Diseases that are common in managed honeybee colonies are now widespread in the UK's wild bumblebees, according to research published in Nature. The study suggests that some diseases are being driven into wild bumblebee populations from managed honeybees. Dr Matthias Fürst and Professor Mark Brown from Royal Holloway University of London (who worked in collaboration¹ with Dr Dino McMahon and Professor Robert Paxton at Queen's University Belfast, and Professor Juliet Osborne working at Rothamsted Research and the University of Exeter) say the research provides vital information for beekeepers across the world to ensure honeybee management supports wild bee populations.

 

Dr Fürst, from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, said: "Wild and managed bees are in decline at national and global scales. Given their central role in pollinating wildflowers and crops, it is essential that we understand what lies behind these declines. Our results suggest that emerging diseases, spread from managed bees, may be an important cause of wild bee decline."

 

This research assessed common honeybee diseases to determine if they could pass from honeybees to bumblebees. It showed that deformed² wing virus (DWV) and the fungal parasite³ Nosema ceranae -- both of which have major negative impacts on honeybee health -- can infect worker bumblebees and, in the case of DWV, reduce their lifespan.

 

Honeybees and bumblebees were then collected from 26 sites across the UK and screened for the presence of the parasites⁴. Both parasites were widespread in bumblebees and honeybees across the UK.

 

Dr Fürst explained: "One of the novel aspects of our study is that we show that deformed wing virus, which is one of the main causes of honeybee deaths worldwide, is not only broadly present in bumblebees, but is actually replicating⁵ inside them. This means that it is acting⁶ as a real disease; they are not just carriers."

 

The researchers also looked at how the diseases spread and studied genetic⁷ similarities between DWV in different pollinator populations. Three factors suggest that honeybees are spreading the parasites into wild bumblebees: honeybees have higher background levels of the virus and the fungus⁸ than bumblebees; bumblebee infection is predicted by patterns of honeybee infection; and honeybees and bumblebees at the same sites share genetic strains of DWV.

 

"We have known for a long time that parasites are behind declines in honeybees," said Professor Brown. "What our data show is that these same pathogens are circulating widely across our wild and managed pollinators（传粉者）. 

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