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Honey bee viruses have been shown to negatively affect the vigour and longevity of European honey bees (Apis mellifera L). In the present work, beehive materials were tested for their potential to serve as non-invasive samples for honey bee virus detection. Honey, pollen, hive debris, hive grid smears and forager honey bees were collected from 24 hives at four locations in the Czech Republic. Deformed wing virus (DWV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), sacbrood virus (SBV) and black queen cell virus (BQCV) were detected using a reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and real-time quantitative RT-PCR and the results for bees and alternative materials compared. All forager bee samples contained DWV, BQCV and SBV and 54.2% had ABPV. When comparing beehive materials to bees, the most promising results were obtained from honey and pollen samples, with BQCV and SBV detected in all honey samples and ABPV in 12.5%. Detection of SBV was achieved in 91.6% of pollen samples, detection of BQCV in 87.5% and detection of DWW in 75%. The results for debris and smears were less consistent with the viral profile of the forager samples. The best candidate materials for honey bee virus detection in a non-invasive technique are honey and pollen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Worldwide, mass losses of honey bee colonies are being observed more frequently in recent times. Except for the overuse of pesticides, one of the main reasons for high honey bee colony collapse is diseases. For this reason, nationwide screening of common pathogens involving viruses, bacterial, fungal, and protozoa pathogens was performed in three different types of habitat including agroecosystems, towns, and national parks. The most frequent eukaryotic pathogens were Trypanosomatids and N. ceranae and in the case of viruses DWV-A and ABPV. In addition, the association between the occurrence of particular pathogens and winter colony losses was found. Although the differences in mortality between individual habitats were not significant, results of this study suggest a significant correlation between DWV-B and DWC-C occurrence and mortality of bee colonies, despite their relatively low occurrence. Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is one of the most important pollinators in the world. Thus, a recent honey bee health decline and frequent honey bee mass losses have drawn attention and concern. Honey bee fitness is primarily reduced by pathogens, parasites, and viral load, exposure to pesticides and their residues, and inadequate nutrition from both the quality and amount of food resources. This study evaluated the prevalence of the most common honey bee pathogens and viruses in different habitats across the Czech Republic. The agroecosystems, urban ecosystems, and national park were chosen for sampling from 250 colonies in 50 apiaries. Surprisingly, the most prevalent honey bee pathogens belong to the family Trypanosomatidae including Lotmaria passim and Crithidia mellificae. As expected, the most prevalent viruses were DWV, followed by ABPV. Additionally, the occurrence of DWV-B and DWV-C were correlated with honey bee colony mortality. From the habitat point of view, most pathogens occurred in the town habitat, less in the agroecosystem and least in the national park. The opposite trend was observed in the occurrence of viruses. However, the prevalence of viruses was not affected by habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]