollination services, beekeeping can no longer be considered an agricultural activity with negligible environmental impacts. This outdated view must now contend with the ongoing global decline of pollinators observed over recent decades.

In this context, the role of national parks is twofold. On the one hand, protected areas are fundamental for pollinator conservation, as they provide suitable habitats for the survival, reproduction, and nesting of bees. On the other hand, national parks promote and support traditional products—such as honey and other animal-derived products—produced within their territories, which contribute to the identity of the parks themselves.

Improper beekeeping management can negatively affect the health and conservation of wild pollinators in three main ways: trophic competition between managed and unmanaged bees, pathogen spillover from managed honeybees to wild bees, and genetic introgression. These three major topics will be further investigated and analyzed during the PhD project.

In particular, interspecific trophic competition will be investigated in five national parks of the north-central Apennines and in the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago. Pollen loads will be collected from both managed honeybees and wild (unmanaged) bees, analyzed through classical palynological analysis combined with metabarcoding techniques, and compared to determine the degree of overlap in trophic resource use. The results will also be evaluated in relation to the different densities of managed honeybee colonies across the municipalities within the parks, based on data extrapolated from the National Beekeeping Registry.

Pathogen spillover remains an issue that is still poorly understood. In this project, the presence of spillover of major viruses, bacteria, and fungi from managed honeybees to wild (unmanaged) bees will be investigated on the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, including Montecristo Island, where honeybees have never been introduced.

To obtain more comprehensive data on the main transmission routes currently recognized, various samples will be analyzed using metabarcoding, including samples from different matrices such as wild bees captured in flight, pollen collected from flowers, and material obtained from artificial nests for cavity-nesting species.

From the study of these three impacts, the expected results could provide a knowledge base to define more sustainable beekeeping management practices and actions. Among these: i) identifying an optimal density of honeybee colonies and sufficient trophic resources to avoid negative impacts on unmanaged bee populations; ii) determining the need for stricter controls on the health status of species bred and distributed in the territories, particularly within national parks; and iii) developing action plans for the conservation of endemic species threatened by genetic introgression.

Oral communications at conference:

• Boni, C.B., Coppola, F., Quaranta, M., Giannini, F., Felicioli, A. 2023. “Le isole: una sfida per la salvaguardia degli endemismi”. Workshop “Strategie per la conservazione della biodiversità degli impollinatori” for “Giornate tecnico-scientifiche per la biodiversità degli impollinatori”. Portici, May, 2023
• Boni, C. B., F. Coppola, M. Quaranta, F. Giannini, A. Felicioli. “Threats for unmanaged bumblebees conservation on 3 Islands of Tuscan Archipelago National Park”. First international meeting Apis silvatica. The western honey bee in nature, National Park Pantelleria Island. Oral Communication as Invited Speaker, May 2022.
•  Boni, C.B., Coppola, F., Baldanti, S., Di Rosso, A., Felicioli, A., 2021. “Il branco e il suo benessere”. The wolf and our territory: in search of a new balance. Agroecology Desk of Calci, Calci, July 2021

Poster at conference

• Di Rosso, A., Felicioli, A., Coppola, F., Furzi, F., Gabrielli, S., Baldanti, S., Boni, C.B., Macchioni, F., “Taeniid cestodes in Appennine wolf (Canis lupus italicus) living in an anhtropic area: a one health perspective. Conservation medicine and wildlife health international seminar”. Teramo, June, 2022
• Di rosso A., Baldanti S., Coppola F., Boni C.B., Felicioli A.  “Relationship between wolf, wild boar and collective hunting: beyond popular belief.” 12th Italian Congress of Theriology, Cogne (AO), Gran Paradiso National Park, June 2022
• Di Francescantonio, G., Boni, C.B., Coppola, F., Di Santo, M., Di Cecco, V., Di Martino, L., Felicioli, A. 2022. “Anesthesia effects on the managed Bombus terrestris terrestris: a propedeutic investigation to study the climatic “refugee” Bombus konradini”. First international meeting Apis silvatica. The western honey bee in nature, National Park Pantelleria Island.
• D. Valli, A. Massolo, M. Wasserman, A. Meriggi, E. Torretta, M. Serafini, L. Zambon, C. B. Boni, M. Ori, T. Romig, F. Macchioni. “Host partitioning of taeniid species in wild and domestic canids at the southern edge of the Italian Western Alps”. SoIPa Congress, Milan, June 2018.