Detection of Honey Bee Viruses in Apis mellifera and Apis cerana

Two species of bees in the genus Apis, real honey bees, has long been of interest for man. These two are the European honey bee, Apis mellifera, and the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana. In Vietnam, beekeeping is of great importance, both with A.cerana and A.mellifera. The aim of this project was to investigate if the introduction of the European honey bee in Asia has affected the Asian honey bee, and whether different pathogens from A.mellifera have been transferred to A.cerana. Totally 40 samples, 20 from every species, were analysed for 8 different viruses. RNA was extracted and analysed with qRT-PCR. The results showed that 5 different viruses were present in the samples, DWV, CBPV, BQCV, SPV and SBV. SPV and SBV were only found occasionally while DWV, CBPV and BQCV were present in the majority of the samples. Differences in virus titres between the two bee species were significant for CBPV and BQCV, however the result for DWV titres was not considered significant. DWV therefore seem to be a ubiquitous virus in Vietnamese beekeeping irrespective of species. Further, the results cannot describe the influence or origin of the viruses but only confirm their presence. Additional investigations are needed in order to answer this question