In the past centuries, viruses have benefited from globalization to spread across the globe, infecting new host species and populations. A growing number of viruses have been documented in the western honey bee, Apis mellifera. Several of these contribute significantly to honey bee colony losses. This review synthetizes the knowledge of the diversity and distribution…
Numerous studies have recently reported on the discovery of bee viruses in different arthropod species and their possible transmission routes, vastly increasing our understanding of these viruses and their distribution. Here, we review the current literature on the recent advances in understanding the transmission of viruses, both on the presence of bee viruses in Apis…
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) can be infected by many viruses, some of which pose a major threat to their health and well-being. A critical step in the dynamics of a viral infection is its mode of transmission. Here, we compared for the first time the effect of mode of horizontal transmission of Black queen cell virus (BQCV),…
Carl-Johan Junge a beekeeper in Denmark has made a beautiful video about the bees and the beeekeepers dedicated to their conservation on the island of Læsø. First a brief introduction to the bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) and their morphological characters. Honey on Læsø is mostly from heather (Calluna vulgaris). The bees are dark and a…
Abstract The honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) is an important pollinator and a model for pesticide effects on insect pollinators. The effects of agricultural pesticides on honeybee health have therefore raised concern. Bees can be exposed to multiple pesticides that may interact synergistically, amplifying their side effects. Attention has focused on neonicotinoid pesticides, but flupyradifurone (FPF)…
Report for the IUCN on alien honey bee subspecies within the EU. 1.4. Areas within the EU where the alien sub-species is a potential threat, but not yet present A. m. ligustica As the sub-species is already present in all EU countries, the only areas where it could still be introduced and become a threat…
Authentication of the botanical and geographic origin of Egyptian honey using pollen analysis methods to use pollen analyses to authenticate the botanical origin and labeling of seven kinds of Egyptian honey and to identify sources of pollen used by honey bees in Egypt. Honeys are labeled, based on sources of pollen, which are usually provided…
Dramatic losses of pollinating insects have become of global concern, as they threaten not only key ecosystem services but also human food production. Recent research provided evidence that interactions between ecological stressors are drivers of declining pollinator health and responsible for observed population collapses. We used the honeybee Apis mellifera and conducted a series of…
Melissococcus plutonius is the causative agent of European foulbrood (EFB), an important bacterial disease of honey bee larvae, and various methods have been developed for the detection of this disease. Adult bees are not affected but spread M. plutonius among beehives and serve as a diagnostic tool to detect EFB. Melissococcus plutonius detection based on…
Robert Brodschneider Kristina Gratzer, Elfriede Kalcher-Sommersguter, Helmut Heigl, Waltraud Auer, Rudolf Moosbeckhofer & Karl Crailsheim Scientific Reports volume 9, Article number: 16633 (2019) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-53016-5 Austrian beekeepers participated in the “C.S.I. Pollen” study as citizen scientists and collected pollen from honey bee colonies in hive mounted traps every three weeks from April to September in 2014 and 2015 to…