Parasitism and bees: A review of basic concepts from an ecological perspective

Parasitism and bees: a concept revision from an ecological perspective. From the beginning all, parasites, pathogens and viruses are organisms that have a negative connotation in the field of medicine. However, the use of methodologies and terms of medicine in the field of ecology and, above all, veterinary medicine, led to this understanding of "pathogenic" organisms reaching such studies. When we look into the apicultural research bibliography, we find that these concepts sometimes are poorly distinguished and only a few early studies have been focused on bringing light on this conflictive conceptualization. Today we find a large number of scientific articles that misuse these terms and often consider them as synonyms. Throughout this review we will seek to differentiate each of these terms and generate consensus that avoids the confusion of such important ecological concepts.