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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Bee Sci.
Sec. Bee Protection and Health
Volume 2 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frbee.2024.1418667
This article is part of the Research Topic Horizons in Bee Science View all 10 articles

Deadly triangle: Honey bees, mites, and viruses

Provisionally accepted
Zachary S. Lamas Zachary S. Lamas Jay D. Evans Jay D. Evans *
  • Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Beltsville, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Honey bees are managed by humans on all continents except Antarctica, leading to an exceptional database of colony growth and survival. Honey bee colony losses in the United States are approximately 50% annually, and losses in other countries range from 10% to 60%. These losses reflect chemical, climatic, and nutritional stresses alongside immense pressure from diverse parasites and pathogens. The combination of RNA viruses and parasitic mites that vector these viruses plays a primary role in colony losses. Here, we discuss virus infection with and without mite vectors, bee defenses, colony vulnerabilities, and the roles of managed beekeeping in mitigating and aggravating the impacts of Varroa mites and viral disease.

    Keywords: Pollination, vector biology, host-parasite, Pathology, virus

    Received: 16 Apr 2024; Accepted: 24 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lamas and Evans. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jay D. Evans, Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Beltsville, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.