Environmental exposures associated with honey bee health.

Bee health is declining on a global scale, yet the exact causes and their interactions responsible for the decline remain unknown. To more objectively study bee health, recently biomarkers have been proposed as an essential tool, because they can be rapidly quantified and standardized, serving as a comparable measure across bee species and varying environments. Here, we used a systems biology approach to draw associations between endogenous and exogenous chemical profiles, with pesticide exposure, or the abundance of the 21 most common honey bee diseases.

Increased alarm pheromone component is associated with infected honeybee colonies.

Use of chemicals, such as alarm pheromones, for rapid communication with conspecifics is widespread throughout evolutionary history. Such chemicals are particularly important for social insects, such as the honeybee (), because they are used for collective decision-making, coordinating activities and self-organization of the group. What is less understood is how these pheromones change due to an infection and what the implications might be for social communication.

Correction: Honey bee (Apis mellifera) exposomes and dysregulated metabolic pathways associated with Nosema ceranae infection.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) exposomes and dysregulated metabolic pathways associated with Nosema ceranae infection.

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) health has been severely impacted by multiple environmental stressors including parasitic infection, pesticide exposure, and poor nutrition. The decline in bee health is therefore a complex multifactorial problem which requires a holistic investigative approach. Within the exposome paradigm, the combined exposure to the environment, drugs, food, and individuals' internal biochemistry affects health in positive and negative ways.