170 Bulletin UASVM Animal Science and Biotechnologies, 68(1-2)/2011 Print ISSN 1843-5262; Electronic ISSN 1843-536X Disease and Behavior in Honeybees Bogdan I. GHERMAN 1) , Liviu Al. MĂRGHITA 1) , Daniel S. DEZMIREAN 1) , Robin F.A. Moritz 2) 1) University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 3-5 Mănătur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania; bogdan.gherman74@yahoo.com 2) Martin Luther Universität Halle Wittenberg, Germany Abstract. This brief review is mend to present a better idea about the changes of honeybee behavior when certain diseases occur. Lately, massive colony losses have been reported and previous studies proved that not only single disease can destroy a colony, but multiple factors can have a huge impact on the beekeeping industry. This brief review will help to understand better what is to do in the near future in order to avoid losses of colonies of this social insect, the honeybee Apis mellifera. It is very important to have alternatives to traditional treatments of diseases (many chemical substances that we find in medical treatment have been forbidden not only in the EU, but also in many other countries) and to get some answers in order to defeat the threat of industry breakdown due to poorer bee pollination. Keywords: importance of honeybees, pollination, bee products, hygienic behavior, Nosema ceranae, Varroa destructor, AFB INTRODUCTION It is very well known the importance of honeybee Apis mellifera, due to the activities that she performs or to the products that we obtain from. Thank to the biological particularities of the honeybee, they provide a large range of products, well appreciated since a long time before. The supplementary crossed-selective pollination of plants is very useful to obtain better and superior quality crops (Mărghita, 2002). Being a social insect, the honeybee lives in large groups that have a lot more benefits if it is compared to solitary lifestyle. Cooperation between group members can increase the efficiency of brood care, foraging, or anti-predator defenses. All the benefits that come from working together are considered to be the main reasons why, for example, social insects have become dominant species in various habitats. Living in social groups also has some negative aspects as: infectious diseases can be spread more easily between group members, as compared with solitary life style (Cremer, 2007). The reasons for that are, in the first place, transmission is easier to happen when individuals live at relatively high densities and have frequent social contact and, secondly, that group members are often close relatives and thus susceptible to the same parasite infections. Also, it is expected that social groups offer particularly favorable conditions for the spread of infectious diseases. As a response, the groups have also developed several tactics to defeat this threat. Primates and social insects have, in parallel, evolved sophisticated collective anti-parasite defenses, for example, all grooming behavior to remove parasites from group members. These defenses can be prophylactic, such as the intake of propolis by honeybees to prevent fungal and bacterial growth or to cover any possible nest cracks. Other defenses are activated as needed, for example, social fever in honeybees, when many bees