Holistic screening of collapsing honey bee colonies in Spain: a case study

BMC Research Notes

Mariano Higes⁴  Raquel Martín-Hernández¹  Dirk C de Graaf⁶  Amelia V González-Porto⁵  Aránzazu Meana²  Xulio Maside⁸  Carolina Bartolomé⁸  Maria J Del Nozal⁷  José Luis Bernal⁷  Tamara Gómez-Moracho³  Jorgen Ravoet⁶  Almudena Cepero⁴ 

[1] Instituto de Recursos Humanos para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (INCRECYT-FEDER), Fundación Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Albacete, Albacete, Spain;Animal Health Department, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid E-28040, Spain;Xenómica Comparada de Parásitos Humanos, IDIS, Santiago De Compostela, Spain;Bee Pathology Laboratory, Consejería de Agricultura, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, Centro Apícola Regional (CAR), Marchamalo E-19180, Spain;Hive Products Laboratory, Consejería de Agricultura. Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, Centro Apícola Regional, Marchamalo E-19180, Spain;Laboratory of Zoophysiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent B-9000, Belgium;Analytical Chemistry Group. I.U.CINQUIMA, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid E-47011, Spain;Departamento de Anatomía Patolóxica e Ciencias Forenses, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago De Compostela E-15782, Spain

关键词: Palinology;    Neonicotinoids;    Parasites;    Viruses;    Colony collapse;    Honeybee;   

Others  :  1129491
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-0500-7-649

 received in 2014-08-05, accepted in 2014-09-05,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Here we present a holistic screening of collapsing colonies from three professional apiaries in Spain. Colonies with typical honey bee depopulation symptoms were selected for multiple possible factors to reveal the causes of collapse.

Results

Omnipresent were Nosema ceranae and Lake Sinai Virus. Moderate prevalences were found for Black Queen Cell Virus and trypanosomatids, whereas Deformed Wing Virus, Aphid Lethal Paralysis Virus strain Brookings and neogregarines were rarely detected. Other viruses, Nosema apis, Acarapis woodi and Varroa destructor were not detected. Palinologic study of pollen demonstrated that all colonies were foraging on wild vegetation. Consequently, the pesticide residue analysis was negative for neonicotinoids. The genetic analysis of trypanosomatids GAPDH gene, showed that there is a large genetic distance between Crithidia mellificae ATCC30254, an authenticated cell strain since 1974, and the rest of the presumed C. mellificae sequences obtained in our study or published. This means that the latter group corresponds to a highly differentiated taxon that should be renamed accordingly.

Conclusion

The results of this study demonstrate that the drivers of colony collapse may differ between geographic regions with different environmental conditions, or with different beekeeping and agricultural practices. The role of other pathogens in colony collapse has to bee studied in future, especially trypanosomatids and neogregarines. Beside their pathological effect on honey bees, classification and taxonomy of these protozoan parasites should also be clarified.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Cepero et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

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