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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Bee Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #242323
Title: Honey bee disease overview

Author
item GENERSCH, ELKE - Institute For Bee Research
item Evans, Jay
item FRIES, INGEMAR - Uppsala University

Submitted to: Journal of Invertebrate Pathology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/10/2009
Publication Date: 11/11/2009
Citation: Genersch, E., Evans, J.D., Fries, I. 2009. Honey bee disease overview. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 103:S2-S4.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Sexual reproduction of many crops and the majority of wild plants is dependent on animal pollination through insects, birds, bats and others, with insects playing the major role. The majority of crops requiring pollination are dependent on managed pollinators, and especially on managed honeybees. Losses due to parasites and pathogens provide a threat to the availability of honey bees as pollinators. This special issue of the Journal of Invertebrate Pathology on bee health aims to collect state-of-the-art knowledge on various bee pathogens in order to provide a solid and up-to-date background for those interested in honeybee infection biology. Only if research in the field of honeybee pathology is conducted at the cutting edge of science will we be able to address the pressing questions for sustaining honeybee health preventing colony losses due to disease.