The primary purpose of this agreement is to leverage existing and newly collected aphis national honey BEE pest and disease survey samples to develop a more complete assessment of risk exposures in…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service awarded $100,036 to the University of Maryland, College Park on May 1, 2026, under a Cooperative Agreement to expand molecular pathogen analysis for the APHIS National Honey Bee Pest and Disease Survey.

The recipient will add four viral and non-viral pathogens to molecular testing of 2026–2027 survey samples and generate strain-level data for low-prevalence, destructive honey bee viruses through long-read sequencing of approximately 100 archived survey samples selected based on existing viral detection, colony loss records, and risk-factor data. The recipient will assess whether particular viral strains exhibit significant seasonal or geographic patterns to identify high-priority targets for future survey years. Deliverables include a complete and expanded list of all viral and non-viral targets with strain-resolved information for low-prevalence, high-impact viruses, enabling improved disease modeling alongside other risk-factor exposures and supporting mitigation strategies to reduce colony losses. Work is performed at College Park, Maryland, and concludes April 30, 2027. The intended beneficiary includes the broader beekeeping community, survey participants, members of the Apiary Inspectors of America, commercial beekeepers, honey bee scientists, and virologists.

The primary purpose of this agreement is to leverage existing and newly collected aphis national honey BEE pest and disease survey samples to develop a more complete assessment of risk exposures in the U.S. Honey BEE population by adding 4 viral and non-viral pathogens to the molecular analysis, and also by adding strain‑level information for selected low-prevalence, destructive viruses, so that we can better model and predict disease-driven colony losses. Activities to be performed: from this grant, the completed viral and non-viral sample set for the 2026-2027 survey year of the aphis national honey BEE pest and disease survey (nhbds) will be composed of the 14 targets listed in the grant. We will complete and update the viral and non-viral retrospective list as indicated and incorporate strain-resolved records for low-prevalence, high-impact honey BEE viruses generated from long-read sequencing of approximately 100 archived nhbds survey samples selected based on existing viruses, colony loss, and risk-factor data. We will determine whether particular viral strains show significant seasonal or geographic patterns, to assess whether any of them should be included as high-priority targets in future years of the national honey BEE pest and disease survey. Deliverables and expected outcomes: we will have a complete and expanded list for all viral and non-viral targets discussed in this grant, including strain-resolved information for low-prevalence, high-impact honey BEE viruses. Filling these gaps in our current knowledge will improve our ability to model disease occurrence alongside other risk-factor exposures and support development of approaches to mitigate pathogen impacts on honey BEE health and reduce colony losses. Intended beneficiary(IES): the larger beekeeping community, including all participants of the national honey BEE pest and disease survey, members of the apiary inspectors of america, commercial beekeepers, honey BEE scientists, and virologists.