Eliza Litsey to Discuss a Novel Queen Honey Bee Treatment

If you're curious about honey bees, queens and juvenile hormones, you'll want to attend or hear the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT) seminar to be presented by apiculturist Eliza Litsey, a former graduate student in the honey bee lab of Elina Lastro Niño

Litsey, who received her master's degree in entomology in June and is now a laboratory technician in the lab of research entomologist Julia Fine, USDA/ARS, Davis,, will present her exit seminar on "Investigating a Novel Queen Honey Bee Treatment" at 4:10 p.m., Monday, Nov. 4 in 122 Briggs Hall. It also will be on Zoom. The Zoom link: 
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672

Later it be archived on the ENT seminar page.

"Juvenile hormone is an insect hormone known to regulate aspects of development and adult reproduction," she says in her abstract. "In honey bees, the role of juvenile hormone in reproduction is not well-explored, though its levels are correlated with many social behaviors and developmental pathways. A recent study demonstrated that queen exposure to the juvenile hormone mimic, pyriproxyfen, leads to higher egg hatching rates, and that the exposed queens' offspring perform more queen supportive behaviors than the offspring of control queens. The goal of this research is to further investigate the effects of queen exposure to pyriproxyfen as a potential queen treatment, using laboratory and field-based assays."

As a graduate student, Litsey specialized in  bee biology, reproduction, and environmental toxicology. She also holds a bachelor's degree (June 2019) from UC Davis. 

Niño, associate professor of Cooperative Extension, Apiculture and a member of the ENT faculty, founded and directs the California Master Beekeeper Program.

Nematologist Amanda Hodson, assistant professor of soil ecology and pest management, is coordinating the ENT seminars. The full list is here. For more information or for technical issues, contact Hodson at akhodson@ucdavis.edu