Covert deformed wing virus infections have long-term deleterious effects on honeybee foraging and survival

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Vol. 284; no. 1848; p. 20162149
• Main Authors: Benaets, Kristof, Van Geystelen, Anneleen, Cardoen, Dries, De Smet, Lina, de Graaf, Dirk C., Schoofs, Liliane, Larmuseau, Maarten H. D., Brettell, Laura E., Martin, Stephen J., Wenseleers, Tom
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 08.02.2017; The Royal Society Publishing
• Edition: Royal Society (Great Britain)
• Subjects: Animals; Apis mellifera; Appetitive Behavior; Bee Declines; Bees; Bees - virology; Case studies; Covert Pathogen Infections; Deformation effects; Deformation mechanisms; Deformed Wing Virus; Ecology; Forage; Foraging Behaviour; Honeybees; Iflavirus; Infections; Insect Viruses - pathogenicity; Radio frequency; Radiofrequency Identification Tags; Survival; Viruses; Wings, Animal - virology; Workers (insect caste); honeybees; bee declines; covert pathogen infections; deformed wing virus; radiofrequency identification tags; foraging behaviour
• ISSN: 0962-8452; 1471-2954
• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2149

Several studies have suggested that covert stressors can contribute to bee colony declines. Here we provide a novel case study and show using radiofrequency identification tracking technology that covert deformed wing virus (DWV) infections in adult honeybee workers seriously impact long-term foraging and survival under natural foraging conditions. In particular, our experiments show that adult workers injected with low doses of DWV experienced increased mortality rates, that DWV caused workers to start foraging at a premature age, and that the virus reduced the workers' total activity span as foragers. Altogether, these results demonstrate that covert DWV infections have strongly deleterious effects on honeybee foraging and survival. These results are consistent with previous studies that suggested DWV to be an important contributor to the ongoing bee declines in Europe and the USA. Overall, our study underlines the strong impact that covert pathogen infections can have on individual and group-level performance in bees.