- Developmental stage and caste
- Lower level response in larval stages both drones and workers and lower response in drones than workers (Laughton et al. 2011)
- Greater resistance to pathogens found in foragers (Bull et al. 2012)
- Parasite Infection (Varroa)
- Suppresses immune response and supports viral amplification (Yang and Cox-Foster 2005)
- Nutrition
- Improved resistance to Nosema spp. When bees fed pollen from diverse floral sources (Alaux et al. 2009, Huang 2012)