> Stress response in the honey bee to parasitism by Varroa destructor or Nosema ceranae shows similarities in their features; both parasites induce changes in CHC profiles and similar transcriptional profiles in the brain. That these parasitized bees are not attacked by their nestmates suggests that they leave the hive voluntarily, perhaps propelled by gene expression changes in the brain, showing altruistic behavior as predicted by Rueppel et al. [10]. This social removal may be a general and conserved response to parasitism, given that it was observed with extremely different types of parasites: a mite (ectoparasite) [11,12] and a single cell microsporidian (endoparasite) [13,14]. As to what these bees do once they have left the hive still needs to be examined. Are they normal foragers but with shorter life spans, less efficient foragers due to learning and memory deficiencies or do they leave the hive and wander aimlessly in the landscape? Emerging tracking technology will allow us to answer these questions and determine the role of the parasitized honey bee within the colony. In addition, such studies that incorporate behavioral, genomic and physiological components will help us to better understand current worldwide declines of honey bee populations that are often characterized by an unusual loss of adult bees from the colony.

McDonnell, C. M., Alaux, C., Parrinello, H., Desvignes, J. P., Crauser, D., Durbesson, E., ... & Le Conte, Y. (2013). Ecto-and endoparasite induce similar chemical and brain neurogenomic responses in the honey bee (Apis mellifera).BMC Ecology, 13(1), 25.

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