Bees grooming each other can boost colony immunity

Honeybees that specialise in grooming their nestmates (allogroomers) to ward off pests play a central role in the colony, finds a new UCL and University of Florence study. Allogroomer bees also appear to have stronger immune systems, possibly enabling them to withstand their higher risk of infection, according to the findings published in Scientific Reports . Ectoparasites (parasites that live on the outside of a host's body, such as mites) are a growing threat to honeybees worldwide, so the researchers say that supporting allogrooming behaviour might be an effective pest control strategy. Lead author Dr Alessandro Cini, who began the project at the University of Florence before moving over to UCL Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research, said: "An ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor , represents a major global threat to bee colonies. By understanding how allogrooming practices are used to ward off parasites, we may be able to develop strategies to promote allogrooming behaviour and increase resilience to the parasites. "Here, we found worker bees that specialise in allogrooming are highly connected within their colonies, and have developed stronger immune systems. "We suspect that if more bees engaged in these allogrooming behaviours that ward off parasites, the colony as a whole could have greater immunity." Among bees, allogrooming consists of a worker using its mouth  to remove debris, which may include parasites and other pathogens, from the body of another member of its colony.