Honey bees are affected by a wide variety of parasites and pathogens, some of them were previously found in bee honey. Considering that spore-forming microorganisms are expected to remain latent in raw honey, presence of microsporidia, spore-forming bacteria, and viruses protected by peptide structures might represent a threat for bees. It is widely known that parasites and pathogens are one of the main factors implied in the worldwide decline of wild pollinators and colony losses of managed bees, and their detection in honey could be used to prevent the spread of diseases among colonies. Honey from 57 apiaries of Argentina located in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Formosa, La Rioja, Neuquén, Río Negro and Santa Fe provinces was collected between March and October, 2012. DNA was extracted from the pellet obtained by centrifugation of 10 g of honey and pathogen DNA was amplified by qPCR, and products were purified, sequenced and analysed using BLAST software. Honey from every apiary contained DNA of at least one pathogen, with a high occurrence of Apis mellifera filamentous virus (AmFV) and Apicystis bombi, although Nosema ceranae, Paenibacillus larvae, and Ascosphaera apis were also detected. Here, we report the presence of DNA of several bee pathogens in honey from commercial apiaries, and provide a fast and efficient screening method that could be useful to indirectly estimate pathogen presence in apiaries.

中文翻译：

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蜂蜜中蜜蜂病原体的分子检测

蜜蜂受到多种寄生虫和病原体的影响，其中一些以前曾在蜜蜂蜂蜜中发现。考虑到形成孢子的微生物有望在生蜂蜜中保持潜伏性，因此，存在小孢子虫，形成孢子的细菌以及受肽结构保护的病毒可能对蜜蜂构成威胁。众所周知，寄生虫和病原体是世界范围内野生授粉媒介数量下降和受管理蜂群丧失的隐含主要因素之一，它们在蜂蜜中的检测可用于预防疾病在菌群之间的传播。2012年3月至2012年10月，收集了来自阿根廷的57个养蜂场的蜂蜜，这些养蜂场位于布宜诺斯艾利斯，科尔多瓦，科伦特斯，恩特里奥斯，福尔摩沙，拉里奥哈，内乌肯，里格内格罗和圣菲省。从通过离心10 g蜂蜜获得的沉淀物中提取DNA，并通过qPCR扩增病原体DNA，并使用BLAST软件对产物进行纯化，测序和分析。每个养蜂场的蜂蜜都含有至少一种病原体的DNA，其中蜜蜂蜜蜂丝状病毒（Am FV）和Apicystis bombi，尽管也检测到Nosema ceranae，Paenibacillus幼虫和Ascosphaera api。在这里，我们报告了来自商业养蜂场的蜂蜜中几种蜜蜂病原体的DNA的存在，并提供了一种快速有效的筛选方法，可用于间接估计养蜂场中病原体的存在。