Can the examination of different types of hive samples be a non-invasive method for detection and quantification of viruses in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies?
Published Online: Sep 20, 2023
Page range: 323 - 331
Received: Mar 22, 2023
Accepted: Jul 21, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2023-0046
Keywords
© 2023 Eliška Čukanová et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Introduction
Honey bee viruses have been shown to negatively affect the vigour and longevity of European honey bees (
Material and Methods
Honey, pollen, hive debris, hive grid smears and forager honey bees were collected from 24 hives at four locations in the Czech Republic. Deformed wing virus (DWV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), sacbrood virus (SBV) and black queen cell virus (BQCV) were detected using a reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and real-time quantitative RT-PCR and the results for bees and alternative materials compared.
Results
All forager bee samples contained DWV, BQCV and SBV and 54.2% had ABPV. When comparing beehive materials to bees, the most promising results were obtained from honey and pollen samples, with BQCV and SBV detected in all honey samples and ABPV in 12.5%. Detection of SBV was achieved in 91.6% of pollen samples, detection of BQCV in 87.5% and detection of DWW in 75%. The results for debris and smears were less consistent with the viral profile of the forager samples.
Conclusion
The best candidate materials for honey bee virus detection in a non-invasive technique are honey and pollen.