More from 2018 American Bee Research Conference 


>The goal of this study was to investigate the physiological
and immunological effects of the formamidine acaricide amitraz and
its primary active metabolite in honey bees. 

>While amitraz does not persist in the hive, its metabolite does, and has been identified as
one of the most common contaminants found in the hive environment.
Using flock house virus..., a model insect virus system
recently described for the study of viral infection dynamics in honey
bees, this study found that exposure to amitraz and its metabolite can
negatively impact the ability of honey bees to survive viral infection.
Furthermore, this work has also demonstrated the disruptive effect
that amitraz and its metabolite have on honey bee cardiac physiology,
and provided evidence that these cardiac effects are likely due
to interaction with octopamine receptors. As this interaction has not
previously been observed in studies at the colony level, these findings
stress the need for researchers to do a better job of relating results from
individual-level studies of immunity with observations of colony-level
effects. More importantly, however, the results of this work suggest a
potential drawback to the in-hive use of amitraz and raise intriguing
questions about the relationship between insect cardiac function and
disease tolerance.

>Amitraz exposure increases mortality associated with viral infection in honey bees
Scott T. O’Neal1, Carlyle C. Brewster2, Jeffrey R. Bloomquist3, Troy D. Anderson1

Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT

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