Apidologie 35 (2004) 49-54
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2003063

Nosema apis infection in worker and queen Apis mellifera

Thomas C. Webster^a, Kirk W. Pomper^a, Greg Hunt^b, Etta M. Thacker^a and Snake C. Jones<sup>a

a</sup>  Land Grant Program, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, USA
^b  Department of Entomology, Entomology Hall, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1158, USA

(Received 6 December 2002; revised 15 June 2003; accepted 30 June 2003)

Abstract
Worker and queen honey bees were fed individually with Nosema apis spores in sucrose solution and then returned to cages containing several hundred of their worker bee nestmates. After 3 to 7 days, the workers and queens that had been fed spores were sacrificed. Worker and queen ventriculi were removed and examined for spores by light microscopy, and DNA was extracted. The DNA was subjected to amplification with polymerase chain reaction, using primer sequences specific to N. apis DNA. The PCR analysis was more sensitive than examination for spores by light microscopy, in detecting N. apis infection. Worker bees and queen bees were infected at similar rates by the inoculation procedure.

Key words: Apis mellifera / Nosema apis / PCR / queen / worker

Correspondence and reprints: Thomas C. Webster twebster@gwmail.kysu.edu

© INRA, EDP Sciences, DIB, AGIB 2004