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Bee Pests & Diseases 3/28/08

Strong Hives Make Healthy Hives Most diseases can be avoided by keeping hives strong. Frequent examinations Prevention Hopefully you will not see many of these in your 1 st year.

Examine Your Hive In order to recognize a disease, you need to know what a healthy hive looks like. For example: Are the bees bringing in pollen? Get use to what the brood looks like. What does it smell like? Activity at the entrance? You will learn this at your hive.

Healthy Frame

Stored Honey

Honey or Brood ?

Healthy Brood

Brood frame Drone cells Honey

Good Brood Pattern

Healthy Frame Honey

Spotty brood pattern Honey Brood

Supersedure queen Cell

We have seen healthy… Now: Diseases and Pests

Nosema Dissected bee Hind gut is inflamed by protozoan Bees unable to fly and have dysentery

Dysentery

Nosema & Dysentery - treatment Symptom – Dysentery & Lethargy Feed syrup with Fumigilin B 1 teaspoon per gallon of syrup Fumigilin kills parasite and stimulates digestive tract Preventative feeding in Fall around Columbus day Feed again in Spring after long confinement. Feces from dysentery is very potent.

Nosema Update Reclassified as a fungus. New variety of Nosema called Nosema Ceranae. - More virulent than Nosema Apis - Prevalent later in summer. - Fumigilin is very effective treatment. - On the short list for CCD

Varroa Mites on Adults

Varroa Mites Detection –Uncap some Drone cells and pick out the larva –Use a Screened bottom board with a sticky paper and do a two day mite count (<60 good) –Ether Roll, Alcohol Roll, Sugar Roll (< 6 good) Treatment –Use a screened bottom board –Cycle capped drone frames through freezer –Dust with powdered sugar –Break brood cycle. –Mitecide treatments: Formic Acid, Oxalate Acid, Sachcrocide Api Life Var, Apistan.

Varroa Mites

Wax Moth

Moth Larva tunnel through comb

Wax Moth Bees can fend off the moth during the summer. Frames removed from the hive contain eggs which hatch and eat up wax, brood and honey. Left unchecked the they will destroy the comb. You put nice looking frames away in the Fall and discover they are ruined a couple months later.

Wax Moth prevention Freeze the frame for two days to kill larva. Expose frames to daylight. Fumigate removed frames with PDB ParaDichloralBenzene aka Moth Ice Crystals Place empty frames in stacked supers and place a teaspoon of PDB on a piece of paper on top of frames. Cover the stack of frames. Air out frames before putting back on hive Do not use Moth Balls DCB (dichloralnaphthalene)

Chalkbrood - Mummies

Chalkbrood A mold infection that is non fatal Symptom –White moldy mummified bees on bottom board Treatment –Rectify conditions that promote moisture such as a hive that is not tipped forward, spilled syrup –Move hive to a sunny location.

Skunks and Raccoons

Skunks & Raccoons Symptom –Scratches on landing board, bottom board or front of hive. Muddy foot prints –Bees have become nasty Treatment –Raise hive at least 6 inches off ground –Drive tacks through shingles and place in front of hive –Roll of chicken wire in front of hive

Mouse Nest

Mice Mice move in for winter. The mice eat the honey comb and make a mess. Bees may kill the mouse and mummify the mouse in propolis Put on a Mouse guard in early September. Leave the Guard on until April. Mouse guard should be metal

American Foulbrood Bacteria that attacks brood – SMELLS BAD!

American Foulbrood -2 Cell cap sunken & open

AFB – Irregular & sunken brood

AFB- Dead pupae with tongue

AFB Larva “tongue” Stick a toothpick into larva cell. You see goo instead of larva.

AFB Foulbrood Treatment Foulbrood is contagious… practice safe beekeeping. Avoid used equipment. Strong hives resist bacteria Frames smell rotten, or foul You can try Tylon (antibiotic) for mild cases. For severe cases kill the bees and burn the hive. Bees can be killed by spraying with soapy water

European Foulbrood

Symptoms –Larva die in twisted shapes –Larva are uncapped –Foul odor Treatment –Treatable with antibiotics –Tylon dusted and fed

Tracheal Mites

Small Mites that live in the tracheal tubes Symptom –Can only be confirmed by doing an autopsy and a 200X microscope –Weakens hive and lowers ability to get through winter. Treatment –Menthol pads –Grease Patties 1/3 cup Sugar 1/4 Crisco see bottom of page 133 of textbook

Small Hive Beetle

Currently not a problem in Northeast. Can come in via a package or Nucleus They crawl in and out of hive. A severe infestation will slime your honey Treatment –West Beetle Trap –Ground drench

Find the queen

Strong Hives Make Healthy Hives Most diseases can be avoided by keeping hives strong. Frequent examinations Prevention Hopefully you will not see many of these Questions?

Overtime -IPM IPM (Integrated Pest Management) –Regular measurement. –Establish an economic threshold. –Arrange treatment methods in ascending strengths. –Drone trapping, sugar dusting, break brood cycle, organic acids, strong mitecides. –Escalate to next higher treatment when threshold is reached.

Overtime CCD Short answer: don’t know the cause. But probably multiple causes. Short List: –Varroa Mites –Nosema –Pesticides –Healthy diet.