Molecular epidemiology of six pathogenic viruses in apiaries of eight provinces of Iran

Reduction of honey bee colonies in recent years has been  a matter of concern in the beekeeping and agricultural industries. One of the main causes of  mortality in colonies is infection with viruses. In the present study, the molecular epidemiology of six honey bee pathogenic viruses, which are deformed wing virus (DWV)و acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), black queen cell virus (BQCV), Sacbrood virus (SBV) and Kashmir bee virus (KBV) and was studied in apiaries of eight provinces of the country (Fars, Sistan and Blouchestan, Kerman, Hormozgan, , Bushehr, Kermanshah, Kohkilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad and Khouzestan). 45 samples of honey bees were collected. Samples were examined by RT-PCR method and the PCR product was electrophoresed on a 1.2% agarose gel. Also, PCR products of positive samples were sent for sequencing. Results were positive for deformed wing virus 17 (37.7%), chronic bee paralysis virus 16 (35.5%), black queen cell virus 6 (13.3%) and acute bee paralysis virus 1 (2.2%) , but no sacbrood virus and keshmir bee virus  were detected. The highest percentage of chronic paralysis virus (100%) was observed in samples of Kermanshah province and the highest percentage of black queen cell virus (62.5%) and deformed wing virus (75%) were observed in samples of Fars province. Acute paralysis virus (14.29%) was observed only in samples of Hormozgan province. The results of this study showed that epidemiological studies of honey bee viruses are vital to know the dynamics of virus prevalence and can provide key information for designing surveillance programs against these beekeeping threats.