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Managed honey bee populations have fluctuated over the past several decades in the U.S. While a single factor has not been identified for these losses, the interaction between multiple biotic and abiotic stressors have been suggested to be responsible. Of major concern are several invasive parasite and pathogen species as well as colony management. A single honey bee colony often suffers from multiple harmful agents, that may act synergistically and cause greater declines in bee health. We conducted a survey to detect known and lesser-known honey bee parasites and pathogens. While previous research has primarily focused on commercially managed colonies, research is limited to pertaining parasite and pathogen prevalence in hobbyist managed colonies. Molecular diagnostics were used to screen 541 Arkansas (AR) honey bee colonies from 107 hobbyist beekeepers for eight A. mellifera parasite and pathogen species. Colony samples were obtained between 2015–2016 and represented forty-seven of the seventy-five AR counties. Vairimorpha ceranae (11.6% occurrence) and parasite Varroa destructor (49.4% occurrence) were relatively common in AR hobbyist colonies. Interestingly, the lesser-studied pathogenic trypanosome species, Lotmaria passim, was detected in 11.3% of the colonies and widespread in twenty of the forty-seven counties sampled. None of the honey bee pathogens Vairimorpha apis, Spiroplasma apis, S. melliferum, Crithidia mellificae, or the parasitic phorid fly, Apocephalus borealis, were detected in the colonies sampled. This study provides an extensive assessment of the parasite and pathogen species occurring at the AR state-level in hobbyist-managed honey bee colonies.

A Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) molecular diagnostic survey for the honey bee pathogens Nosema apis Zander and N. ceranae Fries was conducted on feral Africanized honey bee (AHB) and European honey bee (EHB), Apis mellifera L., populations sampled from Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Utah, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Polymerase Chain Reaction - Restriction Fragment Length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of a 220 bp small subunit (SSU) marker was conducted on 517 samples, consisting of 245 AHB and 272 EHB individuals. A total of 43 samples (8.3%) were positive for Nosema; of these, 82.1% were N. ceranae, and the remainder were N. apis. No mixed samples were observed. For the AHB samples, Nosema was detected in 9.0% of the samples with 89.5% of the Nosema identified as N. ceranae, and 10.5% as N. apis. With the EHB samples, 7.7% had Nosema; 75.0% of these with N. ceranae, and 25.0% with N. apis. No significant difference was observed between AHB and EHB feral samples for occurrence of each Nosema species and prevalence of Nosema infection. Among the AHB samples, Nosema was more common in Utah and Texas than in New Mexico and Oklahoma. Nosema infection rates for feral honey bees was considerably lower than levels observed with managed honey bees in studies from New York, South Dakota, and Virginia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A 1520bp region of Cochlosoma anatis mtDNA 16S gene was subjected to DNA sequencing and a 466bp portion was compared with other protozoan 16S sequences to develop PCR primers specific for C. anatis. This PCR diagnostic method allowed identification of C. anatis from house flies, Musca domestica L., turkey gut, and fecal samples within 6h after field-collected samples reached the laboratory. House flies detected carrying C. anatis using the diagnostic 374bp amplicons represented the first record of this protozoan in house flies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A phylogenetic analysis of Heterotermes from 63 locations in the West Indies and associated mainland is presented based on the DNA sequence of a portion of the mitochondria) 16S rRNA gene. Maximum parsimony analysis of the aligned Heterotermes species and the outgroup taxa resulted in a consensus tree with five distinct West Indian groups. Morphological characters and geographical distribution supported the resulting Glades, which were given the following taxonomic assignments: Heterotermes cardini (Bahamas and Cuba) ; Heterotermes sp. (Bonaire, FL; Grand Cayman; Grand Turk; Jamaica; and St. Barthelemy), Heterotermes convexinotatus (Antigua, Barbados, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Martinique, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Venezuela, and Virgin Island), and Heterotermes tenuis (Lesser Antilles except Barbados and Martinique, Ecuador, and Suriname). The Florida Heterotermes sp. is a known nonendemic population, whereas those on Barbados, Grand Cayman, Grand Turk, Martinique, St. Barthelemy, and elsewhere may harbor or consist solely of nonendemic populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]