THE PREVALENCE OF ISRAEL ACUTE BEE PARALYSİS VIRUS IN COLONY LOSSES APIARIES IN TÜRKİYE

Honeybees are indispensable pollinator insects for vegetative pollination and biodiversity. Moreover, they serve medicinal importance with their products such as honey, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly. Sudden bee deaths and colony collapse disorder (CCD) threaten the sustainability of colony health. Honeybee viruses, parasites, and pathogens trigger colony losses and CCD. This study aimed to investigate the presence and prevalence of Israeli acute bee paralysis virus (IAPV) in apiaries with sudden bee deaths, colony losses, and CCD in 16 provinces in different eco-geographic regions in Türkiye between 2011- 2021. The sampled apiaries were also evaluated for other bee pathogens such as Acute bee paralysis virus, Black queen bee virus, Chronic bee paralysis virus, Deformed wing virus, Kashmir bee virus, Lake Sinai virus, Sacbrood virus, Varroa mites, and Nosema sp. analyzed. Pathogen-specific RT-PCR reactions were used for bee viruses. IAPV positivity was found to be 52.5% in apiaries. 97.5% of the sampled apiaries were positive for at least one pathogen. According to the results of this study, the presence of IAPV in apiaries suffering from colony loss and CCD was higher compared to previous reports, especially viruses of different species, Nosema sp., and high levels of varroa infestation were found to be frequently encountered. The results suggest that multiple pathogen positivity may be effective in colony losses.