AEM Accepts, published online ahead of print on 23 October 2009

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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.01319-09
Copyright (c) 2009, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Presence and Prevalence of Viruses in Local and Migratory Honeybees (Apis mellifera) in Massachusetts

Anna Welch, Francis Drummond, Sunil Tewari, Anne Averill, and John P. Burand^*

Departments of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences & Microbiology, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA; and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: jburand{at}microbio.umass.edu.

Migratory and local bees in Massachusetts were analyzed for seven viruses; three were detected: black queen cell virus (BQCV), deformed wing virus (DWV), and sacbrood virus (SBV). DWV was most common, followed closely by BQCV and then by SBV. BQCV and SBV were present at significantly higher rates in the migratory bees assayed, bringing into question the impact that these bees have on the health of local bee populations.