Pathogens, Parasites, Pests, Pesticides The Terrible P’s Ron Bolton Not good to end a class on a bit of a depressing note, but we need to cover the dark side of beekeeping. The terrible P’s. A lot of negative has happened to the bees and beekeeping in the last 30 years that is making beekeeping much more difficult that it was prior. As we go through this together, you will see some patterns develop, one of which is that a number of these P’s exhibit very similar symptoms making diagnosis of what is or was the culprit difficult to determine for both the new and veteran beekeeper alike. To go into the details of all these P’s, it could encompass an all day session just by themselves. So my goal to teach how to recognize that there is a problem,; maybe narrow down the causes, and what you can do to alieviate the causes in the first place or help get the colony past it once it happens. The caveat is that no matter what you do in either case, it may still not prevent or fix. That’s why it’s the terrible P’s. Since this will be a wide variety of subjects, I will try to pause briefly for questions before going to the next, but if I don’t, please stop me for a question.

Colony Collapse Disorder Adult bees absent, with little or no dead bees Food stores left behind – both honey and pollen Stores are not immediately robbed Wax moth and hive beetle damage slow to develop Some capped brood is found Queen is evident, but all the workers are same young age So with that, lets start with the adult bee problems; and the first is probably the only one most non-beekeepers have heard of: CCD. Listed here are conditions that seem to all occur simultaneously. Most of the colonies affected by CCD are in large-scale commercial operations, but hobbyists do experience though on seemingly lower levels. Cause is still unknown as there are generally no dead bees to examine. Do not combine collapsing colonies with strong colonies. If a collapsed colony is found, do not store where bees from other colonies have access to it. Equipment should not be reused – burn it, combs and all. Very little new information has been published on CCD in the last 5 years though losses are still being reported at about about the same levels. Pause

Nosema Caused by a microsporidia Two types: Nosema apis & Nosema ceranae Both are spore-forming microorganisms that invade the midgut of the bee Spread by other bees coming in contact with fecal matter on combs, frames, and bottom boards N ceranae most serious, can kill bees in a week Next is nō-ˈsē-mə - Most common adult bee disease. N apis is found in all races of European honey bees, of which all honey bees in the US are related to. N ceranae sir-ra-na. an Asian version, which was first found in European bees in 2004, has now spread worldwide and has become more prevalent than the former and may be a factor in CCD. As you can see it infects the mid-gut of the bee.

Nosema Symptoms Bees unable to fly or only fly short distances Bees seen trembling and quivering Feces on combs, top bars, bottom boards and outside walls of hive (yellow stains) Bees crawling aimlessly on bottom board or near entrance or on ground Wings at various angles from body Abdomen swollen, not eating when feed syrup None of the symptoms you see here are specific to Nosema. All of these symptoms can be associated with other conditions, pathogens, pesticide poisoning, and mite damage. The only sure way to diagnose is to dissect the bee and examine mid-gut under a microscope, i.e. send samples of dead bees to a lab.

One symptom of Nosema A possible sign of Nosema: Heavy feces on top bars of frames.

Nosema treatment Fresh, clean water – use a Boardman feeder Provide a new young queen Sunny site with good ventilation, protection from cold winter winds Remove soiled combs and frames, sterilize or dispose Feed medicated syrup – fumagillin – always follow instructions carefully If your advised to and deside to use a chemical treatment, note that Fumagillin is not effective against the Nosema spores, and therefore must be fed over several weeks. As you saw previously, Nosema ceranae is a serious problem and the colony may succumb before a treatment can do any good. Good beekeeping practices are best defense. (Review – sunny, well ventilated dry locations; feed according to needs and season; no water/moisture build-up in hive, regular replacement of old combs). Never treat proactively (this applies to all diseases), but only if Nosema has been positively identified as the culprit. Questions

Dysentery To give you an example of a similar issue: Dysentery which is not a disease but a condition. Primarily caused by poor food and/or long periods of confinement.

Too much moisture in the hive. Dysentery can be caused by fermented stores (or feeding thin syrup too late in the fall.) Too much moisture in the hive. Make sure they have a winter upper exit (not buried in snow) Feed thick syrup in fall (2:1) if they need more stores going into winter Medicate as for nosema Clean dirty combs and hive bodies by power washing, rotate combs every 3 to 5 years Notice these pictures of frames in the colony look very similar to Nosema. Dysentery is generally seen in late winter if there has been an extended cold period where the bees could not get out to do cleansing flights. At what temperature do bees begin to fly to take cleansing flights? Around 50 deg. Again, usually prevented by good beekeeping practices. Questions

American Foulbrood So now lets move on to pathogens that affect the brood. First is AFB, caused by a bacterium which exists in both a spore and a vegetative state. Take a good look at these two frame pictures. The most important thing you need to learn here is knowing what looks good and what doesn’t. On left is a good, healthy frame of brood (notice the white larvae); on the right an AFB diseased one (discolored, dead or dying larvae, sunken caps on the cells). The disease is transmitted by the spore and the infected brood is killed by the vegetative state when the spore germinates in the larval gut. AFB is the most destructive of the brood diseases and is why apiary inspection laws were passed.

AFB Irregular brood patterns Larvae light brown to dark brown Cappings concave, some punctured Long-dead larvae become sticky in cell Dried remains or scales adhere to cell Unpleasant odor if colony died over winter “Rope test” – insert match stick, stir and slowly draw out These are the symptoms of AFB. Again, our problem is that many symptoms are in common with other diseases, so the only sure way to know is send to a lab.

AFB Treat only if you have an outbreak Other than antibiotic treatment, burning is only other option. “Rope test” Rope test on larvae that have been dead at least 3 weeks is a good indicator. Still can be hard to determine so test 5-10 cells from several frames. If contents “rope” out about an inch, it is most likely a positive for AFB. Burn the stick, wash smoker and hive tools with soapy steel wool pad, and wash hands or gloves (or use disposables), and wash bee suit in hot soapy water. Bleach does not kill AFB spores. Treatment – antibiotics. There are drug-resistant strains present. May be able to save the bees by shaking the bees off all frames into new equipment and installing a new queen. Can treat with antibiotics, but it is recommended to get advice from an inspector how to best handle. Otherwise, spray and kill the bees first, then burn everything. Questions

European Foulbrood Again, please take a good look at these two frames. Symptoms – Larvae die coiled, twisted in cell – discolored. The good frame is on the left, diseased frame on right. Dry scales easily removed unlike with AFB. Dead larvae are rubbery and do not adhere to walls. Sour odor instead of foul order. Drone and queen larvae affected. Does not “rope out” as with AFB.

EFB Control Requeen to break brood cycle Treat with Terramycin Feed clean syrup and pollen supplement Remove and destroy heavily infected frames Restrict drifting/robbing between colonies Never exchange equipment between colonies Deal with contaminated equipment as with AFB Restrict drifting by relocating and isolating hive. Restrict robbing with a robbing screen. Never let bees from other colonies have access to honey from either AFB or EFB infected hives. If honey is capped, it is good for our consumption, but don’t let bees clean up the extracted frames, nor the equipment used. Burn the frames, wash the equipment in hot, soapy water. EFB tends to be more prevalent when the colony is under stress. Heavy mite loads, heavy swarming, poor queen, etc. Responds well first 4 items on list. Questions

Chalkbrood White, mummified larvae. First in cells, then on bottom board. There are no chemical treatments Fungus. Spores can be viable for 15 years. Another stress related problem. Weakened colonies are most susceptible. Frame on left shows the dried, mummified larvae in the cells. On right are the ones the bees are removing, some of which will turn grey then black as they age. In most cases you will notice what you see on the right on the bottom board entrance first. Resolutions: Move hives to sunny locations with plenty of air ventilation and dryer conditions. Remove infected combs and burn them. Regularly clean the bottom board so that bees don’t have to walk through the spores. Add bees to strengthen weak colony. Requeen if disease is severe. Make sure bottom board is dry throughout the year. (Remember to keep solid bottom boards slightly tilted forward). Feed syrup and pollen supplements to keep colony strong and healthier. Chalkbrood can usually be overcome. Questions

Viruses Deformed wing virus Black Queen Cell virus Israel Acute Paralysis virus Acute Bee Paralysis virus Sacbrood Virus Kashmir Bee Virus Chronic Bee Paralysis virus Viruses. Here is a partial list of the 7 most common in order of most common first. Prior to parasitic mites, Sacbrood virus was the only virus that was generally found. Now there are 18 ! Not going to go into details on these as one, it would take too long and two, there are no treatments for viruses. There are example pictures of all of these in almost every current book, and are easily found on the web. Best defense is to keep mite infestation down. Best offence once the bees have a virus is to get mite infestation down. Feed to strengthen colony, and in serious outbreaks, re-queen. Questions

Tracheal Mites So we have talked about the fact that many diseases and viruses are the result of mites; it’s time to take a look at the two types. First are tracheal mites. They are the unseen, difficult to detect mites that cause the most failures to occur over the winter. Only sure way to diagnose infection is by dissection and inspection under a microscope. Only visible symptom that may occur is bees, wandering around on the outside of the hive as if lost and unable to fly. If your colonies are not thriving and have been checked for all other problems, you should have them tested for tracheal mites. Control is by use of a oil patty made of sugar and vegetable shortening during the winter months, or chemical treatments such as menthol (one or two Hall’s cough drops), or some of the varroa mite treatments giving you a two for one. Questions So now lets go to our bees’ biggest problem: varroa mites

The trouble with varroa The trouble with Varroa mites is that they multiply like crazy and when they reach a threshold, the weakened colony gets impacted with all sorts of viruses and disease. This also lets the other pests like Small Hive Beetle and the wax moth get a foothold and soon the entire colony crashes. The trouble with varroa

In comparison to a bee, the varroa mite would be like a tick the size of a dinner plate on your back. These “blood suckers” lay eggs and feed on the larvae in their capped cells, weakening and infecting the young bee. They prefer drone brood over worker brood due to the longer pupation time and thus can produce more female mites. At any point in time during the active brood rearing season, 2/3rds of the mites in the hive are in the capped brood cell and thus are difficult to kill without also killing the brood. I’m not going to cover the lifecyle details of the varroa destructor, the official name, as it is well documented in most publications and on the web. It’s worth reading to better understand why some controls work better than others in various situations. Varroa destructor

Integrated Pest Management for Varroa destructor Monitoring and thresholds – sugar/alcohol shake test/ sticky board Chemical controls – Api Life VAR, Apistan, Apivar, Hopguard II, Check-mite, Mite Away Quick Strips, Oxalic acid Non-chemical – Drone brood removal, powdered sugar dusting, brood cycle interruption Physical – screen bottom boards, small cell foundation Genetic – Mite resistant stock: Russians, Minnesota Hygienic, others? Management – colony separation to prevent bees carrying mites from drifting between hives; re-queening with local survivor queens Integrated Pest Management is the process by which one utilizes a combination of controls to deal with a pest in order to reduce the likelihood of the pest adapting to a single control thus rendering it ineffective. These are most of the current controls to use when dealing with varroa mites. Generally, to be more successful over the longer term, you must use multiples, if not all. Monitoring is important and I will demo that shortly. Why are there so many chemical controls? Because the varroa mite has shown itself to be a formidable adversary by becoming resistant to a chemical used multiple times. You have to be very careful when using them. Think about it – you are trying to kill a bug on a bug in the presence of a food product. Most also require you to wear special protection when handling and applying them. Chemical controls are entirely a personal choice. There are many that refuse to use hard chemicals in their hives. Yes they lose colonies, but they are attempting to pursue nature’s way of Live and Let Die with the intention that the survivors are in fact – survivors that can coexist with the mites. Long term that’s absolutely the best solution. But what’s against us is… US! If we had a glass dome which only us beekeepers with survivors kept our bees and we never allowed any colonies or queens in that were kept going by chemicals, we would eventually get there. But with our migratory practices, and purchasing new colonies from all over the country, it’s nearly impossible to keep any mite resistant genitics pure. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, but it takes effort by everyone. We need to raise our own queens and replace our lost bees from local survivors. I encourage you to join a local club and do just that! Our state apiairist uses no mite chemical treatments, raises his queens, and replaces all his queens in his colonies every year. All part of IPM, it’s just more difficult to do if you only have one colony that turns out not to be survivors. There’s an organization that formed within the last year or so that’s geared entirely toward bee health. www.honeybeehealthcolalition.com They have put together one of the best quides that’s available for dealing with varroa mites. There is a copy of that guide on our website. I encourage you to download it and study it.

Sugar roll test for mites Screened bottom board with sticky board (coat with very thin film of vaseline) Mite count > 15 in 24 hour period, colony at risk. 1/8 inch thick, white, corrugated plastic Sugar roll test for mites 1/2 cup = approx. 300 bees Mite count > 2 per 100 bees in jar, colony at risk. A count > 5 per 100 may require more drastic and frequent use of controls to prevent colony loss. 8x8 Screen Two ways to monitor the infestation level of varroa mites. ***Demo a sugar roll. Poster of how to do on club website. Final words on varroa mites: everyone has them in their colonies. Unless you are very lucky to have bees with the genetics to live with the mites; if you ignore the levels, you will lose your bees. If not the first year, almost certainly the second. Questions

Small Hive Beetle Small Hive Beetle is our newest pest. SHB overrun weak colonies quickly, but even large strong hives can succumb with a heavy infestation. July and August are usually the worst months for SHB.

SHB’s love to hide in tight spots were the bees can’t get to them SHB’s love to hide in tight spots were the bees can’t get to them. From there they can dart out and lay eggs.

Small hive beetle larvae, slime, fermenting honey When those eggs hatch, the larvae tunnel through the combs eating honey and defecating in the process. This causes the honey to ferment and soon the frames become a slimy, dripping mess. Some colonies will simply abscond. Picture is the result of a heavy infestation.

Bees and Oil don’t mix! Vegetable oil in trap Between frame trap Entrance trap Vegetable oil in trap Bees and Oil don’t mix! There are various types of SHB traps available on the market. All of these use vegetable oil to kill the beetle once it goes or falls into the trap. The between the frame traps have not proven to be very effective and I’m hearing their use is dropping off. If any traps are used, the bottom board ones are probably becoming the most prevalent. Screened Bottom board trap

Reusable kitchen wipes Best SHB trap yet? Reusable kitchen wipes Suggest replace every 5 days, definitely no more than 7 days in hive. Cheapest and best trap yet? For some reason the Scotch-Brite brand seems to work the best. Something to do with the fibers and how they entrap the mites once the bees begin to propolise and dissect the cloth. Place lengthways across frames, centered. Questions Do not use scented or anti-bacterial wipes!

Wax Moth Wax moths, similar to SHB are more of a problem to a weak colony. Strong colonies rarely have issues with wax moths. Wax moths constantly dart in and lay eggs and get back out. Or they lay eggs in the cracks between the boxes and the tiny larvae crawl through any unsealed gaps. Strong colonies can keep the larvae under control.

Lots of places for beetles to lay eggs! Don’t reuse! Cocoons Frame damage Wax moth damage to woodenware. This is a common sight when a colony becomes extremely weak or perishes. The same can happen with stored brood combs which Cathy explained how to handle earlier. Questions Lots of places for beetles to lay eggs! Don’t reuse!

Other Pests Mice Hornets Skunks & Raccoons Bears Mice are more of a late fall, early winter pest. As the weather turns cold, mice are looking for a warmer, sheltered spot, and some close by food, and the bottom box fits the bill exactly. Put mouse guards or entrance reducers with the open slot down in your hive entrances. Hornets are carnivores, catching bees in flight for food. Rarely a serious problem unless there is a very large hornet nest close by. Traps can be made or bought to reduces their pressure. Skunks and raccoons can weaken hives with constant pressure by scratching on the front and eating the bees as they come out. Hive stands at least 18” high are best deterrent. Bears destroy colonies and equipment. Sturdy electric fences are the only option outside of trapping and removal. Questions

Pesticides Orchards, tree farms, nurseries, parks, crops, other homeowners’ yards and gardens Area spraying for mosquitoes Insecticides in use today: Nicotinoids Organophosphates Chlorinated hydrocarbons Carbamates Dinitrophenyl Bees come in contact with many chemicals while foraging. Learn what your bees may encounter within a 2-mile distance from your apiary. All of these are possible areas of danger. They may be exposed by inadvertent direct application, contact with recent applications on fields, consumption of contaminated water, misapplication, or sprays directly on blooming plants.

Pesticides - symptoms Excessive # of dying/dead bees within 24 hrs in front of hive, on bottom board or top bars Sudden reduction in numbers in middle of summer season (What else can cause this?) Dying larvae crawling out of cells Abnormal break in brood cycle Stores not being consumed Inappropriate queen supersedure All of these are symptoms of a poisoning. What else have we learned today results in a sudden population reduction? CCD, Swarmed, but honey stores would be significantly reduced in this case. Again, this can be similar or same as diseases and other happenings. Seeing #1 is most likely a pesticide kill. As much as we hear about pesticides killing the bees and pollinators in general, very few confirmed kills are reported to the EPA, so as far as they can see, there is no problem. Why? The only way to confirm is via a lab test which can run $100’s, so generally only large scale beekeepers pay to find out. If you suspect a pesticide kill, contact our state apiary inspector for advice and what recourse you have. Contact info is on our web site.

Pesticide kill What can you do to prevent? 1.Talk with your neighbors and explain the importance of pollinators to their plants. If they or you must spray, encourage them to wait until late in the evening when the bees aren’t foraging and many blooms are closed or not producing nectar. 2. Neighboring farms – talk with the farmer about them letting you know when they are going to apply so you can close up the hive, or feed heavily by pouring syrup on top of frames twice a day to keep the foragers at home cleaning it up.

Misuse of either external Mite and beetle treatments, and wax moth crystals ARE pesticides. If you use any sort of chemical, follow directions to the letter! Questions Misuse of either external and/or internal pesticides =

Questions? Time for any general questions.

We’ve given you a lot to think about today We’ve given you a lot to think about today. Beekeeping can be an overwhelming experience. Get a book; get several. Go to club meetings; ask questions; don’t be afraid to ask for help. Sign up for a mentor if it’s offered to you. But above all, sit back, watch and enjoy one of the sweetest creatures you have ever dealt with. That’s All Folks! Thank you!