SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2015
Almond Facts
31
Continued on next page »
Diagnostic Tools to
Understand the Role
of Viruses on Honey
Bee Health
Viruses in honey bees can have a significant
impact on overall honey bee health. Viruses
that can easily and quickly be detected could
possibly be mitigated or isolated by the
beekeeper to maintain the integrity of the
colony, neighboring colonies and perhaps
an entire apiary. Dr. Michelle Flenniken,
Montana State University, and her team of
scientists have developed a universal Lake
Sinai Virus primer set to detect this common
class of viruses. In the meantime, they have
discovered two more viruses in the Lake
Sinai family. They will have antibodies made
by early 2016, which will be a significant step
toward in-field diagnostics.
Mechanical Devices vs.
a Molecular Approach
forVirus Detection in
Honey Bees
This study is comparing instrument-based vs.
molecular-based methods of virus detection.
Dr. Brian Johnson, University of California,
Davis, and his researchers have acquired
more than 50 samples for the two different
virus detection methods, and an independent
evaluator is looking at correlations between
the two methods of virus detection.Testers
evaluated 32 samples for the six most
common viruses. While the comparison of
The most recent data on honey bee colony losses shows
continued winter losses plus an increase in summer honey
bee losses.
