Parasitosis y residuos de plaguicidas en miel y cera en colonias de abejas

Se ha observado un síndrome llamado Desorden del Colapso de las Colonias, siendo los principales factores causantes los plaguicidas y la presencia de plagas y enfermedades. El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar y cuantificar la presencia de plaguicidas en muestras de miel y cera, y determinar la prevalencia y niveles de infestación/infección de las principales parasitosis en las colonias de abejas melíferas que pudieran asociarse a esta pérdida de colmenas. Durante dos años consecutivos se obtuvieron 132 y 125 muestras de abejas, panal con miel y cera del mismo número de colonias. Para determinar los plaguicidas, del primer año, se analizaron 12 muestras de miel y cera; los patógenos fueron analizadosen todas las muestras de los dos años. La mayor diversidad de plaguicidas se detectó en la cera, el parásito intestinal Nosema spp presentó una prevalencia del 100%, con diferencias significativas en el nivel de infección, mientras que el ácaro Varroa presentó prevalencias del 82.6 y 79.2% sin diferencias significativas en los niveles de infestación. El ácaro traqueal Acarapis woodi no estuvo presente en las muestras analizadas. Los resultados indican que la presencia de plaguicidas y patógenos contribuyeron de forma sinérgica en la afectación de las abejas. Por lo que se requieren más estudios para saber la importancia individual de cada factor que afecta a las colonias de abejas melíferas en la región.

DISTRIBUTION OF ACARAPIDOSIS IN RUSSIA (REVIEW)

Acarapidosis is a dangerous quarantine disease of honey bees caused by an obligate tracheal endoparasite of bees, the mite Acarapis woodi. Infestation by A. woodi leads to depletion of the hemolymph, blockage of the trachea, and, as a result, death of the bee. The high level of infestation in colonies can lead to the death of families and cause serious economic damage. Therefore, acarapidosis in Russia is classified as a quarantine invasion. In Russia, the disease was first recorded in 1926, and since then it has been observed in a number of regions of the European part and in the Urals. By the early nineties, the disease was considered eliminated in Russia due to acaricides massively used to control another dangerous mite-borne disease, varroatosis. However, as the review of literature and reports from organizations engaging in surveillance for diseases of agricultural animals shows, there have been many new cases of acarapidosis over the past thirty years. This disease has spread over all large geographic regions of Russia, and the number of cases of acarapidosis are identified every year. Thus, this neglected disease requires to be strictly controlled to prevent its distribution.

Amplicon Sequencing of Variable 16S rRNA from Bacteria and ITS2 Regions from Fungi and Plants, Reveals Honeybee Susceptibility to Diseases Results from Their Forage Availability under Anthropogenic Landscapes

European Apis mellifera and Asian Apis cerana honeybees are essential crop pollinators. Microbiome studies can provide complex information on health and fitness of these insects in relation to environmental changes, and plant availability. Amplicon sequencing of variable regions of the 16S rRNA from bacteria and the internally transcribed spacer (ITS) regions from fungi and plants allow identification of the metabiome. These methods provide a tool for monitoring otherwise uncultured microbes isolated from the gut of the honeybees. They also help monitor the composition of the gut fungi and, intriguingly, pollen collected by the insect. Here, we present data from amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA from bacteria and ITS2 regions from fungi and plants derived from honeybees collected at various time points from anthropogenic landscapes such as urban areas in Poland, UK, Spain, Greece, and Thailand. We have analysed microbial content of honeybee intestine as well as fungi and pollens. Furthermore, isolated DNA was used as the template for screening pathogens: Nosema apis, N. ceranae, N. bombi, tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi), any organism in the parasitic order Trypanosomatida, including Crithidia spp. (i.e., Crithidia mellificae), neogregarines including Mattesia and Apicystis spp. (i.e., Apicistis bombi). We conclude that differences between samples were mainly influenced by the bacteria, plant pollen and fungi, respectively. Moreover, honeybees feeding on a sugar based diet were more prone to fungal pathogens (Nosema ceranae) and neogregarines. In most samples Nosema sp. and neogregarines parasitized the host bee at the same time. A higher load of fungi, and bacteria groups such as Firmicutes (Lactobacillus); γ-proteobacteria, Neisseriaceae, and other unidentified bacteria was observed for Nosema ceranae and neogregarine infected honeybees. Healthy honeybees had a higher load of plant pollen, and bacteria groups such as: Orbales, Gilliamella, Snodgrassella, and Enterobacteriaceae. Finally, the period when honeybees switch to the winter generation (longer-lived forager honeybees) is the most sensitive to diet perturbations, and hence pathogen attack, for the whole beekeeping season. It is possible that evolutionary adaptation of bees fails to benefit them in the modern anthropomorphised environment.

Acarapis Woodi: A Novel Parasite of Honey Bee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

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Honey as a Source of Environmental DNA for the Detection and Monitoring of Honey Bee Pathogens and Parasites

Environmental DNA (eDNA) has been proposed as a powerful tool to detect and monitor cryptic, elusive, or invasive organisms. We recently demonstrated that honey constitutes an easily accessible source of eDNA. In this study, we extracted DNA from 102 honey samples (74 from Italy and 28 from 17 other countries of all continents) and tested the presence of DNA of nine honey bee pathogens and parasites (Paenibacillus larvae, Melissococcus plutonius, Nosema apis, Nosema ceranae, Ascosphaera apis,Lotmaria passim, Acarapis woodi, Varroa destructor, and Tropilaelaps spp.) using qualitative PCR assays. All honey samples contained DNA from V. destructor, confirming the widespread diffusion of this mite. None of the samples gave positive amplifications for N. apis, A. woodi, and Tropilaelaps spp. M. plutonius was detected in 87% of the samples, whereas the other pathogens were detected in 43% to 57% of all samples. The frequency of Italian samples positive for P. larvae was significantly lower (49%) than in all other countries (79%). The co-occurrence of positive samples for L. passim and A. apis with N. ceranae was significant. This study demonstrated that honey eDNA can be useful to establish monitoring tools to evaluate the sanitary status of honey bee populations.

Differential autogrooming response to the tracheal mite Acarapis woodi by the honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera

The infestation of honey bees by the endoparasitic tracheal mite Acarapis woodi was first discovered in Apis mellifera on the Isle of Wight, England, and the mite has since spread to all continents except Australia. Since 2010, this tracheal mite has spread rapidly in the Japanese honey bee, Apis cerana japonica, of mainland Japan, causing considerable colony mortality. In contrast, infestations by the mites in the imported and managed European honey bee, A. mellifera, have rarely been observed in Japan. A previous laboratory experiment revealed a difference in susceptibility by demonstrating that the tracheal mite more frequently enters tracheae of A. cerana than those of A. mellifera. In this study, we compared autogrooming responses of A. cerana and A. mellifera by depositing a mite on each honey bee’s mesoscutum, and we then assessed the efficacy of autogrooming to remove the mite. The bees that received mites more frequently showed an autogrooming response compared to unchallenged bees in both bee species. However, a significantly greater proportion of A. mellifera individuals autogroomed compared to A. cerana. In addition, when bees autogroomed, A. mellifera removed the tracheal mite more effectively than A. cerana. When considering all bees in the mite-deposited group, the proportion of mite removal in A. mellifera was almost twice as high as that in A. cerana. Thus, the difference in susceptibility to the tracheal mite between these two bee species is attributed to the difference in the behavioral response threshold to mites and the effectiveness of mite removal by grooming.