Date of Award

May 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Rebecca Simmons

Abstract

There has been growing research examining the effects on honey bee nutrition through their gut microbial communities. While there is some consensus about the core composition of the honey bee gut, there has been very little work to examine if regional or seasonal differences affect the microbiome. To examine if seasonal or regional differences have any impact on the composition of the gut microbiomes on North Dakota honey bees, worker bees were sampled from commercial honey bee colonies both pre and post honey flow in 2022 in six different regions of North Dakota. The gut bacteria from the bees were identified and analyzed to compare any possible differences between each region, and fat body mass was measured to determine additional impacts of available forage. While a high level of variation was found in the microbes present in the honey bee gut, no significant differences were found across the state in a single season. Differences were found in fat body mass that suggest the forage species available may not be supporting the nutritional needs of honey bees as they leave the state in the fall. This information, combined with the known functions of both gut microbes and fat bodies in the immune response of honey bees, suggest that further examination is required.

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