Multiyear survey targeting disease incidence in US honey bees

Kirsten S. Traynor , Karen Rennich , Eva Forsgren , Robyn Rose , Jeffery Pettis , Grace Kunkel , Shayne Madella , Jay Evans , Dawn Lopez , Dennis Vanengelsdorp

AbstractThe US National Honey Bee Disease Survey sampled colony pests and diseases from 2009 to 2014. We verified the absence of Tropilaelaps spp., the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana), and slow bee paralysis virus. Endemic health threats were quantified, including Varroa destructor, Nosema spp., and eight honey bee viruses. Varroa loads varied across years, with annual fall peaks; Nosema peaked January to April. Migratory beekeepers had significantly lower Varroa prevalence (84.9 vs. 97.0 %) and loads (3.65 ± 0.28 vs. 5.99 ± 0.22) than stationary operations, while Nosema was more prevalent (59.9 vs. 46.7 %) in migratory colonies. Since 2010, chronic bee paralysis virus prevalence doubled annually. We detected strong positive relationships between V. destructor and Varroa-transmitted viruses, between Nosema and Lake Sinai virus 2, and a positive relationship across several viral pathogens of bees. The results provide a disease baseline to help identify drivers of poor bee health.

Mots clés: Apis mellifera; disease survey; pests; parasite; USA

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Kirsten S. Traynor, Karen Rennich, Eva Forsgren, Robyn Rose, Jeffery Pettis, et al.. Multiyear survey targeting disease incidence in US honey bees. Apidologie, 2016, 47 (3), pp.325-347. ⟨10.1007/s13592-016-0431-0⟩. ⟨hal-01532459⟩