Occurrence and Prevalence of Honeybee Disease in Apis mellifera and Apis cerana in Korea

The occurrence and distribution of twelve bee diseases was investigated in Apis mellifera (A. mellifera) and Apis cerana (A. cerana) in Korea: american foulbrood (AFB), european foulbrood (EFB), chalkbrood, stonebrood, Nosema, sacbrood virus (SBV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), deformed wing virus (DWV), black queen cell virus (BQCV), kashmir bee virus (KBV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) and Varroa destructor (V. destructor). Samples were collected from Korean apiaries located in different regions of the country in Novemver 2010-October 2011. V. destructor was the most prevalent disease in A. mellifera (identified in 75% of samples), followed by Nosema (46%), chalkbrood (39%), stonebrood (37%), BQCV (24%), DWV (22%), SBV (15%), KBV (13%), AFB (12%), and EFB (0.6%). SBV was identified in 64% of A. cerana samples and was especially dominant during the winter, when it was identified in 70% of samples. The results indicate that disease prevalence is associated with both susceptibility and season. A. cerana was susceptible to SBV during hibernation but resistant to V. destructor, whereas A. mellifera was susceptible to V. destructor during the working period, which was associated with the spread of other viruses. This is the first paper reporting the detection of 12 distinct diseases in A. mellifera and A. cerana honeybees in Korea.