Abstract:
Viruses are one of the most potential risk factors that negatively affect the different life stages of honey bees. This
study was conducted to determine the presence of infections caused by the deformed wing virus (DWV), black queen cell virus
(BQCV), and acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) in honey bees in the beekeeping regions of Burdur, along with obtaining information
about their prevalence in this particular region. In our study, the adult bees were taken from 31 different beehives and comb samples
that had different honey bee breeds and were sampled randomly from 15 beekeeping areas within the region. The collected samples
were analyzed using the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and the prevalence of DWV, BQCV, and ABPV
infections were determined to be 74.19% (23/31), 25.81%, (8/31) and 74.19% (23/31), respectively. In this study, the distribution of
positive samples and the rates of multiple infections were determined in the colonies. Of the positive honey bee samples, 12 (%38.71)
were detected only for one virus, 9 (%29.03) were positive for two viruses (DWV-ABPV) and 8 (%25.81) were positive for all three
viruses. In the present study, the presence of the three bee viruses that caused significant damage to the colonies by multiple infections
in the Burdur region was determined with RT-PCR. To our knowledge, this is the first report of three mentioned bee infections in
honey bees in the Burdur region. The revealed epidemiological conditions lead to the conclusion that serious measures are needed to
control these infections in this region.
