Occurrence of Lotmaria passim in Africanized and European Honey Bee, Apis mellifera, Lineages from the United States

Abstract

Honey bee populations in the United States have been under stress for the past several decades. Several internal parasites may contribute to this, including the trypanosome Lotmaria passim. It is unknown how widespread the honey bee parasite, L. passim, is in Africanized honey bee (AHB) populations in the United States. A total of 321 feral honey bee colony samples which had been previously recorded to be of Africanized origin using molecular diagnostics from California (n=3), New Mexico (n=46), Oklahoma (n=57), Texas (n=106), and Utah (n=109) were used in this study. Of these samples, a total of 15 (4.7%) from three States were positive for L. passim. Utah AHB samples had the highest infection rate (11.0%), followed by Texas (1.9%) and Oklahoma (1.8%). Compared with previous studies on the occurrence of L. passim from European honey bees from the same sampled States, infection rates of Africanized honey bees for L. passim were significantly higher in the State of Utah, but not for the other sampled States. This study provides evidence that feral honey bee populations do not necessarily have lower levels of honey bee parasites than managed honey bee colonies.