Spatio-temporal patterns of Varroa destructor prevalence in Germany inferred from 10-year survey data explain geographic and annual variance in winter colony loss rates of honeybees

IF 2.2 3区农林科学 Q1 ENTOMOLOGY

Apidologie Pub Date : 2025-09-12 DOI:10.1007/s13592-025-01208-6

Jes Johannesen, Valon Mustafi, Saskia Wöhl, Christoph Otten

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The parasitic mite Varroa destructor is a main cause for honeybee colony losses. While population dynamics of V. destructor have been studied comprehensively within colonies and/or apiaries, little is known about spatio-temporal dynamics at larger geographic scales. In this paper, we demonstrate that surveys using ranked judgements of V. destructor prevalence and reported online by beekeepers can be used for analyses of population dynamics of V. destructor on a geographic scale. Prevalence indices calculated from the surveys’ data correlated significantly with published quantitative estimates of prevalence between 2013 and 2022 and predicted annual loss rates of honeybee winter colonies at regional and national geographic scales. The annual prevalence evolved in a similar manner among German regions but also revealed substantial variance in prevalence levels among regions. Retrospective epidemiological mapping revealed that geographic clusters of prevalence explained the variance within years. Between years, clusters with relatively low prevalence in 1 year tended to experience relatively higher prevalence than other regions in the following year. The pattern of population dynamics resembles spatial synchrony with population fluctuations and implies an auto-correlative response in annual prevalence trends and hence annual colony losses of honeybees. Online surveys using ranked judgements of V. destructor offer a low-cost method for estimating prevalence trends, which can be disseminated rapidly to beekeepers.

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从10年调查数据中推断出的德国破坏瓦螨流行的时空格局解释了蜜蜂冬季群体损失率的地理和年度差异

寄生蜂是造成蜂群损失的主要原因。虽然在蜂群和（或）蜂房范围内对灭蚊种群动态进行了全面的研究，但在更大的地理尺度上对其时空动态知之甚少。在本文中，我们证明了使用破坏弧菌流行率的排名判断和养蜂人在线报告的调查可以用于分析破坏弧菌在地理尺度上的种群动态。根据调查数据计算的流行指数与已公布的2013年至2022年流行率的定量估计显著相关，并预测了区域和国家地理尺度上蜜蜂冬季殖民地的年损失率。德国各地区的年流行率也以类似的方式演变，但也显示各地区的流行率水平存在很大差异。回顾性流行病学制图显示，流行的地理聚集解释了年内的差异。在年份之间，1年患病率相对较低的群集次年的患病率往往相对高于其他区域。种群动态模式类似于种群波动的空间同步性，并暗示了年度流行趋势的自相关响应，从而导致蜜蜂的年度群体损失。利用破坏弧菌排序判断的在线调查提供了一种估算流行趋势的低成本方法，可以迅速传播给养蜂人。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Apidologie 生物-昆虫学

CiteScore

5.10

自引率

8.30%

发文量

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Apidologie is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the biology of insects belonging to the superfamily Apoidea. Its range of coverage includes behavior, ecology, pollination, genetics, physiology, systematics, toxicology and pathology. Also accepted are papers on the rearing, exploitation and practical use of Apoidea and their products, as far as they make a clear contribution to the understanding of bee biology. Apidologie is an official publication of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) and Deutscher Imkerbund E.V. (D.I.B.)