Honey Bee Bacterial Diseases

Milbrath, Meghan O.

doi:10.1002/9781119583417.ch22

Cited by 7 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…We confirm several trends reported or proposed elsewhere, 9,16,40,43 and add clarity to relationships that have been more inconsistent, 18,35,36 which are discussed further below. By analyzing data from colonies across Canada, we are also able to comment on prevalence of disease agents in some of the major beekeeping regions in this country; most notably, that Varroa and M. plutonius are more prevalent in BC than other provinces, at least within our sampling breadth, which was concentrated on two operations in the Lower Mainland area near Vancouver.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…16,24 However, larval food supply is clearly not the only factor involved, since larvae fed in excess may still develop the disease. 42 Interestingly, Milbrath 16 and Bailey 43 suggest that even favorable foraging conditions could lead to temporary nutritional stress of larvae during the spring if a strong nectar flow causes nurse bees to reallocate their labor to process honey. Rowland et al 9 found that higher precipitation (associated with poor foraging conditions) was linked to higher EFB incidence in England and Wales, but no relationship was found with temperature nor wind speed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climatic predictors of prominent honey bee (Apis mellifera) disease agents:Varroa destructor,Melissococcus plutonius, andVairimorphaspp

McAfee,

Alavi-Shoushtari,

Tran

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Improving our understanding of how climate influences honey bee parasites and pathogens is critical as weather patterns continue to shift under climate change. While the prevalence of diseases vary according to regional and seasonal patterns, the influence of specific climatic predictors has rarely been formally assessed. To address this gap, we analyzed how occurrence and intensity of three prominent honey bee disease agents (Varroa destructor― hereonVarroa―Melissococcus plutonius, andVairimorphaspp.) varied according to regional, temporal, and climatic factors in honey bee colonies across five Canadian provinces. We found strong regional effects for all disease agents, with consistently highVarroaintensity and infestation probabilities and highM. plutoniusinfection probabilities in British Columbia, and year-dependent regional patterns ofVairimorphaspp. spore counts. Increasing wind speed and precipitation were linked to lowerVarroainfestation probabilities, whereas warmer temperatures were linked to higher infestation probabilities. Analysis of an independent dataset shows that these trends forVarroaare consistent within a similar date range, but temperature is the strongest climatic predictor of season-long patterns.Vairimorphaspp. intensity decreased over the course of the summer, with the lowest spore counts found at later dates when temperatures were warm.Vairimorphaspp. intensity increased with wind speed and precipitation, consistent with inclement weather limiting defecation flights. Probability ofM. plutoniusinfection generally increased across the spring and summer, and was also positively associated with inclement weather. These data contribute to building a larger dataset of honey bee disease agent occurrence that is needed in order to predict how epidemiology may change in our future climate.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic predictors of prominent honey bee (Apis mellifera) disease agents:Varroa destructor,Melissococcus plutonius, andVairimorphaspp

McAfee,

Alavi-Shoushtari,

Tran

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…Like EFB, SBV symptoms are thought to occur most frequently in the spring (Bailey 1969), and like EFB and American foulbrood (AFB), dried SBV-infected larvae can also have a scale-like appearance and larvae may die after cell capping, which can lead to a similar presentation of spotty brood patterns and perforated cell caps (Grabensteiner et al 2001, Milbrath 2021, Milbrath et al 2021). But unlike these two bacterial diseases, SBV can replicate in adult bees and decrease their lifespan (Wang and Mofller 1970, Bailey and Fernando 1972).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher prevalence of sacbrood virus in highbush blueberry pollination units

McAfee,

French,

Tsvetkov

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Highbush blueberry pollination depends on managed honey bees (Apis mellifera) for adequate fruit set; however, beekeepers have raised concerns about poor health of colonies after pollinating this crop. Postulated causes include agrochemical exposure, nutritional deficits, and interactions with parasites and pathogens, particularlyMelisococcus plutonius(the causal agent of European foulbrood disease), but other pathogens could be involved. To broadly investigate common honey bee pathogens in relation to blueberry pollination, we sampled adult honey bees from colonies at time points corresponding to before (t1), during (t2), at the end (t3), and after (t4) highbush blueberry pollination in British Columbia (BC), Canada, across two years (2020 and 2021). Nine viruses as well asM. plutonius,Vairimorpha ceranaeandV. apis(formerlyNosema ceranaeandN. apis) were detected by PCR and microscopy and compared among colonies located near and far from blueberry fields. We found a significant interactive effect of time and blueberry proximity on the multivariate pathogen community, mainly due to differences at t4 (corresponding to roughly six weeks after the beginning of the pollination period). Post-hoc comparisons of pathogens in near and far groups at t4 showed that detections of sacbrood virus (SBV), which was significantly higher in the exposed group, was the primary driver. The association of SBV with highbush blueberry pollination may be contributing to the health decline that beekeepers observe after pollinating this crop, likely in combination with other factors.

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“…In contrast, European Foulbrood (EFB) is caused by Melissococcus plutonius , a non-spore-forming bacterium (Bailey, 1957), and is treatable with OTC (Forsgren, 2010). Still, treatment with OTC can be economically damaging as antibiotic residues can prevent beekeepers from selling honey (Gilliam & Argauer, 1981; Matsuka & Nakamura, 1990; Milbrath, 2021; Sporns et al, 1986; Wilson, 1974). Additionally, EFB can easily return after OTC treatment, and outbreaks have become increasingly prominent worldwide (Grossar et al, 2020; Simone-Finstrom & Spivak, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The social life history of the European honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) is highly conducive to the spread of pathogens, such as foulbrood (i.e., bacterial disease of the larvae). Both American Foulbrood and European Foulbrood diseases, named for the regions in which they were initially discovered (Milbrath, 2021), are present in honey bee colonies worldwide. American Foulbrood (AFB) is typically more devastating, as the causative agent Paenibacillus larvae is spore-forming, and spores are known to remain viable on beekeeping equipment for at least 35 years (Haseman, 1961).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antibacterial effects of propolis and brood comb extracts on the causative agent of European Foulbrood (Melissococcus plutonius) in honey bees (Apis mellifera)

Murray

Kurkul

Mularo

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Among a long list of parasites and pathogens that threaten the European honey bee (Apis mellifera), European Foulbrood (EFB) has become an urgent apiary disease, as epidemic outbreaks are becoming increasingly common. EFB is a bacterial disease of larval honey bees, caused by a gram-positive, anaerobic bacterium, Melissococcus plutonius. The most effective current treatment for EFB, oxytetracycline hydrochloride, can disrupt the bee microbiome, cause bee mortality and residues may persist in honey harvested for human consumption. In this study, we explore the efficacy of more sustainable bee-derived solutions, including propolis, honey comb and brood comb ethanol extracts. Using a series of dilutions of these extracts, we determined the minimum inhibitory concertation (MIC) of each bee-derived product on M. plutonius, as well as two model bacterial species, Staphylococcus saprophyticus (gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (gram-negative). Overall, we found that propolis extract was most effective at inhibiting growth of gram-positive bacteria, and that M. plutonious was also susceptible to honey comb (MIC = 16.00 mg/mL) and brood comb (MIC = 45.33 mg/mL) extracts, but at much higher concentrations than that of propolis (MIC = 1.14 mg/mL).

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Honey Bee Bacterial Diseases

Cited by 7 publications

References 74 publications

Climatic predictors of prominent honey bee (Apis mellifera) disease agents:Varroa destructor,Melissococcus plutonius, andVairimorphaspp

Climatic predictors of prominent honey bee (Apis mellifera) disease agents:Varroa destructor,Melissococcus plutonius, andVairimorphaspp

Higher prevalence of sacbrood virus in highbush blueberry pollination units

Antibacterial effects of propolis and brood comb extracts on the causative agent of European Foulbrood (Melissococcus plutonius) in honey bees (Apis mellifera)

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