High-Throughput Sample Homogenizer for Texas A&M Honey Bee Diagnostic Lab
Garett Slater, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Equipment Description and Need: Beekeepers have experienced high losses this past year, which highlights the need for a high-throughput diagnostic lab. In response, we are launching a honey bee diagnostic lab at Texas A&M Extension to deliver faster results to beekeepers and provide real-time insights into emerging problems. Recently, we have secured funding to equip our lab with a high throughput pipeline for genetic testing, honey source testing, pathogen, and parasite testing. This includes a Thermo Scientific KingFisher Apex for automated DNA/RNA extraction, a QuantStudio 7 Flex qPCR system for viral and pathogen detection, and a MiSeq i100 for genetic analyses. However, these instruments cannot operate at full capacity because sample homogenization remains a critical bottleneck.
To remove this bottleneck, we request funding to purchase an Alkali Scientific BeadBlaster™ 96 Ball Mill Homogenizer. This instrument will allow our lab to simultaneous omogenize and prep 96 samples for downstream extraction, qPCR, and genetic sequencing. Without this equipment, 96-sample plates must be homogenized in multiple small batches, which increases turnaround time, labor costs, and per-sample cost. By eliminating 5 hours of manual work per 96 samples, the BeadBlaster will allow >40,000 additional samples/year.
Impact on Research, Extension, and Outreach in Beekeeping:
The BeadBlaster 96 will increase our diagnostic throughput by nearly 200%, raising daily capacity from ~96 to ~288 samples. This will expand our annual sample throughput by more than 45,000 samples and reduce over labor costs. More importantly, this translates into faster turnaround for beekeeper submissions, more affordable testing, and the ability to provide timely information on honey bee health.
In addition to diagnostic applications, this equipment will directly support extension and outreach by
providing proactive decision support to U.S. beekeepers. Results will feed an early-warning system
that flags abnormal trends and sends alerts to participating beekeepers, national organizations (ABF,
AHPA), and industry partners. In collaboration with epidemiologists at Texas A&M, we will also publish an interactive dashboard that shows disease patterns, heat maps, and seasonal trends. This will allow beekeepers to see what is happening in real time, enable rapid response, and more importantly, provide the insights needed to understand and prevent colony losses.
This equipment will also strengthen our support for queen producers. We recently developed TAMU1K, a genetic test that allows commercial breeders to survey their operation and pinpoint
colonies most likely to express high-value traits (e.g., hygienic behavior, Varroa tolerance,
productivity, temperament). Genomics-assisted breeding is at a tipping point for commercial application, and this improved high-throughput pipeline will allow us to help queen producers make faster, more informed selection decisions.
MiSeq i100 Genetic and Pollen Testing QS 7 Flex qPCR Viral/Pathogen Testing BeadBlaster™ 96 Ball Mill Homogenizer
Sample Processing
KingFisher Apex
Automated DNA/RNA Extraction High-Throughput Diagnostic Pipeline
288 Samples/Day.
Budget Justification:
We request funding to purchase the Alkali Scientific BeadBlaster™ 96 Ball Mill Homogenizer ($11,624.60) to expand the diagnostic and research capacity of the Texas A&M Honey Bee Diagnostic Laboratory. Our current throughput is constrained by labor-intensive manual
homogenization, which limits the number of honey bee samples processed each day. The BeadBlaster™ 96 eliminates this bottleneck by homogenizing 96 samples in under 1 minute. In contrast, processing the same plate manually requires ~5 hours. The total cost of the nstrument is $11,624.60, with PI Slater providing $1,624.60 in cost share. This is a total requested amount of $10,000.
PI Information: Garett Slater, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension