Nigel Raine

@NigelERaine

Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation @uofg🐝 Wild #pollinator #behaviour, #ecology & #conservation🦋 College of @RSCTheAcademies 🇨🇦🇬🇧 He/him/his

Guelph, Canada 1in3mouthfuls.org Joined August 2014

1.4K Following 3K Followers 6.8K Posts

Latest posts 5

Nigel Raine @NigelERaine May 14

If you're attending #CSEE2026 today, please check out Kiera Newman's talk on how milkweed cardenolides might mediate co-evolutionary trade-offs between medicinal benefits and toxicity in #honeybee workers in BA-2175 at 11:45am! @bees4future

Host-pathogen interactions are shaped by ecological and evolutionary factors, including exposure to phytochemicals that function as both therapeutic and toxic agents. In honey bees (Apis mellifera), the microsporidian pathogen Nosema ceranae affects health and reduces survival, yet the role of phytochemicals in mediating disease remains poorly understood. Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), planted to support Monarch butterfly conservation, produce toxic cardenolides that deter herbivores and parasites, and to which flower visitors can be exposed by consumption of nectar. We experimentally tested how consumption of ecologically relevant cardenolide concentrations in artificial nectar influenced Nosema ceranae infection, survival, and weight change in honey bee workers.

Nigel Raine @NigelERaine May 11

If you're attending #CSEE2026 tomorrow (12 May), please check out @SabRondeau's talk on the independent and combined effects of winter warming and soil pesticide exposure on diapausing #bumblebee queens in BA1240 at 14:30. One of several great looking #bee talks in the session!

In temperate regions, bumblebee (Bombus spp.) queens overwinter underground, where they can be simultaneously exposed to pesticide-contaminated soils and warming winter temperatures. Soil insecticide exposure might affect post-hibernation performance and colony establishment, while warmer overwintering temperatures increase energetic demands and could alter temperature-dependent pesticide detoxification processes.

Nigel Raine @NigelERaine Apr 16

Calling all Guelphites! If you're walking, running or cycling @uogarboretum Arboretum please make sure you have Bluetooth enabled on your phone. Doing this will really help us to collect data on the movement patterns of radiotagged bumble #bee queens #Pollinators @RyanNorrisSci

Bluetooth for bees! Help us track bumble bees by turning on your Bluetooth on your mobile phone when you are walking, running or cycling at the University of Guelph Arboretum.

Nigel Raine @NigelERaine Apr 11

Grassland management & wild #bee biodiversity: conservation lessons from native & non-native systems in S Ontario. New review, led by Kyr Lightburn, discusses the importance of integrating incentive-based management & targeted restoration in working lands: doi.org/10.1139/facets…

Grassland habitats in Southern Ontario illustrating the diversity of vegetation structure and ﬂoral communities across
various sites. Panels (a)–(d) show non-native rotationally grazed pastures, while panels (e)–(h) show non-grazed, native grassland
habitats. Panel (b) shows blue vane traps in ﬁeld for bee surveying. Photos (e)–(h) courtesy of Janean Sharkey.

Nigel Raine @NigelERaine Apr 7

Anthropogenic stressors drive microbiome assembly: a global meta-analysis of #bumblebees. Exciting work, led by Christine Macpherson, reveals the impacts of human-altered environments in shaping the communities of microorganisms in #bee guts: doi.org/10.1016/j.scit… #pollinators