The investigation of the presence and prevalence of deformed wing virus (DWV) in honeybee colonies in Elaziğ and surrounding

This study was conducted to investigate the cause of honey bee colony deaths observed in the Elazığ region between March and June 2024, focusing on the presence of Deformed Wing virus (DWV). In the study, a total of 183 dead adult bee samples, 31 drone larvae, and 23 worker bee larvae were collected from 14 honey bee colonies comprising 3,391 hives. The dead adult bee samples, drone egg samples, and worker bee egg samples were pooled on a colony basis, resulting in 14 pooled samples. The presence of Deformed Wing virus (DWV) nucleic acid (RNA) in these pooled colony samples was investigated using the RT-PCR method. According to the RT-PCR results, no DWV RNA was detected in any of the 14 honey bee colonies sampled from the districts of Merkez, Ağın, Baskil, Kovancılar, and Sivrice in Elazığ, where adult bee mortality was observed. Based on these findings, it was concluded that the cause of the observed bee deaths in the sampled colonies may be related to other microbiological or non-microbiological factors. Therefore, it is essential to consider all possible causative agents when investigating the reasons behind adult bee mortalities.