Honey Bee Queens and Virus Infections

The honey bee queen is the central hub of a colony to produce eggs and release pheromones to maintain social cohesion. Among many environmental stresses, viruses are a major concern to compromise the queen’s health and reproductive vigor. Viruses have evolved numerous strategies to infect queens either via vertical transmission from the queens’ parents or horizontally through the worker and drones with which she is in contact during development, while mating, and in the reproductive period in the colony. Over 30 viruses have been discovered from honey bees but only few studies exist on the pathogenicity and direct impact of viruses on the queen’s phenotype. An apparent lack of virus symptoms and practical problems are partly to blame for the lack of studies, and we hope to stimulate new research and methodological approaches. To illustrate the problems, we describe a study on sublethal effects of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) that led to inconclusive results. We conclude by discussing the most crucial methodological considerations and novel approaches for studying the interactions between honey bee viruses and their interactions with queen health.

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Comparing Survival of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus Infection among Stocks of U.S. Honey Bees

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects12010060 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 60

Author(s):

Shilpi Bhatia ◽

Saman S. Baral ◽

Carlos Vega Melendez ◽

Esmaeil Amiri ◽

Olav Rueppell

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Virus Infections ◽

Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus ◽

Immune Genes ◽

Starting Point ◽

Bee Health ◽

Honey Bee Health ◽

Survival Differences ◽

Paralysis Virus

Among numerous viruses that infect honey bees (Apis mellifera), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) can be linked to severe honey bee health problems. Breeding for virus resistance may improve honey bee health. To evaluate the potential for this approach, we compared the survival of IAPV infection among stocks from the U.S. We complemented the survival analysis with a survey of existing viruses in these stocks and assessing constitutive and induced expression of immune genes. Worker offspring from selected queens in a common apiary were inoculated with IAPV by topical applications after emergence to assess subsequent survival. Differences among stocks were small compared to variation within stocks, indicating the potential for improving honey bee survival of virus infections in all stocks. A positive relation between worker survival and virus load among stocks further suggested that honey bees may be able to adapt to better cope with viruses, while our molecular studies indicate that toll-6 may be related to survival differences among virus-infected worker bees. Together, these findings highlight the importance of viruses in queen breeding operations and provide a promising starting point for the quest to improve honey bee health by selectively breeding stock to be better able to survive virus infections.

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The Pathogen Profile of a Honey Bee Queen Does Not Reflect That of Her Workers

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects11060382 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 382 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jessica L. Kevill ◽

Katie Lee ◽

Michael Goblirsch ◽

Erin McDermott ◽

David R. Tarpy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Horizontal Transmission ◽

Pathogen Transmission ◽

Black Queen Cell Virus ◽

Deformed Wing Virus ◽

Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus ◽

Queen Cell ◽

Honey Bee Queen ◽

Acute Bee Paralysis Virus ◽

Paralysis Virus

Throughout a honey bee queen’s lifetime, she is tended to by her worker daughters, who feed and groom her. Such interactions provide possible horizontal transmission routes for pathogens from the workers to the queen, and as such a queen’s pathogen profile may be representative of the workers within a colony. To explore this further, we investigated known honey bee pathogen co-occurrence, as well as pathogen transmission from workers to queens. Queens from 42 colonies were removed from their source hives and exchanged into a second, unrelated foster colony. Worker samples were taken from the source colony on the day of queen exchange and the queens were collected 24 days after introduction. All samples were screened for Nosema spp., Trypanosome spp., acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), black queen cell virus (BQCV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), Lake Sinai virus (LSV), and deformed wing virus master variants (DWV-A, B, and C) using RT-qPCR. The data show that LSV, Nosema, and DWV-B were the most abundant pathogens in colonies. All workers (n = 42) were LSV-positive, 88% were Nosema-positive, whilst pathogen loads were low (<1 × 106 genome equivalents per pooled worker sample). All queens (n = 39) were negative for both LSV and Nosema. We found no evidence of DWV transmission occurring from worker to queen when comparing queens to foster colonies, despite DWV being present in both queens and workers. Honey bee pathogen presence and diversity in queens cannot be revealed from screening workers, nor were pathogens successfully transmitted to the queen.

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Addendum: Amiri, E. et al. Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus: Honey Bee Queen–Worker Interaction and Potential Virus Transmission Pathways. Insects 2019, 10, 9

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects10050123 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 123

Author(s):

Esmaeil Amiri ◽

Gregory Seddon ◽

Wendy Zuluaga Smith ◽

Micheline K. Strand ◽

David R. Tarpy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Virus Transmission ◽

Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus ◽

Honey Bee Queen ◽

Transmission Pathways ◽

Published Paper ◽

Paralysis Virus

It has been brought to our attention that one note was missing in the Funding section of our published paper [...]

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Introduction of Varroa destructor has not altered honey bee queen mating success in the Hawaiian archipelago

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-80525-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lauren M. Rusert ◽

Jeffrey S. Pettis ◽

David R. Tarpy

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Mating Success ◽

Varroa Destructor ◽

Hawaiian Islands ◽

Mating Frequency ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Varroa Mites ◽

Queen Bees ◽

Honey Bee Queen ◽

Honey Bee Queens

AbstractBeekeepers struggle to minimize the mortality of their colonies as a consequence of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor in order to maintain a sustainable managed pollinator population. However, little is known about how varroa mites might diminish local populations of honey bee males (drones) that might affect the mating success of queens. As one of the world’s last localities invaded by varroa mites, the Hawaiian Islands offer a unique opportunity to examine this question by comparing queens mated on mite-infested and mite-free islands. We raised queen bees on four Hawaiian Islands (Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, and Hawai‘i) and subsequently collected their offspring to determine queen mating frequency and insemination success. No significant difference for mating success was found between the islands with and without varroa mites, and relatively high levels of polyandry was detected overall. We also found a significant association between the number of sperm stored in the queens’ spermathecae and the number of managed colonies within the localities of the queens mated. Our findings suggest that varroa mites, as they currently occur in Hawai‘i, may not significantly reduce mating success of honey bee queens, which provides insight for both the reproductive biology of honey bees as well as the apiculture industry in Hawai‘i.

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Genomic signatures of honey bee association in an acetic acid symbiont

10.1101/367490 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Eric A. Smith ◽

Irene L. G. Newton

Keyword(s):

Acetic Acid ◽

Honey Bee ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Acetic Acid Bacterium ◽

Genomic Changes ◽

Genomic Signatures ◽

Us Economy ◽

Honey Bee Queen ◽

Honey Bee Queens

AbstractHoney bee queens are central to the success and productivity of their colonies; queens are the only reproductive members of the colony, and therefore queen longevity and fecundity can directly impact overall colony health. Recent declines in the health of the honey bee have startled researchers and lay people alike as honey bees are agriculture’s most important pollinator. Honey bees are important pollinators of many major crops and add billions of dollars annually to the US economy through their services. One factor that may influence queen and colony health is the microbial community. Although honey bee worker guts have a characteristic community of bee-specific microbes, the honey bee queen digestive tracts are colonized by a few bacteria, notably an acetic acid bacterium not seen in worker guts: Bombella apis. This bacterium is related to flower-associated microbes such as Saccharibacter floricola and other species in the genus Saccharibacter, and initial phylogenetic analyses placed it as sister to these environmental bacteria. We used comparative genomics of multiple honey bee-associated strains and the nectar-associated Saccharibacter to identify genomic changes associated with the ecological transition to bee association. We identified several genomic differences in the honey bee-associated strains, including a complete CRISPR/Cas system. Many of the changes we note here are predicted to confer upon them the ability to survive in royal jelly and defend themselves against mobile elements, including phages. Our results are a first step towards identifying potential benefits provided by the honey bee queen microbiota to the colony’s matriarch.

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Multiple Virus Infections and the Characteristics of Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus in Diseased Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera L.) in China

Journal of Apicultural Science ◽

10.1515/jas-2015-0026 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 59 (2) ◽

pp. 95-106 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yan Y. Wu ◽

Hui R. Jia ◽

Qiang Wang ◽

Ping L. Dai ◽

Qing Y. Diao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Multiple Infections ◽

Virus Infections ◽

High Prevalence ◽

Multiple Virus ◽

Clade 1 ◽

Bee Colonies ◽

Paralysis Virus ◽

Bee Viruses

Abstract China has the largest number of managed honey bee colonies globally, but there is currently no data on viral infection in diseased A. mellifera L. colonies in China. In particular, there is a lack of data on chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) in Chinese honey bee colonies. Consequently, the present study investigated the occurrence and frequency of several widespread honey bee viruses in diseased Chinese apiaries, and we used the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Described was the relationship between the presence of CBPV and diseased colonies (with at least one of the following symptoms: depopulation, paralysis, dark body colorings and hairless, or a mass of dead bees on the ground surrounding the beehives). Phylogenetic analyses of CBPV were employed. The prevalence of multiple infections of honey bee viruses in diseased Chinese apiaries was 100%, and the prevalence of infections with even five and six viruses were higher than expected. The incidence of CBPV in diseased colonies was significantly higher than that in apparently healthy colonies in Chinese A. mellifera aparies, and CBPV isolates from China can be separated into Chinese-Japanese clade 1 and 2. The results indicate that beekeeping in China may be threatened by colony decline due to the high prevalence of multiple viruses with CBPV.

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Regulation of oogenesis in the queen honey bee (Apis mellifera)

10.1101/2021.03.08.434480 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah E Aamidor ◽

Carlos Júnior Cardoso ◽

Januar Harianto ◽

Cameron J Nowell ◽

Louise Cole ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Apis Mellifera ◽

Honey Bee ◽

Regulatory Pathways ◽

Cell Death Pathways ◽

Summary Statement ◽

Honey Bee Queen ◽

Honey Bee Queens ◽

Worker Castes ◽

Honey Bee Workers ◽

Solitary Species

AbstractIn the honey bee (Apis mellifera), queen and worker castes originate from identical genetic templates but develop into different phenotypes. Queens lay up to 2,000 eggs daily whereas workers are sterile in the queen’s presence. Periodically queens stop laying; during swarming, when resources are scarce in winter and when they are confined to a cage by beekeepers. We used confocal microscopy and gene expression assays to investigate the control of oogenesis in honey bee queen ovaries. We show that queens use different combination of ‘checkpoints’ to regulate oogenesis compared to honey bee workers and other insect species. However, both queen and worker castes use the same programmed cell death pathways to terminate oocyte development at their caste-specific checkpoints. Our results also suggest that the termination of oogenesis in queens is driven by nutritional stress. Thus, queens may regulate oogenesis via the same regulatory pathways that were utilised by ancestral solitary species but have adjusted physiological checkpoints to suit their highly-derived life history.Summary statementHoney bee queens regulate oogenesis using a different combination of ‘checkpoints’ to workers, but both castes use the same molecular pathways.

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Patterns of viral infection in honey bee queens

Journal of General Virology ◽

10.1099/vir.0.047019-0 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 94 (3) ◽

pp. 668-676 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Roy Mathew Francis ◽

Steen Lykke Nielsen ◽

Per Kryger

Keyword(s):

Viral Infection ◽

Honey Bee ◽

Well Being ◽

Egg Laying ◽

Deformed Wing Virus ◽

Copy Numbers ◽

Kashmir Bee Virus ◽

Honey Bee Queens ◽

Negative Sense ◽

Paralysis Virus

The well-being of a colony and replenishment of the workers depends on a healthy queen. Diseases in queens are seldom reported, and our knowledge on viral infection in queens is limited. In this study, 86 honey bee queens were collected from beekeepers in Denmark. All queens were tested separately by two real-time PCRs: one for the presence of deformed wing virus (DWV), and one that would detect sequences of acute bee-paralysis virus, Kashmir bee virus and Israeli acute paralysis virus (AKI complex). Worker bees accompanying the queen were also analysed. The queens could be divided into three groups based on the level of infection in their head, thorax, ovary, intestines and spermatheca. Four queens exhibited egg-laying deficiency, but visually all queens appeared healthy. Viral infection was generally at a low level in terms of AKI copy numbers, with 134/430 tissues (31 %) showing the presence of viral infection ranging from 101 to 105 copies. For DWV, 361/340 tissues (84 %) showed presence of viral infection (DWV copies ranging from 102 to 1012), with 50 tissues showing viral titres >107 copies. For both AKI and DWV, the thorax was the most frequently infected tissue and the ovaries were the least frequently infected. Relative to total mass, the spermatheca showed significantly higher DWV titres than the other tissues. The ovaries had the lowest titre of DWV. No significant differences were found among tissues for AKI. A subsample of 14 queens yielded positive results for the presence of negative-sense RNA strands, thus demonstrating active virus replication in all tissues.

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DETECTION OF HONEY BEE VIRUSES ON THE TERRITORY OF UKRAINE

AGROFOR ◽

10.7251/agreng1703140s ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Stanislav SHYBANOV ◽

Alla KHARINA ◽

Oksana STAKHURSKA ◽

Galyna SNIHUR ◽

Taras KOMPANETS

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Morphological Changes ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

The Body ◽

Virus Infections ◽

Queen Cell ◽

First Time ◽

Bee Virus ◽

Paralysis Virus ◽

Bee Viruses

A survey of honey bee viruses on the territory of Ukraine has been conducted forthe first time in 2016-2017 years. The samples of adult bees, affected combs andmites were collected from apiaries in two regions (Kyiv and Cherkasy). Detailedstudying of the bee samples revealed following morphological changes: deformedwings, saccular brood, blackened pistil, changing of the body color. Virus-likeparticles were observed under TEM after purification of bee samples.Symptomless samples were also analyzed for the presence of bee viruses by RTPCR.According to results of RT-PCR, we concluded that the following virusescirculate on the territory of Ukraine: Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV), KashmirBee Virus (KBV), Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), Black Queen Cell Virus(BQCV), Sacbrood Bee Virus (SBV) Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV). Takentogether, these data indicate that bee virus infections occur in bee populations onthe territory of Ukraine. Despite the lack of symptoms viruses are often present incolonies and environmental factors might result disease outbreaks that lead to theactivation of viral replication in bees.

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Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus: Honey Bee Queen–Worker Interaction and Potential Virus Transmission Pathways

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects10010009 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Esmaeil Amiri ◽

Gregory Seddon ◽

Wendy Zuluaga Smith ◽

Micheline K. Strand ◽

David R. Tarpy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Virus Transmission ◽

Individual Variability ◽

Physical Contact ◽

Social Immunity ◽

Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus ◽

Bee Colony ◽

Colony Loss ◽

Honey Bee Queen ◽

Paralysis Virus

Queen loss or failure is an important cause of honey bee colony loss. A functional queen is essential to a colony, and the queen is predicted to be well protected by worker bees and other mechanisms of social immunity. Nevertheless, several honey bee pathogens (including viruses) can infect queens. Here, we report a series of experiments to test how virus infection influences queen–worker interactions and the consequences for virus transmission. We used Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) as an experimental pathogen because it is relevant to bee health but is not omnipresent. Queens were observed spending 50% of their time with healthy workers, 32% with infected workers, and 18% without interaction. However, the overall bias toward healthy workers was not statistically significant, and there was considerable individual to individual variability. We found that physical contact between infected workers and queens leads to high queen infection in some cases, suggesting that IAPV infections also spread through close bodily contact. Across experiments, queens exhibited lower IAPV titers than surrounding workers. Thus, our results indicate that honey bee queens are better protected by individual and social immunity, but this protection is insufficient to prevent IAPV infections completely.

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