Swiss Bee Research Centre, Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux Research Station ALP, Bern, Switzerland.
PLoS One. 2012;7(2):e32151. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032151. Epub 2012 Feb 23.
Across the Northern hemisphere, managed honey bee colonies, Apis mellifera, are currently affected by abrupt depopulation during winter and many factors are suspected to be involved, either alone or in combination. Parasites and pathogens are considered as principal actors, in particular the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor, associated viruses and the microsporidian Nosema ceranae. Here we used long term monitoring of colonies and screening for eleven disease agents and genes involved in bee immunity and physiology to identify predictive markers of honeybee colony losses during winter. The data show that DWV, Nosema ceranae, Varroa destructor and Vitellogenin can be predictive markers for winter colony losses, but their predictive power strongly depends on the season. In particular, the data support that V. destructor is a key player for losses, arguably in line with its specific impact on the health of individual bees and colonies.
在北半球，管理的蜜蜂种群（Apis mellifera）目前正受到冬季突然种群减少的影响，有许多因素被怀疑单独或联合起作用。寄生虫和病原体被认为是主要因素，特别是外寄生虫螨 Varroa destructor、相关病毒和微孢子虫 Nosema ceranae。在这里，我们使用长期监测蜂群和筛选十一种与蜜蜂免疫和生理相关的疾病因子和基因的方法，来确定冬季蜜蜂种群损失的预测指标。数据表明，DWV、Nosema ceranae、Varroa destructor 和 Vitellogenin 可以作为冬季蜂群损失的预测指标，但它们的预测能力强烈依赖于季节。特别是，这些数据支持 Varroa destructor 是损失的关键因素，这可能与其对个体蜜蜂和蜂群健康的特定影响一致。
