Honey bees are important pollinators of agricultural crops. Since 2006, US beekeepers have experienced high annual honey bee colony losses, which may be attributed to multiple abiotic and biotic factors, including pathogens. However, the relative importance of these factors has not been fully elucidated. To identify the most prevalent pathogens and investigate the relationship between colony strength and health, we assessed pathogen occurrence, prevalence, and abundance in Western US honey bee colonies involved in almond pollination. The most prevalent pathogens were Black queen cell virus (BQCV), Lake Sinai virus 2 (LSV2), Sacbrood virus (SBV), Nosema ceranae, and trypanosomatids. Our results indicated that pathogen prevalence and abundance were associated with both sampling date and beekeeping operation, that prevalence was highest in honey bee samples obtained immediately after almond pollination, and that weak colonies had a greater mean pathogen prevalence than strong colonies.

中文翻译：

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参与杏仁授粉的蜜蜂群中病原体的流行和丰度

蜜蜂是农作物的重要传粉者。自 2006 年以来，美国养蜂人每年都经历大量蜂群损失，这可能归因于多种非生物和生物因素，包括病原体。然而，这些因素的相对重要性尚未完全阐明。为了确定最普遍的病原体并调查菌落强度与健康之间的关系，我们评估了参与杏仁授粉的美国​​西部蜜蜂菌落的病原体发生率、流行率和丰度。最普遍的病原体是黑皇后细胞病毒 (BQCV)、西奈湖病毒 2 (LSV2)、Sacbrood 病毒 (SBV)、蜜蜂和锥虫。我们的结果表明，病原体流行和丰度与采样日期和养蜂操作有关，