#HONEY BEE VS BUMBLEBEE DRIVERS#
#HONEY BEE VS BUMBLEBEE FULL#

#HONEY BEE VS BUMBLEBEE FULL#

terrestris workers versus control (likelihood ratio test comparing the full model to one with only the intercept: X 2 = 5.73, df = 1, p < 0.017 Fig 1) and mean survival was reduced by 6 days. terrestris we found significantly more DWV infections 21 days after inoculating B. ceranae, in controlled inoculation experiments, to one of the most common Bombus species in Great Britain ( B. To examine the potential for Apis pathogens to cross host-genus boundaries, we tested the infectivity of the DWV complex (which includes the very closely related, co-occurring and recombinant Varroa destructor virus (VDV) 21, 22 we will refer to “DWV complex” as “DWV” throughout the text) and N. may already harbour some honey bee pathogens 7, 8, 19, 20, the true infectivity and landscape scale distribution of these highly virulent EIDs in wild pollinator populations remains unknown Whilst evidence from small scale studies suggests that wild pollinators like Bombus spp. Our focus is on inter-specific transmission, as EIDs in Apis are a potential threat to a range of wild pollinators worldwide. They share their diverse foraging sites with wild pollinators and thus facilitate interspecific transmission of pathogens, as has been suggested for intraspecific disease transmission from commercial to wild bumble bee populations 18.

As generalist pollinators, honey bees are traded and now distributed almost worldwide for crop pollination and hive products. ceranae) being two likely causes for losses of Apis 17.

#HONEY BEE VS BUMBLEBEE DRIVERS#

EIDs have been suggested as key drivers of decline, with deformed wing virus (DWV) (especially in combination with the exotic Varroa mite ( Varroa destructor)) and Nosema ceranae ( N. Recent years have seen elevated losses in multiple populations of one of the major crop pollinating insects, the honey bee ( Apis mellifera) 16. Such severe impacts have been well documented over the past decades in vertebrates 10, but have largely been overlooked in invertebrates 15.

Small or declining populations are particularly challenged, as the source host may act as a disease reservoir 14, giving rise to repeated spillover events and frequent disease outbreaks which, in the worst case, might drive already vulnerable or unmanaged populations to extinction 14. This “spillover” of infectious disease from domesticated livestock to wildlife populations is one of the main sources of Emerging Infectious Disease (EIDs) 13. Trading practices in domesticated animals allow infectious diseases to spread rapidly and to encounter novel hosts in newly sympatric wildlife 12. Lessons learned from vertebrates 10, 11 highlight the need for increased pathogen control in managed bee species to maintain wild pollinators, as declines in native pollinators may be caused by interspecies pathogen transmission originating from managed pollinators. The prevalence of deformed wing virus (DWV) and the exotic Nosema ceranae is linked between honey bees and bumble bees, with honey bees having higher DWV prevalence, and sympatric bumble bees and honey bees sharing DWV strains Apis is therefore the likely source of at least one major EID in wild pollinators. In our study, a combination of infection experiments with landscape scale field data indicates that honey bee EIDs are indeed widespread infectious agents within the pollinator assemblage. Wild pollinators such as bumble bees ( Bombus spp.) are in global decline 5, 6, one cause of which may be pathogen spillover from managed pollinators like honey bees 7, 8 or commercial colonies of bumble bees 9. Honey bees ( Apis mellifera), the prevailing managed insect crop pollinator, suffer from a range of emerging and exotic high impact pathogens 3, 4 and population maintenance requires active management by beekeepers to control them. Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) pose a risk to human welfare, both directly 1 and indirectly, by affecting managed livestock and wildlife that provide valuable resources and ecosystem services, such as the pollination of crops 2.

Honey bee vs bumblebee