Abstract
Honey bee virus prevalence data are an essential prerequisite for managing epidemic events in a population. A survey study was carried out for seven viruses in colonies representing a healthy Danish honey bee population. In addition, colonies from apiaries with high level Varroa infestation or high level of winter mortality were also surveyed. Results from RT-qPCR showed a considerable difference of virus levels between healthy and sick colonies. In the group of healthy colonies, no virus was detected in 36% of cases, while at least one virus was found in each of the sick colonies. Virus titers varied among the samples, and multiple virus infections were common in both groups with a high prevalence of Sacbrood virus (SBV), Black queen cell virus (BQCV) and Deformed wing virus (DWV). Based on the distribution of virus titers, we established four categories of infection: samples free of virus (C = 0), samples with low virus titer (estimated number of virus copies 0 < C < 103), samples with medium virus titer (103 ≤ C < 107) and samples with high virus titer (C ≥ 107). This allowed us to statistically compare virus levels in healthy and sick colonies. Using categories to communicate virus diagnosis results to beekeepers may help them to reach an informed decision on management strategies to prevent further spread of viruses among colonies.
Highlights
Honey bee colonies provide valuable pollinators that enable secure crop productivity [1]
A total of 241 apparently healthy and 28 sick colonies were screened for Sacbrood virus (SBV), Black queen cell virus (BQCV), Deformed wing virus (DWV), Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) and ABPV complex viruses
We report data on the prevalence of viruses in samples of healthy Danish honey bee colonies collected in the spring time
Summary
Honey bee colonies provide valuable pollinators that enable secure crop productivity [1]. The decline of pollinators in many countries has received considerable public and scientific attention in the past decade [2]. Honey bees have been experiencing considerable colony losses worldwide [3], with yearly estimates of about 30% in the U.S since 2006 [4,5,6]. Losses have been reported from Europe, Europe appears to experience generally lower levels of losses at a less constant rate [7,8,9]. Environmental and biological, have been highlighted in correlation to colony losses [3, 7, 10,11,12]. There exists as yet no comprehensive conclusion about the cause or the most probable combination of causes [6, 13, 14]
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