Viruses and vectors tied to honey bee colony losses
Commercial beekeepers in the US reported severe colony losses early in 2025, as colonies were being staged for their critical role in the almond pollination season in California. Average reported losses since the preceding spring exceeded 60%, with substantial variation among operations. Many colonies were still actively collapsing in January, 2025, when pooled and individual samples were collected then screened for levels of known honey bee pathogens and parasites. Deformed wing virus strains A and B, along with Acute bee paralysis virus, were found at unusually high levels, either in pooled colony samples or in individual bees exhibiting shaking behaviors and morbidity. Differences between these two analyses suggest that direct collections of morbid bees provide a superior diagnostic for causal viruses, a suggestion borne out by confirmation of symptoms and morbidity following isolation and new inoculations. Since these viruses are known to be vectored by parasitic Varroa mites, mites from collapsed colonies were in turn screened for resistance to amitraz, a critical miticide used widely by beekeepers. Miticide resistance was found in all collected Varroa, underscoring the urgent need for new control strategies for this parasite. While viruses are a likely end-stage cause of colony death, other stressors such as nutritional stress and agrochemicals may have also played significant roles.