On honey bee viruses

Although almost all of the viruses of bees
have been shown to shorten the lives of
individuals, their impact under normal circumstances
may be slight or transitory.

Indeed, the persistence of a number of distinct
viruses in apparently healthy, permanent
colonies further emphasizes the innate
ability of bees to resist the multiplication and
spread of these infections. This natural
propensity is most evident when colonies of
bees are allowed to develop and undertake
their normal activities unhindered; an ideal
which is increasingly difficult to attain with
the demands of modern intensive beekeeping,
particularly migratory and pollination work.

Ball, B. (1996). 
Honey bee viruses: a cause for concern?
Bee World, 77(3), 117-119.

* * *

It is worth noting that the death of a honey bee colony due
to natural causes, including disease, is within the scope of
reasonable expectations for a living organism

Recently, numerous prevalence studies have underscored
the role of viral infections in honey bee colony losses.
However, the design of many of these studies was rather weak.

These studies substantiated
the observation that covert virus infections are widespread
and common in asymptomatic colonies.

It is without question that Varroa infestation poses the
most serious threat to the Western honey bee colonies
and that this is related to the mite’s ability to vector virus
infections or to exacerbate preexisting infections [39].
Virus infections of honey bees became a serious health
problem for entire colonies only after Varroa started to
infest honey bee colonies.

McMenamin, A. J., & Genersch, E. (2015). 
Honey bee colony losses and associated viruses. 
Current Opinion in Insect Science, 8, 121-129.

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