Nationwide Screening for Bee Viruses and Parasites in Belgian Honey Bees
The health of honey bees is threatened by multiple factors, including viruses and parasites. We screened 557 honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) colonies from 155 beekeepers distributed all over Belgium to determine the prevalence of seven widespread viruses and two parasites ( Varroa sp. and Nosema sp.). Deformed wing virus B (DWV-B), black queen cell virus (BQCV), and sacbrood virus (SBV) were highly prevalent and detected by real-time RT-PCR in more than 95% of the colonies. Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) and deformed wing virus A (DWV-A) were prevalent to a l... Mehr ...
Verfasser: | |
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Dokumenttyp: | Artikel |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2020 |
Reihe/Periodikum: | Viruses, Vol 12, Iss 890, p 890 (2020) |
Verlag/Hrsg.: |
MDPI AG
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Schlagwörter: | honey bee virus / honey bee parasite / virus screening / Belgium / Varroa / Nosema / Microbiology / QR1-502 |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26510999 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | https://doi.org/10.3390/v12080890 |
The health of honey bees is threatened by multiple factors, including viruses and parasites. We screened 557 honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) colonies from 155 beekeepers distributed all over Belgium to determine the prevalence of seven widespread viruses and two parasites ( Varroa sp. and Nosema sp.). Deformed wing virus B (DWV-B), black queen cell virus (BQCV), and sacbrood virus (SBV) were highly prevalent and detected by real-time RT-PCR in more than 95% of the colonies. Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) and deformed wing virus A (DWV-A) were prevalent to a lower extent (between 18 and 29%). Most viruses were only present at low or moderate viral loads. Nevertheless, about 50% of the colonies harbored at least one virus at high viral load (>10 7 genome copies/bee). Varroa mites and Nosema sp. were found in 81.5% and 59.7% of the honey bee colonies, respectively, and all Nosema were identified as Nosema ceranae by real time PCR. Interestingly, we found a significant correlation between the number of Varroa mites and DWV-B viral load. To determine the combined effect of these and other factors on honey bee health in Belgium, a follow up of colonies over multiple years is necessary.