Honey bee viruses in solitary bees in South America: simultaneous detection and prevalence

Abstract

Viruses and Nosema spp. presence was investigated in solitary bees, honey bees, and in stingless bees from an apiary site and a non-apiary site in Brazil. Honey bee viruses were detected in solitary and social bees, and the most prevalent were DWV, ABPV and CBPV. Despite its abundance in apiary sites, CBPV was absent from the non-apiary site. Nosema ceranae was found only in honey bees from the apiary site. IAPV, KBV, and Nosema apis were not detected. Simultaneous detections in solitary and social bees were observed, and bees from the apiary site and foragers had a higher diversity of viruses. Viral RNAs were also detected in bee ovaries, indicating the possible vertical transfer of these viruses to bee offspring. Our findings advance our knowledge of the host distribution of viruses in South America. These pathogens might represent a threat to these important pollinators.

Keywords:

• Bee pathogens
• Centris
• Tetrapedia
• RNA viruses
• Nosema

Acknowledgments

We are thankful to Zilá Simões, Márcia Bitondi and Vera Figueiredo for generous support at the Laboratório de Biologia do Desenvolvimento de Abelhas (LBDA) at Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto-SP.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The project was supported by grants from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG; CBB-PPM-00225-16; APQ-01090-22), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001 (scholarship for ACD) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq; scholarship for JTF, and APL - 316054/2021-6). Individuals were sampled under the SISBIO license numbers 37384 and 64885, and SisGen certificate number A1B9E37.