An investigation of honey bee virus prevalence in managed honey bees (Apis mellifera and Apis cerana) undergone colony losses: a case study in China

Abstract Objective: In the absence of known clinical symptoms, viruses were considered to be the most probable key pathogens of honey bee. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and distribution of honey bee viruses in managed Apis mellifera and Apis cerana in China. Results: We conducted a screening of 9 honey bee viruses on A. mellifera and A. cerana samples collected from 54 apiaries from 13 provinces in China. We found that the types and numbers of viruses significantly differed between A. mellifera and A. cerana. Black queen cell virus (BQCV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), Apis mellifera filamentous virus (AmFV) and Kakugo virus (DWV-C/KV) were the primary viruses found in A. mellifera colonies, whereas Chinese sacbrood bee virus (CSBV) and sacbrood bee virus (SBV) were the primary viruses found in A. cerana. The percentage infection of BQCV and CSBV were 84.6% and 61.6% in all detected samples. We first detected the occurrences of Varroa destructor virus-1(VDV-1, DWV-B) and DWV-C/KV in China but not ABPV in both A. mellifera and A. cerana.