A honey bee-associated virus remains infectious and quantifiable in postmortem hosts.

Corpse-mediated pathogen transmission is a viable route through which naïve hosts can become infected, but its likelihood for honey bee-associated viruses is largely unknown. While these viruses can be easily detected in deceased bees, it remains unclear if they stay infectious within postmortem hosts or if enough viral RNA degradation-and subsequently virus inactivation-occurs post-host death to render these viruses inviable. This knowledge gap has important implications for how researchers perform honey bee virus studies and for our general understanding of honey bee virus transmission.

Butenolide Insecticide Flupyradifurone Affects Honey Bee Worker Antiviral Immunity and Survival.

Honey bees face many environmental stressors, including exposure to pesticides and pathogens. A novel butenolide pesticide, flupyradifurone, was recently introduced to the US and shown to have a bee-friendly toxicity profile. Like the much-scrutinized neonicotinoids that preceded it, flupyradifurone targets the insect nervous system.