ArticleApplied and environmental microbiology2012
Dead or alive: deformed wing virus and Varroa destructor reduce the life span of winter honeybees.
Article in Applied and environmental microbiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 175 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
175 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 364 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-analysis of honey bee neurogenomic response links Deformed wing virus type A to precocious behavioral maturation.Scientific reports · 2020Pooled it
- Seasonal dynamics of seven viruses and Varroa destructor in Apis mellifera colonies: a 4-year survey in Tokyo.The Journal of veterinary medical science · 2026Article
- Article
- Opposite seasonal and spatial dynamics of DWV-A and DWV-B suggest distinct transmission pathways in managed honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) colonies.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Honey bee genetic resistance outperforms a cold-storage induced halt in brood production to control mites and viruses.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Seasonal dynamics of honey bee pathogens andFrontiers in insect science · 2026Article
- Deformed wing virus affects foraging success and foraging specialization of honeybee workers.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Bumble Bees and Honey Bees on Islands Harbour Reduced Viral Species Richness, Yet Honey Bee Populations Are Dominated by a Deformed Wing Virus Recombinant.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Pathogenicity and transmission of Morganella morganii in honey bees.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Antioxidant Potential of Pollen Polyphenols in Mitigating Environmental Stress in Honeybees (Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Parasitic Mites of Honey Bees (Apis Spp.): A Detailed Review of Varroa destructor in Parasitism, Pathogen Transmission and its Management.Acta parasitologica · 2025Review
- Neonicotinoids and Varroa mites force the extending of longevity in a bee colony during overwintering to forget.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Superinfection Exclusion in Neotropical Honey Bees May Block DWV-B, an Emerging Infectious Disease Variant of Deformed Wing Virus.Evolutionary applications · 2025Article
- Host ecology and phylogeny shape the temporal dynamics of social bee viromes.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Genotype B of deformed wing virus and related recombinant viruses become dominant in European honey bee colonies.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Pathogen and Hemocyte Dynamics in Three Apiaries Across a Bee Season.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2025Article
- Generational mutation patterns in a honey bee Deformed wing virus via infectious clones.PloS one · 2025Article
- Lactic acid treatment on infested honey bees works through a local way of action against Varroa destructor.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Shift in distribution of division of labour in chronically stressed honeybee colonies after perturbation.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Article
115 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Elevated winter losses of managed honeybee colonies are a major concern, but the underlying mechanisms remain controversial. Among the suspects are the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, the microsporidian Nosema ceranae, and associated viruses. Here we hypothesize that pathogens reduce the life expectancy of winter bees, thereby constituting a proximate mechanism for colony losses. A monitoring of colonies was performed over 6 months in Switzerland from summer 2007 to winter 2007/2008. Individual dead workers were collected daily and quantitatively analyzed for deformed wing virus (DWV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), N. ceranae, and expression levels of the vitellogenin gene as a biomarker for honeybee longevity. Workers from colonies that failed to survive winter had a reduced life span beginning in late fall, were more likely to be infected with DWV, and had higher DWV loads. Colony levels of infection with the parasitic mite Varroa destructor and individual infections with DWV were also associated with reduced honeybee life expectancy. In sharp contrast, the level of N. ceranae infection was not correlated with longevity. In addition, vitellogenin gene expression was significantly positively correlated with ABPV and N. ceranae loads. The findings strongly suggest that V. destructor and DWV (but neither N. ceranae nor ABPV) reduce the life span of winter bees, thereby constituting a parsimonious possible mechanism for honeybee colony losses.
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