World Honey Bee Health

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ABOUT

The health of managed colonies of western honey bees (Apis mellifera) is a topic of international concern given the importance of honey bees to crop pollination systems and the overall health of natural ecosystems. Honey bees host a suite of pests and pathogens, many of which are capable of killing colonies outright. Knowing the global distribution of these pests and pathogens is key to developing strategies for their control and limiting their spread further.

Nicola Bradbear (1988) and Andrew Matheson (199319951996) were first to publish reviews of the global distribution of honey bee pests and pathogens. Their work was updated several years later by Mark Allen and Brenda Ball (1996), who published information on virus incidence and world distribution, and by James Ellis and Pamela Munn (2005) who expanded, updated, and consolidated the earlier reviews.

In 2018-2019, Humberto Boncristiani and Jamie Ellis took the challenge to update the work once again and the result is the newly published review at the journal Bee World that you can get your pre-print copy HERE.

This website (worldhoneybeehealth.com) is our attempt to keep information on the worldwide distribution of honey bee pests and pathogens updated in real-time. It is our hope that this online resource will make a significant contribution to the study of honey bee health globally. We especially hope that this website will be a valuable tool to scientists, regulators, industry officials, beekeepers, and more as we all work together to improve the health of this invaluable bee species.

MISSION

The mission of the Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory (HBREL)is to advance our understanding of managed and wild honey bees globally, with the goal of improving the health and productivity of managed honey bees everywhere. We address this goal by conducting basic and applied research projects on honey bees, communicating our findings to assorted clientele groups through diverse extension programming, and training future generations of bee educators, researchers, conservationists, and more.

PATHOGENS AND PESTS

What follows is a list of the pathogens and pests known to be associated with honey bees. The criteria used to select the data presented in the tables below can be found HERE.

Bacteria

Common name Organism Map Link Table Link
European foulbrood Melissococcus plutonius MAP TABLE
American foulbrood Paenibacillus larvae MAP TABLE
Spiroplasma apis Spiroplasma apis MAP TABLE
Spiroplasma melliferum Spiroplasma melliferum MAP TABLE
Wolbachia Wolbachia MAP TABLE

Fungi

Chalkbrood Ascosphaera apis MAP TABLE
Nosema ceranae Nosema ceranae MAP TABLE
Nosema apis Nosema apis MAP TABLE
Nosema neumanni Nosema neumanni MAP TABLE
Nosema spp. Nosema apis + Nosema ceranae + Nosema neumanni MAP TABLE

Protozoa

Apicystis bombi Apicystis bombi MAP TABLE
Crithidia mellificae Crithidia mellificae MAP TABLE
Lotmaria passim Lotmaria passim MAP TABLE
Amoeba disease Malpighamoeba mellificae MAP TABLE

Arthropods

Tracheal Mite Acarapis woodi MAP TABLE
Small Hive Beetle Aethina tumida MAP TABLE
Apocephalus borealis Apocephalus borealis MAP TABLE
Lesser Wax Moth Achroia grisella MAP TABLE
Braula Braula spp. MAP TABLE
Greater Wax Moth Galleria mellonella MAP TABLE
Megaselia rufipes Megaselia rufipes MAP TABLE
Megaselia scalaris Megaselia scalaris MAP TABLE
Rondaniooestrus apivorus Rondaniooestrus apivorus MAP TABLE
Senotainia tricuspis Senotainia tricuspis MAP TABLE
Tropilaelaps Mite Tropilaelaps spp. MAP TABLE
Varroa Mite Varroa destructor MAP TABLE
Asian Hornet Vespa velutina Coming soon Coming soon
Giant Asian Hornet Vespa mandarinia Coming soon Coming soon
Wax Moth Galleria mellonella + Achroia grisella MAP TABLE

Viruses

ABPV/KBV/IAPV Acute Bee Paralysis Virus MAP TABLE
ABV Apis mellifera bunyavirus 1 and 2 MAP TABLE
ADV Apis mellifera dicistrovirus MAP TABLE
AFV Apis mellifera flavivirus MAP TABLE
ANV-1 Apis mellifera Nora Virus MAP TABLE
ARV Apis mellifera Rhabdovirus 1 and 2 MAP TABLE
AIV Apis iridescence virus MAP TABLE
ALPV Aphid Lethal Paralysis Virus MAP TABLE
ArkBV Arkansas Bee Virus MAP TABLE
BeeMLV Bee Macula-like Virus MAP TABLE
BVX Bee Virus X MAP TABLE
BVY Bee Virus Y MAP TABLE
BerkBPV Berkeley Bee Virus MAP TABLE
BSRV Big sioux river Virus MAP TABLE
BQCV Black Queen Cell Virus MAP TABLE
BBV# Bundaberg bee virus MAP TABLE
Circo-like Virus 1-2 Circo-like virus 1-2 MAP TABLE
CPV Cricket paralysis virus MAP TABLE
CBPV Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus MAP TABLE
CBPSV Chronic bee-paralysis virus-associated satellite virus MAP TABLE
CWV Cloudy Wing Virus MAP TABLE
NT1/NT-6/NT-17 Darwin bee virus MAP TABLE
DWV *# Deformed Wing Virus (A_B_C_D) MAP TABLE
EV# Empeyrat Virus MAP TABLE
FV Filamentous Virus MAP TABLE
Himetobi P Virus Himetobi p virus MAP TABLE
TAS-7/ Hobart Bee Virus MAP TABLE
KFV Kelp Fly Virus MAP TABLE
LSV# Lake Sinai Virus MAP TABLE
La Jolla Virus La jolla virus MAP TABLE
MV Moku Virus MAP TABLE
Nlv Nodamura-like virus MAP TABLE
Plv Partiti-like virus MAP TABLE
PBV# Perth bee virus 1 and 2 MAP TABLE
RBV-1 Renmark bee virus 1 MAP TABLE
RpV Rhopalosiphum padi Virus MAP TABLE
Rbv# Robinvale bee virus MAP TABLE
SBV Sacbrood Virus MAP TABLE
Slv Seco-like virus MAP TABLE
SBPV Slow Bee Paralysis Virus MAP TABLE
Thika Virus Thika Virus MAP TABLE
TRV Tobacco ringspot virus MAP TABLE
VdMLV Varroa destructor Macula-Like Virus MAP TABLE
VdV-2/3/4# Varroa destructor Virus-2+3+4 MAP TABLE
VTLV Varroa Tymo-like virus MAP TABLE

Other

CCD Undetermined MAP TABLE
  • *Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) is recognized as four distinct variants: (1) DWV-A, the original strain studied plus Kakugo virus; (2) DWV-B, the new classification of Varroa destructor virus 1 (VDV-1); (3) DWV-C, the newly discovered, more virulent variant of DWV and (4) DWV-D, known as the Egypt bee virus.
  • #Future updates of this table will contain all pathogen strains separated in specific maps and tables. For clarity, we combined the strains into single species.
  • Map – link to a map showing the updated distribution of the pest.
  • TABLE – link to a table showing specific information about the pest.

MEET THE TEAM

The World Honey Bee Health team is composed of current or former members of the University of Florida Honey bee Research and Extension Laboratory in Gainesville, Florida, USA.