Abstract
Inspectors with the UK National Bee Unit were asked for 2007-2008 to target problem apiaries in England and Wales for pathogen screening and colony strength measures. Healthy colonies were included in the sampling to provide a continuum of health conditions. A total of 406 adult bee samples was screened and yielded 7 viral, 1 bacterial, and 2 microsporidial pathogens and 1 ectoparasite (Acarapis woodi). In addition, 108 samples of brood were screened and yielded 4 honey bee viruses. Virus prevalence varied from common (deformed wing virus, black queen cell virus) to complete absence (Israeli acute paralysis virus). When colonies were forced into one of two classes, strong or weak, the weak colonies contained more pathogens in adult bees. Among observed pathogens, only deformed wing virus was able to predict colony strength. The effect was negative such that colonies testing positive for deformed wing virus were likely to have fewer combs of bees or brood. This study constitutes the first record for Nosema ceranae in Great Britain. These results contribute to the growing body of evidence linking pathogens to poor honey bee health.
Highlights
Since the middle of the last decade honey bee decline has galvanized a multi-national effort to understand the extent of the problem, characterize its causative or associated factors, and develop mitigating practices and policies
The monitoring of honey bee health is performed by a government funded apiary inspection programme in England and Wales, operated by the National Bee Unit (NBU; http://www. nationalbeeunit.com)
When samples from dead colonies were removed from analyses we found that DWV remained a predictor for poor colony strength
Summary
Since the middle of the last decade honey bee decline has galvanized a multi-national effort to understand the extent of the problem, characterize its causative or associated factors, and develop mitigating practices and policies. The problem is concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere where winter losses are reported from around 30% in the USA [1], 10–85% in the Middle East [2], and 1.8–53% across Europe [2,3]. This paper is part of a growing body of evidence that associates specific risk factors with colony death or decline. These papers vary in the case definitions used to categorize colonies that are healthy or unhealthy, the risk categories considered, and the geographic ranges included
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