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

ABSTRACT: 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 be

SUBMITTER: Murray TE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7124208 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature