Apidologie 39 (2008) 310-314
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2008007

Incidence of acute bee paralysis virus, black queen cell virus, chronic bee paralysis virus, deformed wing virus, Kashmir bee virus and sacbrood virus in honey bees (Apis mellifera) in Denmark

Steen Lykke Nielsen, Mogens Nicolaisen and Per Kryger

University of Aarhus, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Integrated Pest Management, 4200 Slagelse, Denmark

Received 31 July 2007 - Revised 13 December 2007 - Accepted 13 December 2007 - Published online 10 April 2008

Abstract - Samples of adult honey bees from apiaries with unusually high winter mortality and brood from hives with symptoms of disease were tested for presence of acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), black queen cell virus (BQCV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), deformed wing virus (DWV), Kashmir bee virus (KBV) and sacbrood virus (SBV) by RT-PCR. All six viruses were detected, but the frequencies varied significantly: SBV was detected in 78 apiaries, DWV in 55, ABPV in 11, CBPV in 4, BQCV in 1 and KBV in 1. This is the first record of KBV in Denmark. A large majority of the bee samples were infected with one or more viruses. Single, dual and triple infections were observed. Nucleotide sequences of the PCR products from each virus were determined and found to be 98-99% identical to GenBank accessions except CBPV, which was only 88-90% identical to known CBPV sequences.

Key words: Kashmir bee virus / acute bee paralysis virus / black queen cell virus / chronic bee paralysis virus / deformed wing virus / sacbrood virus / multiple virus infection


© INRA, DIB-AGIB, EDP Sciences 2008