Vet Med - Czech, 2015, 60(6):330-335 | DOI: 10.17221/8248-VETMED

A severe sacbrood virus outbreak in a honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colony: a case reportCase Report

C. Roy1, N. Vidal-Naquet2, B. Provost3
1 Veterinary Clinic, Riom-es-Montagnes, France
2 VetoAdom, Montrouge, France
3 SupAgro University, Montpellier, France

A honeybee colony, part of an apiary of nine, showed abnormalities in brood pattern and was thus presented for study. A classic veterinary medicine approach has allowed the diagnosis of a severe case of sacbrood virus (SBV) confirmed by a high viral load in affected larvae. SBV is known to infect larvae of the honeybee (Apis mellifera), resulting in failure to pupate and ultimately death of infected larvae. Several contributing factors combined, among them the parasite Varroa destructor, have been identified in this particular affected colony to explain the clinical outbreak of the disease whereas, in the majority of cases, infected colonies remain asymptomatic. As no specific cure of honeybee viruses is available, the management of these contributing factors is essential, including feeding of colonies and control of the Varroa parasite. After implementation of management solutions, the colony rapidly recovered in six weeks, but did not recommence honey production and remained at higher risk of a winter collapse. An earlier control management would have been more effective: regular visits of the colonies by the beekeepers should be the rule in order to detect abnormalities and also to detect and eliminate as early as possible the combination of factors that contribute to the proliferation of the virus.

Keywords: Apis mellifera; contributing factors; synergism; sacbrood virus; Varroa destructor

Published: June 30, 2015  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Roy C, Vidal-Naquet N, Provost B. A severe sacbrood virus outbreak in a honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colony: a case report. Vet Med - Czech. 2015;60(6):330-335. doi: 10.17221/8248-VETMED.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Alaux C, Ducloz F, Crauser D, Le Conte Y (2010): Diet effects on honeybee immunocompetence. Biology Letters 6, 562- 565. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    2. Antunez K, D'Alessandro B, Corbella E, Ramallo G, Zunino P (2006): Honeybee viruses in Uruguay. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 93, 67-70. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    3. Bailey L (1967): The incidence of virus diseases in the honey bee. Annals of Applied Biology 60, 43-48. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    4. Bailey L, Ball BV (1991): Honey Bee Pathology. 2nd ed. Academic Press, London. 193 pp. Go to original source...
    5. Bailey L, Fernando EFW (1972): Effects of sacbrood virus on adult honey-bees. Annals of Applied Biology 72, 27-35. Go to original source...
    6. Bailey L, Gibbs AJ, Woods RD (1964): Sacbrood virus of the larval honey bee (Apis mellifera linnaeus). Virology 23, 425-429. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    7. Blanchard P, Guillot S, Antunez K, Koglberger H, Kryger P, de Miranda JR, Franco S, Chauzat MP, Thiery R, Ribiere M (2014): Development and validation of a real-time two-step RT-qPCR TaqMan® assay for quantitation of Sacbrood virus (SBV) and its application to a field survey of symptomatic honey bee colonies. Journal of Virological Methods 197, 7-13. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    8. Brodschneider R, Crailsheim K (2010): Nutrition and health in honey bees. Apidologie 41, 278-294. Go to original source...
    9. Chen YP, Higgins JA, Feldlaufer MF (2005): Quantitative RealTime Reverse Transcription-PCR analysis of deformed wing virus infection in honeybee (Apis mellifera L.). Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71, 436-441. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    10. Chen YP, Pettis JS, Collins A, Feldlaufer MF (2006): Prevalence and transmission of honeybee viruses. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 72, 606-611. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    11. Du ZL, Zhang ZB (1985): Ultrastructural change in the hypopharyngeal glands of worker bees (Apis cerana) infected with sacbrood virus. Zoological Research 6, 155-162.
    12. Gauthier L, Tentcheva D, Tournaire M, Dainat B, Cousserans F, Colin ME, Bergoin M (2007): Viral load estimation in asymptomatic honey bee colonies using the quantitative RT-PCR technique. Apidologie 38, 426-435. Go to original source...
    13. Grabensteiner E, Ritter W, Carter MJ, Davison S, Pechhacker H, Kolodziejek J, Boecking O, Derakhshifar I, Moosbeckhofer R, Licek E, Nowotny N (2001): Sacbrood virus of the honeybee (Apis mellifera): Rapid Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis Using Reverse Transcription-PCR. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology 8, 93-104. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    14. Imdorf A, Ruoff K, Fluri P (2010): Colony development in honey bees (in French). ALP Forum. 68 pp.
    15. King AMQ, Adams MJ, Carstens EB, Lefkowitz EJ (2011): Virus taxonomy: classification and nomenclature of viruses - Ninth Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego.
    16. Kukielka D, Sanchez-Vizcaino JM (2009): One-step real-time quantitative PCR assays for the detection and field study of Sacbrood honeybee and Acute bee paralysis viruses. Journal of Virological Methods 161, 240-246. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    17. Le Conte Y, Ellis M, Ritter W (2010): Varroa mites and honey bee health: can Varroa explain part of the colony losses? Apidologie 41, 353-363. Go to original source...
    18. Mouret C, Lambert O, Piroux M, Beaudeau F, Provost B, Benet P, Colin ME, L'Hostis M (2013): Prevalence of 12 infectious agents in field colonies of 18 apiaries in western France. Revue de Medecine Veterinaire 164, 577-582.
    19. Nielsen SL, Nicolaisen M, Kryger P (2008): Incidence of acute bee paralysis virus, black queen cell virus, chronic bee paralysis virus, deformed wing virus, Kashmir bee virus and sacbrood virus in honey bees (Apis mellifera) in Denmark. Apidologie 39, 310-314. Go to original source...
    20. Ribiere M, Ball B, Aubert M (2008): Natural history and geographical distribution of Honey bee viruses. In: Aubert M, Ball B, Fries I et al. (eds.): Virology and the Honey bee. EU Project Report 60-64.
    21. Shen M, Cui L, Ostiguy N, Cox-Foster D (2005): Intricate transmission routes and interactions between picorna-like viruses (Kashmir bee virus and sacbrood virus) with the honeybee host and the parasitic varroa mite. Journal of General Virology 86, 2281-2289. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    22. Tentcheva D, Gauthier L, Zappulla N, Dainat B, Cousserans F, Colin ME, Bergoin M (2004): Prevalence and seasonal variations of six bee viruses in Apis mellifera L. and Varroa destructor mite populations in France. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 70, 7185-7191. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    23. White GF (1917): Sacbrood. US Department of Agriculture Bulletin 431, 1-55. Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content