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A descriptive study of the prevalence of parasites and pathogens in Chinese black honeybees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2015

WENJUN PENG ,
JILIAN LI ,
YAZHOU ZHAO ,
YANPING CHEN  and
ZHIJIANG ZENG
WENJUN PENG
Affiliation:
Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, China Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, China
JILIAN LI
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, China
YAZHOU ZHAO
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, China
YANPING CHEN
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
ZHIJIANG ZENG*
Affiliation:
Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, China
*
*Corresponding author. Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330045, China. E-mail: bees1965@sina.com
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Summary

The Chinese black honey bee is a distinct honey bee subspecies distributed in the Xinjiang, Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces of China. We conducted a study to investigate the genetic origin and the parasite/pathogen profile on Chinese black honeybees. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that Chinese black honeybees were two distinct groups: one group of bees formed a distinct clade that was most similar to Apis mellifera mellifera and the other group was a hybrid of the subspecies, Apis mellifera carnica, Apis mellifera anatolica and Apis mellifera caucasica. This suggests that the beekeeping practices might have promoted gene flow between different subspecies. Screening for pathogens and parasites showed that Varroa destructor and viruses were detected at low prevalence in Chinese black honeybees, compared with Italian bees. Further, a population of pure breeding black honeybees, A. m. mellifera, displayed a high degree of resistance to Varroa. No Varroa mites or Deformed wing virus could be detected in any examined bee colonies. This finding suggests that a population of pure breeding Chinese black honeybees possess some natural resistance to Varroa and indicated the need or importance for the conservation of the black honeybees in China.

Keywords

Chinese black honeybeeVarroavirusesresistanceconservation
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 142 , Issue 11 , September 2015 , pp. 1364 - 1374
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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