Nosema ceranae and RNA viruses in honey bee populations of Cuba

Abstract

Cuba is a tropical island where beekeeping is an important economic activity. Cuban honey bees have a European origin, being hybrids of Apis mellifera mellifera and A. m. ligustica. Although Varroa destructor and Nosema are widely distributed in the country, there is no information regarding Nosema species identity and the presence of honey bee viruses. In this study, we report for the first time the presence of Nosema ceranae, Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), Deformed wing virus (DWV) and Sacbrood bee virus (SBV) in Cuba. Their detection in different provinces and the simultaneous infection of colonies by several viruses indicate that they are widely spread in Cuba. On the other side, N. apis and Black queen cell virus (BQCV) were not detected.

Keywords:

• Apis mellifera
• Nosema ceranae
• Acute bee paralysis virus
• Deformed wing virus
• Sacbrood bee virus

Acknowledgments

Authors wish to thank Miguel A. Ramírez, Osvaldo López and Carlos Enrique Rodríguez Rosell from Centro de Investigaciones Apícolas for sample collection. This study was supported by a grant from Project 720 “Counterpart of Agreements” from UdelaR, Uruguay.

Disclosure statement

The author declare that they have no potential conflict of interest in relation to the study in this paper

Supplementary material

Supplementary Figures 1–5 are available via the ‘Supplementary’ tab on the article’s online page (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2020.1749451).