Abstract

The 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.

Keywords

Apis mellifera; disease survey; pests; parasite; USA

Published in

Apidologie
2016, Volume: 47, number: 3, pages: 325-347
Publisher: SPRINGER FRANCE

SLU Authors

• Forsgren, Eva

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Maryland

UKÄ Subject classification

Other Veterinary Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-016-0431-0

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/78360