In a continent wide study led by Niels Piot, we used sites from 11 countries, collecting over 600 bees and had their viral titres measured. We found wild bees species to have many viruses commonly thought of as ‘honey bee viruses’ including the AKI-complex (Acute bee paralysis virus, Kashmir bee virus and Israeli acute paralysis virus), Deformed wing virus, and Slow bee paralysis virus. The presence of these viruses was positively correlated with the viral prevalence in local honey bees and also with climatic factors. Not only does this suggest the health on honeybees may be indicative of wider bee health but suggests that as climates change, our understanding and forecast of pollinator disease dynamics may also need to change.
Read the article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05603-2