Antiviral therapies for honeybees

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Honeybees are the most important managed pollinating insects, contributing 'services' worth billions of dollars to global agriculture, as well as producing honey. Healthy colonies are essential for pollination and honey production. Honeybee health is threatened by viruses transmitted by the ectoparasitic mite Varroa when it feeds on bee haemolymph (blood). The most important virus is deformed wing virus (DWV). In the absence of Varroa the virus is present at low levels, is genetically diverse and causes minimal impact on colony health. When transmitted by Varroa, a single virulent variant (which we term DWVv) replicates to 10,000 times higher levels, causing serious developmental disease to young bees and reducing the lifespan of adults, so accounting for the 20%+ colony losses over winter. We have identified DWVv and propose to look at its global distribution and test therapies designed to inhibit virus replication. These studies are critical too improve honeybee health.