Phylogeographic Relationship of Honey Bee Dicistroviruses

Abstract

Introduction Honey bees, Apis species (Hymenoptera: Apidae) are the most important pollinators of agricultural products (Rucker et al., 2012). Especially, worker bees produce highly diverse and economically valuable products such as honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, and beeswax (Kafantaris et al., 2021). However, honey bee pests and diseases constitute one of the most prominent factors affecting and restricting the development and progress of beekeeping activities (Antunez et al., 2006; Doğaroğlu, 1999). Among the honey bee pathogens, viruses rank first in terms of threatening the health of honey bees (Tantillo et al., 2015). The vast majority of viruses found in honey bees are positive-stranded RNA viruses (de Miranda et al., 2013). Viruses can be transmitted to different stages of honey bees such as eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults. The transmission of honey bee viruses occurs in two ways, horizontal and vertical. The most common causes of contamination in honey bees are caused by food, contact, and vectors (Nosema and Varroa) (Fujiyuki et al., 2006; Shah et al., 2009).