Parasitology Studies on Honeybees of Iranian Apiaries: A Systematic Review

Honeybee parasites are known as detrimental factors. Several studies have been conducted on honeybee parasites in Iran. Importantly, a review was carried out on the past studies. Accordingly, respective information was collected from valid databases. Generally, the results of this review indicated that the honeybee parasites exist with various prevalence rates (0-100%) in Iran. Regarding the aims of the previous studies, 11of which were only aimed to identify the parasite type, whereas 31 of which have determined the prevalence rates. Based on collected documents, the most findings about the identification of parasitic agents or determination of the prevalence rates in Iranian apiaries were related to Nosema, Varroa and Acarapis species, respectively. It is noteworthy to be noted that the majority of the conducted studies were based on microscopic method only at the genus level. So, it is suggested that the molecular methods should be applied in the future studies.