Honey Bee Disease Strikes in All Seasons

Agricultural Research Service scientists have found that two pathogens causing mysterious honey bee ailments are not just a problem in the spring, but might pose a threat year round. Entomologists Ryan Schwarz and Jay Evans at the ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, and their colleagues have shown that two species of bacteria, Spiroplasma melliferum and S. apis, are more common than thought and infect honey bees in places as diverse as Brazil and Maryland.

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USDA ARS Online Magazine Bee

Apis mellifera on Aster where Spiroplasma bacteria may be transmitted from one bee to another.
Image Credit: Peggy Gruber, USDA/ARS.