Abstract
To evaluate the influence that parasites have on the losses of Apis mellifera it is essential to monitor their presence in the colonies over time. Here we analysed the occurrence of nosematids, trypanosomatids and neogregarines in five homogeneous colonies for up to 21 months until they collapsed. The study, which combined the use of several molecular markers with the application of a massive parallel sequencing technology, provided valuable insights into the epidemiology of these parasites: (I) it enabled the detection of parasite species rarely reported in honeybees (Nosema thomsoni, Crithidia bombi, Crithidia acanthocephali) and the identification of two novel taxa; (II) it revealed the existence of a high rate of co-infections (80% of the samples harboured more than one parasite species); (III) it uncovered an identical pattern of seasonal variation for nosematids and trypanosomatids, that was different from that of neogregarines; (IV) it showed that there were no significant differences in the fraction of positive samples, nor in the levels of species diversity, between interior and exterior bees; and (V) it unveiled that the variation in the number of parasite species was not directly linked with the failure of the colonies.
Highlights
To evaluate the influence that parasites have on the losses of Apis mellifera it is essential to monitor their presence in the colonies over time
Regional losses of honeybee colonies have been frequently reported[2,3,4,5], at a global scale the number of managed colonies seem to have risen, either due to their high demand for honey production and pollination services in certain areas[6,7] or to the lack of adequate tools to quantify their mortality on a harmonized basis[8]
The long-term declines observed in local stocks of managed honeybees is usually attributed to politic and socio-economic factors[7,9], whereas annual losses respond to a wider spectrum of causes[4,5,8,9]
Summary
To evaluate the influence that parasites have on the losses of Apis mellifera it is essential to monitor their presence in the colonies over time. We analysed the diversity of three major groups of unicellular parasites (nosematids, trypanosomatids and neogregarines) in five homogeneous colonies that were screened sequentially until their death.
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