“Migratory beekeeping and its influence on the prevalence and dispersal of pathogens to managed and wild bees”

Martínez-López, Vicente; Ruíz, Carlos; Rúa, Pilar De la

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2022.05.004

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 88 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This raises the potential that migratory routes may drive LSV prevalence as well as other pathogens. As recently reviewed, the impact of migratory beekeeping on disease spread in honeybees and wild bees is an urgent research gap (Martínez-López et al, 2022). Both natural migration and the shipping of diseased animals can lead to the spread of infectious diseases in wildlife, livestock and humans, as illustrated by diseases such as avian influenza or West Nile Virus.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lake Sinai virus is a diverse, globally distributed but not emerging multi‐strain honeybee virus

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Domesticated honeybees and wild bees are some of the most important beneficial insects for human and environmental health, but infectious diseases pose a serious risk to these pollinators, particularly following the emergence of the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor as a viral vector. The acquisition of this novel viral vector from the Asian honeybee Apis ceranae has fundamentally changed viral epidemiology in its new host, the western honeybee A. mellifera. While the recently discovered Lake Sinai Viruses (LSV) have been associated with weak honeybee colonies, they have not been associated with vector-borne transmission. By combining a large-scale multiyear survey of LSV in Chinese A. mellifera and A. cerana honeybee colonies with globally available LSV-sequence data, we investigate the global epidemiology of this virus.We find that globally distributed LSV is a highly diverse multi-strain virus, which is predominantly associated with the western honeybee A. mellifera. In contrast to the vector-borne deformed wing virus, LSV is not an emerging disease. Instead, demographic reconstruction and strong global and local population structure indicates that it is a highly variable multi-strain virus in a stable association with its main host, the western honeybee. Prevalence patterns in China suggest a potential role for migratory beekeeping in the spread of this pathogen, demonstrating the potential for disease transmission with the man-made transport of beneficial insects.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lake Sinai virus is a diverse, globally distributed but not emerging multi‐strain honeybee virus

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…50 km), bears the risk of introducing bee parasites that would otherwise not be present locally. Considering the potential negative effects on local wild bee communities and on honeybees managed by non-migratory beekeepers (Martínez-López et al, 2022), apicultural disease management needs to pay more attention to regional differences in parasite communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By preventing swarming and by providing spacious hives beekeepers maintain unnaturally large, continuously breeding colonies, thereby increasing the habitat available for parasites within colonies [9]. Crowding colonies in apiaries facilitates the transmission of parasites between nests [14][15][16], and the movement of combs in frames or whole hives promotes parasite transmission between apiaries [17]. On a global scale, the large-scale transport of colonies can expose the bees to entirely novel parasites [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, modern rationalized beekeeping can conflict with conservation (Geldmann & González-Varo, 2018;Iwasaki & Hogendoorn, 2022;Panziera et al, 2022). By preventing swarming and maintaining unnaturally large, continuously breeding colonies; by crowding hives in apiaries, and by seasonally moving colonies between bee yards, apiculture promotes the reproduction and spread of bee parasites (Brosi et al, 2017;Loftus et al, 2016;Martínez-López et al, 2022;Nolan & Delaplane, 2017;Peck & Seeley, 2019;Seeley & Smith, 2015). On a global scale, the transport of hives and their products can expose the bees to entirely novel parasites (Goulson & Hughes, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Reduced parasite burden in feral honeybee colonies

Kohl

D’Alvise

Rutschmann

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Parasites are the main threat for managed honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies. It is unknown whether feral colonies that escaped from apiaries benefit from parasite-reducing mechanisms like swarming or suffer from high parasite pressure due to the lack of disease management. We compared the occurrence of 18 microparasites among managed (N=74) and feral (N=64) colony samples from Germany using qPCR. We distinguished five colony types representing differences in colony age and management histories, two variables potentially modulating parasite prevalence. The number of parasite taxa was lower in feral colonies (mean: 5.4) than in managed colonies (mean: 6.1). Parasite community compositions also differed, with Trypanosomatidae, Chronic bee paralysis virus, and Deformed wing viruses A and B being less prevalent and abundant in feral colonies. Parasite burden was lowest in newly founded feral colonies, intermediate in overwintered feral colonies and managed nucleus colonies, and highest in overwintered managed colonies and hived swarms. Our study confirms the hypothesis that swarming temporally reduces parasite pressure in feral honeybee colonies. Furthermore, differences in the environment between wild nests and hives at apiaries must be involved in explaining the observed differences. We conclude that feral honeybees are unlikely to contribute significantly to the spread of bee diseases.

show abstract

“…However, modern rationalized beekeeping can conflict with conservation (Geldmann & González‐Varo, 2018; Iwasaki & Hogendoorn, 2022; Panziera et al, 2022). By preventing swarming and maintaining unnaturally large, continuously breeding colonies; by crowding hives in apiaries, and by seasonally moving colonies between bee yards, apiculture promotes the reproduction and spread of bee parasites (Brosi et al, 2017; Loftus et al, 2016; Martínez‐López et al, 2022; Nolan & Delaplane, 2017; Peck & Seeley, 2019; Seeley & Smith, 2015). On a global scale, the transport of hives and their products can expose the bees to entirely novel parasites (Goulson & Hughes, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced parasite burden in feral honeybee colonies

Kohl

D’Alvise

Rutschmann

et al. 2023

Ecol Sol and Evidence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bee parasites are the main threat to apiculture and since many parasite taxa can spill over from honeybees (Apis mellifera) to other bee species, honeybee disease management is important for pollinator conservation in general. It is unknown whether honeybees that escaped from apiaries (i.e. feral colonies) benefit from natural parasite‐reducing mechanisms like swarming or suffer from high parasite pressure due to the lack of medical treatment. In the latter case, they could function as parasite reservoirs and pose a risk to the health of managed honeybees (spillback) and wild bees (spillover). We compared the occurrence of 18 microparasites among managed (N = 74) and feral (N = 64) honeybee colony samples from four regions in Germany using qPCR. We distinguished five colony types representing differences in colony age and management histories, two variables potentially modulating parasite prevalence. Besides strong regional variation in parasite communities, parasite burden was consistently lower in feral than in managed colonies. The overall number of detected parasite taxa per colony was 15% lower and Trypanosomatidae, chronic bee paralysis virus, and deformed wing viruses A and B were less prevalent and abundant in feral colonies than in managed colonies. Parasite burden was lowest in newly founded feral colonies, intermediate in overwintered feral colonies and managed nucleus colonies, and highest in overwintered managed colonies and hived swarms. Our study confirms the hypothesis that the natural mode of colony reproduction and dispersal by swarming temporally reduces parasite pressure in honeybees. We conclude that feral colonies are unlikely to contribute significantly to the spread of bee diseases. There is no conflict between the conservation of wild‐living honeybees and the management of diseases in apiculture.

show abstract

“Migratory beekeeping and its influence on the prevalence and dispersal of pathogens to managed and wild bees”

Cited by 18 publications

References 88 publications

Lake Sinai virus is a diverse, globally distributed but not emerging multi‐strain honeybee virus

Lake Sinai virus is a diverse, globally distributed but not emerging multi‐strain honeybee virus

Reduced parasite burden in feral honeybee colonies

Reduced parasite burden in feral honeybee colonies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About