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Higher prevalence and levels of Nosema ceranae than Nosema apis infections in Canadian honey bee colonies

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Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and infection levels of the microsporidia fungi Nosema apis and/or Nosema ceranae in honey bee colonies of two Canadian provinces. Three surveys were conducted in the springs of 2008, 2010 and 2012 and PCR identification of Nosema species were performed in samples from 169 and 181 Ontario colonies and from 76 Alberta colonies that tested positive to Nosema spp. Infection levels of positive colonies were determined by microscopy and analyzed by Nosema spp. Results showed that N. ceranae was the dominant species in all three surveys (prevalence range of 41–91 vs. 4–34 % for N. apis), whereas mixed infections were less frequent than single infections (5–25 %). Infection levels of colonies parasitized by N. ceranae were three to five times higher than those of colonies parasitized by N. apis in the three surveys whereas mixed infections showed the highest spore counts. This is the first field study demonstrating significantly higher infection levels in colonies parasitized with either N. ceranae only or with both, N. ceranae and N. apis, than in colonies parasitized with N. apis only. Taken together, these results suggest that N. ceranae may be more virulent and better adapted than N. apis in cold climates such as Canadian environments.

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Acknowledgements

Emma Feiler and Jessica Gu helped with microscopic detection of Nosema spp. spores as well as with spore counts. Samantha Muirhead, Lynae Vandervalk, Alexandra Panasiuk, John Williamson, Rene Burghs and Patricia Flinn collected bee samples in Alberta. Melanie Kempers, Devan Rawn and Raquel Mijares-González provided assistance in various ways. Ileana Wenger provided valuable comments that improved the manuscript. This study was partially supported by grants from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to EGN, the Alberta Crop Industry Fund Ltd to MN and the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program to LE.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science, Ataturk University, Erzurum, 25240, Turkey

    Berna Emsen & Rosario A. Ruiz-Pérez

  2. School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Berna Emsen, Ernesto Guzman-Novoa & Mollah Md Hamiduzzaman

  3. Ontario Beekeepers Association, 5420 – 185 Hwy 6 N, Guelph, Ontario, N1H 6J2, Canada

    Les Eccles & Brian Lacey

  4. Departamento de Producción Animal: Abejas, FMVZ, UNAM, Cd. Univ, Mexico, D.F., 04510, Mexico

    Rosario A. Ruiz-Pérez

  5. Crop Diversification Centre North, Alberta Agriculture and Food, Edmonton, Alberta, T5Y 6H3, Canada

    Medhat Nasr

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  1. Berna Emsen
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  2. Ernesto Guzman-Novoa
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  3. Mollah Md Hamiduzzaman
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  4. Les Eccles
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  5. Brian Lacey
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  6. Rosario A. Ruiz-Pérez
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Correspondence to Ernesto Guzman-Novoa.

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Emsen, B., Guzman-Novoa, E., Hamiduzzaman, M.M. et al. Higher prevalence and levels of Nosema ceranae than Nosema apis infections in Canadian honey bee colonies. Parasitol Res 115, 175–181 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4733-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4733-3

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