Regional patterns and climatic predictors of viruses in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies over time

Authors: MCAFEE, ALISON - University Of British Columbia; ALAVI-SHOUSHTARI, NILOOFAR - Environment Canada; TRAN, LAN - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada; LABUSCHAGNE, RENATA - University Of Alberta; Walsh, Elizabeth; FOSTER, LEONARD - University Of British Columbia; COMMON, JULIA - University Of British Columbia; HIGO, HEATHER - University Of British Columbia; PERNAL, STEPHEN - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada; GIOVENAZZO, PIERRE - Laval University; HOOVER, SHELLEY - University Of Lethbridge; GUZMAN-NOVOA, ERNESTO - University Of Guelph; CURRIE, ROBERT - University Of Manitoba; WOLF VEIGA, PATRICIA - Northwestern Polytechnical University; FRENCH, SARAH - York University; CONFLITTI, IDA - York University; PEPINELLI, MATEUS - Laurentian University; BORGES, DANIEL - Ontario Beekeepers Association; ZAYED, AMRO - York University; BISHOP, CHRISTINE - Environment Canada; DUFFE, JASON - Environment Canada; GUARNA, MARTA - University Of Victoria

Submitted to: Scientific Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/1/2024
Publication Date: 1/2/2025
Citation: Mcafee, A., Alavi-Shoushtari, N., Tran, L., Labuschagne, R., Walsh, E.M., Foster, L., Common, J., Higo, H., Pernal, S.F., Giovenazzo, P., Hoover, S.E., Guzman-Novoa, E., Currie, R.W., Wolf Veiga, P., French, S.K., Conflitti, I.M., Pepinelli, M., Borges, D., Zayed, A., Bishop, C.A., Duffe, J., Guarna, M.M. 2025. Regional patterns and climatic predictors of viruses in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies over time. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-79675-7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-79675-7

Interpretive Summary: Honey bees viruses can cause devastating effects at the individual and colony levels. This dataset was collected throughout Canada over the course of 2 years and shows the abundance, intensity, and contrasts in 9 different viruses in different regions of Canada. We also examined how weather variables (temperature, wind speed, and rain) may correlate with viral prevalence. We found that there was regional variation (British Columbia consistently had high levels of viruses per sample), but that temperature also seems to play a role in viral intensity. Surprisingly, weather variables played a larger role in viral incidence than Varroa mite levels in this study, this is likely due to the overwhelmingly low levels of Varroa throughout the sampled colonies.

Technical Abstract: Honey bee viruses are serious pathogens that can cause poor colony health and lost productivity. We analyzed a two-year (2020-2021) longitudinal dataset of abundances of nine honey bee viruses (deformed wing virus A, deformed wing virus B, black queen cell virus, sacbrood virus, Lake Sinai virus, Kashmir bee virus, acute bee paralysis virus, chronic bee paralysis virus, and Israeli acute paralysis virus) in colonies located across Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec) to describe broad trends in virus intensity and occurrence between regions and years. We also tested climatic variables (temperature, wind speed, and precipitation) as predictors in an effort to understand possible drivers underlying seasonal patterns in viral prevalence. The total number of viruses per sample was highest in BC (mean = 5.0), and temperature was a significant positive predictor. Lake Sinai virus (LSV) was the most prevalent overall (at 89%), but still showed strongly regional occurrence, driven by lower prevalence in Ontario (20%) and Manitoba (74%). LSV also had the highest infection intensity, at an average of 3.9x108 copies per bee. Acute bee paralysis virus was the least prevalent virus (at 4.7%) and had the lowest infection intensity (1.9x105 copies per bee). Surprisingly, including Varroa abundance as a covariate did not significantly improve model fit for any virus. All viruses , except Kashmir bee virus, varied by region, and one or more climatic variables were significant predictors for six of the nine viruses. Although climatic effects were often inconsistent among individual viruses, we show that climatic variables can be better predictors of virus intensity and occurrence than Varroa mite abundance, at least when infestation rates are low.