The prevalence and loads of deformed wing virus (DWV) between honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies from a tropical and a temperate environment were compared. The interaction between these environments and the mite Varroa destructor in relation to DWV prevalence, levels, and overt infections, was also analyzed. V. destructor rates were determined, and samples of mites, adult bees, brood parasi...

Two pathogens co-infecting a common host can either interact positively (facilitation), negatively (competition) or act independently. A correlative study has suggested that two pathogens of the honey bee, Nosema ceranae and Deformed wing virus (DWV), interact negatively within a host (Costa et al., 2011). To test this hypothesis, we sequentially co-infected honey bees with these pathogens in a...

Honey bees are critical pollinators of important agricultural crops. Recently, high annual losses of honey bee colonies have prompted further investigation of honey bee infecting viruses. To better characterize the recently discovered and very prevalent Lake Sinai virus (LSV) group, we sequenced currently circulating LSVs, performed phylogenetic analysis, and obtained images of LSV2. Sequence a...

Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) is an important viral disease of adult bees which induces significant losses in honey bee colonies. Despite comprehensive research, only limited data is available from experimental infection for this virus. In the present study winter worker bees were experimentally infected in three different experiments. Bees were first inoculated per os (p/o) or per cuticle...

In agriculture, honey bees play a critical role as commercial pollinators of crop monocultures which depend on insect pollination. Hence, the demise of honey bee colonies in Europe, USA, and Asia caused much concern and initiated many studies and research programmes aiming at elucidating the factors negatively affecting honey bee health and survival. Most of these studies look at individual fac...

A new RT-PCR test has been developed to diagnose Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) that is able to detect genetically variable viral isolates. In fact, up to 8.7% divergence between partial nucleotide sequences from viral isolates from French honey bees was highlighted in a preliminary variability study. The previously-described RT-PCR was unable to detect all these viral isolates and RT-PCR d...

Honey bees face numerous biotic threats from viruses to bacteria, fungi, protists, and mites. Here we describe a thorough analysis of microbes harbored by worker honey bees collected from field colonies in geographically distinct regions of Turkey. Turkey is one of the World's most important centers of apiculture, harboring five subspecies of Apis mellifera L., approximately 20% of the honey be...

Sudden and severe declines in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony health in the US and Europe have been attributed, in part, to emergent microbial pathogens, however, the mechanisms behind the impact are unclear. Using roundabout flight mills, we measured the flight distance and duration of actively foraging, healthy-looking honey bees sampled from standard colonies, before quantifying the level ...

The ecto-parasitic mite Varroa destructor has transformed the previously inconsequential Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) into the most important honey bee viral pathogen responsible for the death of millions of colonies worldwide. Naturally, DWV persists as a low level covert infection transmitted between nest-mates. It has long been speculated that Varroa via immunosuppression of the bees, activate ...

Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) are ectoparasites of honey bees (Apis mellifera) and cause serious damage to bee colonies. The mechanism of how varroa mites kill honey bees remains unclear. We have addressed the effects of the mites on bee immunity and the replication of a picorna-like virus, the deformed wing virus (DWV). The expression of genes encoding three antimicrobial peptides (abaecin,...