Beekeeping practice-related factors that impact nosemosis prevalence in honey bees in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia

To ensure pollination services for agriculture and implement effective management strategies to protect honey bee populations, it is necessary to understand the prevalence of pathogens and pests and the factors that impact their occurrence. The aim of this study is to investigate potential links of nosemosis prevalence in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the following factors as potential risk factors for Nosema apis and N. ceranae PCR positivity: district, wintering type, honey bee breed, hive material, varroosis, ascosferosis or nosemosis observed in the previous year, colony strength, feeding in winter, and amitraz, fluvalinate, or thymol usage. Our results show that only the variable counting for thymol usage fits the data well, where the actual observed prevalence of N. ceranae infection is significantly higher in honey bee populations that use thymol compared to those that do not. Honey bee populations with thymol usage in the current study with decreased, but not eliminated, N. ceranae infection, possibly faced preventive, uncontrolled, and excessive use of miticide in beekeeping practice.