New Infectious Diseases among Bees threaten World’s Economies

Honey Bees in India

• India hosts more than 700 bee species, including 4 indigenous honey bees: Asiatic honey bee, giant rock bee, dwarf honey bee and the stingless bee.
  • In 1991-1992, a Thai sacbrood virus outbreak devastated around 90% of Asiatic honey bee colonies in South India. It again reemerged in 2021 in Telangana.
• Western honey bees were introduced in India in 1983 to increase the country’s honey yield. Western honey bees are viral reservoirs and can infect wild species when they share habitats.
• Habitat loss forces pollinators to share smaller spaces, increasing disease transmission risks between managed and wild species.
• Pathogen spillover refers to the transfer of pathogens from managed honey bees to wild pollinators. Studies have found that pathogen loads among wild pollinators sharing habitats with honey bees were up to 10 times higher.
• Pathogen spillback occurs when viruses transmitted to wild pollinators mutate into more virulent forms, returning to infect honey bees and causing more severe harm.
• Control mechanism: Diverse pollinator-friendly habitats with more floral resources lower the chance of pathogen spillover & spillback between wild pollinators and managed western honey bees.

Importance of Pollinators

• Role in Agriculture: Over 75% of food crops, fruits, and flowering plants globally depend on insect pollinators like bees, wasps, beetles, flies, moths and butterflies for successful harvests.
• Economic Impact: Threats to pollinators, such as pesticides, pollution, climate change and diseases, jeopardise global food security and the economies of countries.

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