RT Journal Article
T1 Epidemiological survey of Ascosphaera apis in small-scale migratory Apis mellifera iberiensis colonies
A1 Jara, Laura
A1 Martínez López, Diego
A1 Muñoz Gabaldón, Irene
A1 De la Rua, Pilar
AB Honey bee hives are moved yearly mainly for pollination, but also to take advantage of consecutive flowering events to get as many harvests of honey as possible and/or to find favorable sites for food sources and summer temperatures. Such movements may lead to pathogen spill-over with consequences on the honey bee health and finally on population decline. Ascosphaera apis is the causative agent of the chalkbrood disease, a pathology affecting honey bee larvae that significantly harms population growth and colony productivity. In this study, we detected the presence of A. apis in adult worker honey bees by PCR-amplification of the intergenic transcribed spacer (ITS1) of the ribosomal gene (rDNA). We first optimized the DNA extraction by testing different protocols in individual and pooled (colony level) adult honey bee samples. Subsequently, the presence of the fungus A. apis was assessed in both stationary and migratory colonies (subjected to small scale regional level movements) to determine the effect of migratory practices on the dispersal of this pathogen. Results confirmed a higher prevalence of A. apis in migratory apiaries when compared to stationary ones, indicating that migratory colonies are more likely to develop chalkbrood disease. Given these results, we suggest that beekeepers should be aware of the risks of pathogens spreading while moving beehives, even within a reduced geographic range.
PB Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana
SN 0361-6525
YR 2018
FD 2018-07-09
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/128748
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/128748
LA eng
NO Jara, L., Martínez-López, D., Muñoz, I., & De la Rua, P. (2018). Epidemiological Survey of Ascosphaera apis in Small-Scale Migratory Apis mellifera iberiensis Colonies. Sociobiology, 65(2), 285–290. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v65i2.2685
NO This study was supported by INIA-FEDER (grant  number  RTA2013-00042-C10-05)  and  Fundación Séneca (Plan of Science and Technology of the Region of Murcia, grant of Regional Excellence 19908/GERM/2015). LJ and PDlR are presently members and receive support from COST Action FA1307 (Sustainable pollination in Europe: joint research on bees and other pollinators (SUPER-B). Irene Muñoz is supported by Fundación Séneca (Murcia, Spain) through the post-doctoral fellowship “Saavedra Fajardo” (20036/SF/16).
NO European Commission
NO Región de Murcia
NO Fundación Séneca
DS Docta Complutense
RD 21 mar 2026