Riley Shultz is not afraid of bees.
Shultz, WSU senior biochemistry major and Spanish minor, said her connection with honeybees sparked an idea to research fungi treatments with the potential to boost bees’ immune systems.
Honeybees are often plagued by mites, specifically the Varroa destructor, which transfers pathogens and parasitizes the bees. Shultz said she introduced the Matarhizium pathogenic fungus to improve the bees’ lifespan. The fungus could also kill mites.
Shultz found that bees with a high dose treatment lived longer. However, it did not kill a significant amount of mites.
“The biggest challenge with my experiment is how much fungus should be applied,” she said. “I definitely don’t want to hurt the bees in my trial, but I also want to have a high enough dosage that kills mites.”