We present a simple SIR-Ross-MacDonald like model of the infestation of a honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony by the Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV), which is transmitted by parasitic varroa mites (Varroa destructor) as vector. This is a four dimensional system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations for the dependent variables healthy and virus infected bees, number of mites in the colony o...

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 ...

The ectoparasitic Varroa destructor mite is a major contributor to the ongoing honey bee health crisis. Varroa interacts with honey bee viruses, exacerbating their pathogenicity. In addition to vectoring viruses, immunosuppression of the developing honey bee hosts by Varroa has been proposed to explain the synergy between viruses and mites. However, the evidence for honey bee immune suppression...

Introduction Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman (2000) is an ectoparasitic mite which causes severe damage to Apis mellifera populations worldwide. Adult females of V. destructor feed directly on the haemolymph of honey bee pupae and can activate and transmit honeybee viruses. Infestation causes an increased prevalence of bee diseases and colony mortality, resulting in decline of honey produc...

Varroa destructor is a ubiquitous and parasitic mite of honey bees, infecting them with pathogenic viruses having a major impact on apiculture. We identified two novel circular replication-associated protein (Rep)-encoding single-stranded (CRESS) DNA viruses from V. destructor sampled from a honey bee hive near Christchurch in New Zealand.

Varroa destructor, the introduced parasite of European honey bees associated with massive colony deaths, spreads readily through populations of honey bee colonies, both managed colonies living crowded together in apiaries and wild colonies living widely dispersed in natural settings. Mites are hypothesized to spread between most managed colonies via phoretically riding forager bees when they en...

Over the past fifty years, annual honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony losses have been steadily increasing worldwide. These losses have occurred in parallel with the global spread of the honeybee parasite Varroa destructor. Indeed, Varroa mite infestations are considered to be a key explanatory factor for the widespread increase in annual honeybee colony mortality. The host-parasite relationship b...

Two types of honey bees, Apis mellifera L., bred for resistance to Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman, were evaluated for performance when used for honey production in Montana, and for almond pollination the following winter. Colonies of Russian honey bees and outcrossed honey bees with Varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH) were compared with control colonies of Italian honey bees. All colonies were...

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) gene expression related to immunity for hymenoptaecin (AmHym) and defensin-1 (AmDef-1), longevity for vitellogenin (AmVit2) and stem cell proliferation for poly U binding factor 68 kDa (AmPuf68) was compared following Varroa destructor parasitism, buffer injection and injection of V. destructor compounds in its homogenate. In adults, V. destructor parasitism decreased...

We investigated pathogens in the parasitic honeybee mite Varroa destructor using nanoLC-MS/MS (TripleTOF) and 2D-E-MS/MS proteomics approaches supplemented with affinity-chromatography to concentrate trace target proteins. Peptides were detected from the currently uncharacterized Varroa destructor Macula-like virus (VdMLV), the deformed wing virus (DWV)-complex and the acute bee paralysis virus...