Apidologie (2019) 50, 871-880

Jorgiane B. Parish, Eileen S. Scott, Raymond Correll and Katja Hogendoorn (2019)
Survival and probability of transmission of plant pathogenic fungi through the digestive tract of honey bee workers
Apidologie 50 (6), 871-880
Abstract: Honey bees, Apis mellifera, have been implicated as vectors of plant pathogens. However, the survival of spores of plant pathogenic fungi through the digestive tract of workers has not been investigated. As workers defecate outside the hive, transport of hives could give rise to biosecurity concerns if fungal spores remain viable following passage through the digestive tract. To determine the likelihood that honey bees serve as vectors, this study investigated the viability of spores of Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum acutatum after passing through the digestive tract of summer and autumn worker bees. For both fungi, the mean viability of spores in faeces suspensions was less than one percent of the initial dose fed to the bees. Although survival was low, the large number of workers per hive implies a high probability of transmission of viable spores through honey bee faeces. Hence, in the case of economically important fungal diseases, transported hives could be a source of inoculum and quarantine restrictions should be considered.
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Database assignments for author(s): Eileen S. Scott

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
transmission/dispersal of plant diseases

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Botrytis cinerea		Australia (South+SE)
	Colletotrichum acutatum		Australia (South+SE)