Pathogen prevalence in commercially reared bumble bees and evidence of spillover in conspecific populations

► We determine the permeability of cropping systems to commercial bumble bees. ► We quantify the prevalence of pathogens in bumble bees adjacent to greenhouses. ► Up to 97% of pollen returning to commercial bumble bee hives was non-crop pollen. ► The prevalence of two gut parasites was greatest with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological conservation 2013-03, Vol.159, p.269-276
Main Authors: Murray, Tomás E., Coffey, Mary F., Kehoe, Eamonn, Horgan, Finbarr G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acarapis woodi
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Apicystis
Applied ecology
Bees
best management practices
Biological and medical sciences
Bombus
Bombus terrestris
Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife
Crithidia
cropping systems
digestive system
disease transmission
European Union
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Greenhouses
hosts
laws and regulations
Legislation
Locustacarus
Management
Nosema
Nosema bombi
Parasite
Parasites
Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking
Pathogens
permeability
Pollen
pollinators
population growth
Populations
probability
Protozoa
rearing
sanitation
Transport
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Summary:► We determine the permeability of cropping systems to commercial bumble bees. ► We quantify the prevalence of pathogens in bumble bees adjacent to greenhouses. ► Up to 97% of pollen returning to commercial bumble bee hives was non-crop pollen. ► The prevalence of two gut parasites was greatest within 2 km of greenhouses. ► Pathogen spillover in this system compels national and international regulation. Worldwide, wild bumble bees (Bombus spp.) are experiencing marked declines, with potentially up to 11% of species currently under threat. Recent studies from North America suggest that disease transmission from commercially reared bumble bees to wild populations has led to marked range contractions in some species. In Europe, data on the prevalence of pathogen spillover from commercial to wild bumble bee populations is lacking, despite the widespread production and transport of hives within the EU since the early 1980s. We determined the permeability of cropping systems to commercial bumble bees, and quantified the prevalence of four pathogens in commercial Bombus terrestris hives and adjacent conspecific populations at increasing distances from greenhouses in Ireland. Commercial bumble bees collected from 31% to 97% of non-crop pollen, depending on the cropping system, and hives had markedly higher frequencies of two gut parasites, Crithidia spp. and Nosema bombi, compared to adjacent populations, but were free of tracheal mites. The highest prevalence of Crithida was observed within 2km of greenhouses and the probability of infection declined in a host sex- and pathogen-specific manner up to 10km. We suggest implementing measures that prevent the interaction of commercially reared and wild bumble bees by integrating the enforcement of national best management practices for users of commercial pollinators with international legislation that regulates the sanitation of commercial hives in production facilities.
ISSN:0006-3207
1873-2917
0006-3207
DOI:10.1016/j.biocon.2012.10.021