Honey bee colonies worldwide have suffered from a range of damaging diseases. A new study has provided clues on how changing weather patterns might be driving disease in UK colonies.
Publishing their findings in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, the team led by Newcastle University found that the most severe disease of honey bees, caused by the Varroa mite, increased as climate temperatures increased but were reduced during heavy rainfall and wind.
Data collected from visits to over 300,000 honey bee colonies highlighted how the prevalence of six important honey bee diseases interacted in different ways with rainfall, temperature and wind.
The researchers found that the risk of a colony contracting European Foul Brood (EFB) increased with the amount of rainfall experienced. However, American Foul Brood (AFB) and Chronic Bee Paralysis were unaffected by weather, suggesting that other factors are driving those diseases. Varroosis (infection of Varroa mites) was the disease most affected by weather showing an increase in the risk due to temperature and a decrease because of rain and wind. Chalkbrood and Sacbrood both had reduced risk with increased amounts of wind.
Read more at: University of Newcastle
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