Bee Health Flashcards
What is the main objective of good apiary hygiene? 2
- To prevent the spread of disease and keep bees healthy - even low levels can make bees more suseptible to other diseases
- To prevent the contamination of honey
List the good management practices that support good apiary hygiene
Acronym
Reco: learn the acronym first to give you the shape of the full answer, then the sub answers
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- Bee management
- Apiary management
- Comb replacement
- Kit cleaning
- Personal equipment
- Feeding precautions
- Robbing prevention
- Quarantine practice
List the good management practices that support good apiary hygiene
Long answer Bees management 3
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BEES management
- Quarantine swarms until known to be disease free.
- If colony a dies unexpectedly, seal to prevent robbing
- Regularly monitor for varroa, which carry pathogen
List the good management practices that support good apiary hygiene
Long answer apiary management 5
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APIARY management
- Give colonies enough space which also reduces stress which can make bees more susceptible to disease
- Arrange hives randomly and paint entrances different colours to reduce drifting
- Keep apiary clean and tidy so never leave old comb/equipment about
- Keep kit store shut up to prevent bees crawling over kit.
- Store supers over a QE to keep out mice, prevent mould and allow spiders to control wax moth
List the good management practices that support good apiary hygiene
Long answer comb replacement 7
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COMB replacement
- Never put supers on the ground - botulism
- Put brace comb and propolis in container and remove
- Replace brood comb at least every 3 years
- Dispose of old comb quickly
- Never exchange comb/brood/super frames between colonies unless you know they are free from disease
- Never buy old combs/use second hand combs
List the good management practices that support good apiary hygiene 4+4 supplementaries
Long answer Kit cleaning
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KIT cleaning
- Avoid inspection cloths as these can harbour disease
- Clean all kit before reuse
- Thoroughly disinfect second hand kit
- Kill pathogens by
- Scraping and scorching old boxes
- Boiling frames in washing soda solution
- Freezing old combs
- Fumigating DRY combs with 80% acetic acid/
List the good management practices that support good apiary hygiene
Long answer Personal equipment 5
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PERSONAL equipment
- Use disposable gloves
- Keep bucket w lid soda 1kg/5l to rinse marigolds and tools between inspections
- Clean smokers and bellows regularly in washing soda
- Wash suit, veil etc with 1/2 cup washing soda after each apiary inspection
- Wash boots after hive visit
List the good management practices that support good apiary hygiene
Long answer Feeding precautions 5+4 supplementaries
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FEEDING precautions
- Reduce robbing by feeding
- in the evenings after they’ve stopped flying
- all colonies in apiary at the same time
- nucs after 48 hours, after flying bees have left
- avoiding spillages – wash away with water
- Never make up syrup with brown sugar as is causes diarrhoea
- Wait 48 hours to feed swarms so they consume all their stores in making comb and store none
- Don’t feed syrup too late in the year when it is too cold to ripen and cap it, resulting in fermentation.
- Feed in the right concentration: 1lb:1pint for immediate use; 2lb:1pint when laying down stores.
List the good management practices that support good apiary hygiene
Long answer Robbing prevention 8
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ROBBING prevention
- Keep kit well maintained and bee-tight
- Open hives for minimum time and keep cover boards over supers while inspecting brood.
- Feed all colonies in the apiary in the evening after they have finished flying
- Avoid spillages and leaky feeders. Dilute spilt feed with water immediately
- Never let honey drop from supers without cleaning it up
- Return wet supers in the evening and not leave supers/frames out for cleaning
- Leave a freshly made up nuc 48 hours minimum so fliers to leave before feeding (Hooper says 6 days).
- Reduce entrance to one bee space if necessary
List the good management practices that support good apiary hygiene
Long answer Quarantine practice
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- Colony quarantine
- Avoid moving combs/bees/equipment from one colony to another
- Mark super frames and boxes and return to same colony after extraction
- Return wet supers to original colony
- Apiary quarantine
- Avoid moving combs/bees/equipment between apiaries
- Isolation apiaries
- Move all known infected colonies and those though to be at risk to an single colony under licence from NBI
Describe briefly a method for dealing with old brood boxes and frames which have been removed. 4
- All scrapings must be collected and burnt
- Flame/scorch inside the box with a blowtorch, paying close attention to crevices and corners
- Frames. if in good condition, cut out wax and burn it, scrape and scrub frames in hot soda solution - 1kg soda/ 5l water - rinse and dry, OR steam.
- DO NOT flame frames - fire risk
How to clean polystyrene brood box 4
- Scrape off any excess wax or propolis
- Soak the whole hive in washing soda solution (1kg to 5 litres of water) with a dash of washing up liquid. Scrub clean using marigolds and PPE.
- Sterilise with bleach.
- Rinse and air dry
How to clean other kit etc queen excluders 2
- Scrape and scorch or steam wire excluders
- Freeze and scrape plastic excluders
Define drifting 1
Drifting is when bees which leave one colony and join another
What are the dangers of drifting 5
- Spread of disease
- Weakens colonies that loose significant numbers of bees this way
- Potential overcrowding in recipient colony
- Conducive to robbing
- Queen loss when flying for mating
Drifting prevention tips 3+4 supplementaries
- Space hives at least 3’ apart so the wind does not gust them into the wrong entrance
- If two hives on a stand, point them in different directions
- Make it easy for bees to find their own entrances. EG
- Entrance colours
- Discreet landmarks
- Avoid repeated patterns
- Arrange hives in a circle with colonies facing outwards
Robbing prevention 8
- Keep kit well maintained and bee-tight
- Open hives for minimum time and keep cover boards over supers while inspecting brood.
- Feed all colonies in the apiary in the evening after bees have finished flying
- Avoid spillages and leaky feeders. Dilute spilt feed with water immediately
- Never let honey drop from supers without cleaning it up
- Return wet supers in the evening and do not leave supers/frames out for cleaning
- Leave a freshly made up nuc 48 hours minimum so fliers to leave before feeding (Hooper says 6 days).
- Reduce entrance to one bee space if necessary
Once robbing has started, what to do 6+3
- If wasps are about, put out wasp traps. Seek and destroy wasp nest.
- Reduce entrance size
- Close holes/gaps with foam
- Close down to 1 bee space with a block of wood
- Temporarily stuff entrance with green grass
- Close off OMF to reduce smells
- Create a tunnel entrance by placing a piece of pipe about two inches long at the entrance to help guards
- Put a board/piece of glass in front of entrance to confuse robbers
- Move colony being robbed away 3 miles but leave a comb with a small amount of honey for robbers. They will think they have finished. If a hive is robbed out, leave it in position. Moving it will cause bees to seek out other nearby hives to attack.
What are the possible consequences of robbing 4
- Spreading disease
- Loss of bees through fights to death
- Starvation
- Nasty, aggressive bees
When is robbing is likely to be a problem 3
- Late July/August
- Cessation of a major honey flow
- When supers are removed
How often should you change comb 1
Ideally every two years. At least every three years
Why replace comb 8
- Build up of pathogens in wax
- Wax impregnated with chemicals from varroa treatment, which could cause resistance in varroa
- Wax can retain insecticides from environment
- Curtails moth infestation (feed on pupae skins)
- Cells get smaller with layers of propolis
- Makes morecomb available for brood rearing.
- Excessive amounts of or inconveniently placed drone comb
- Drawing new comb helps in preventing swarming (young bees are busy drawing out foundation)
Give three methods of replacing comb 3
- Gradual replacement
- Bailey comb change
- Shook swarm
How do you replace frames gradually? 4
- Aim to replace 4 frames a year
- During the year move older comb to edge of box and add new foundation to outside of brood nest.
- Do not break up brood nest.
- Cut out and burn old comb. Boil frames in washing soda and reuse.
Describe a method of changing a complete box of frames for a strong colony keeping brood 6 with supplementaries
- Bailey Frame Change for STRONG colony
- The bees are moved onto clean comb over 28 days
- Pro. None of the brood is lost.
- Con. Nurse bees continue walk on dirty comb
- Do in spring, when colony expanding (adapt for a weak/nosema colony)
-
Week 1.
- Place a new brood box clean foundation over existing brood box giving queen access to both boxes.
- Supers above queen excluder as normal.
- Do NOT feed through supers. If no flow, clear and remove supers, and feed the bees 1:1 syrup.
-
Week 2.
- Ensure queen is in upper brood box and laying; if not, move her up her frame and put her in the middle of the clean box.
- Between the two brood boxes place a second queen excluder, then an eke with an entrance facing the same way, confining queen to clean brood box.
- Close the lower entrance with foam and tape.
- The foragers will return through the top entrance.
- Only the nurse bees to walk on the dirty comb.
- Week 3. Check the lower brood box for queen cells and remove them all.
- Week 4. Remove old brood box (everything should have emerged), shaking out bees out into clean brood box, give the hive a new floor, add supers as necessary and close up.
- Cut out and burn old comb. Steam brood box, empty frames, queen excluder and eke.
A colony fails to build up in the spring and severe Nosema is confirmed. What remedial action should be taken by the beekeeper to return this colony to good health. 10
Clean combs are essential. With a weak colony, perform an ADAPTED Bailey frame change as follows:
- Remove unoccupied peripheral brood combs without disturbing the brood nest.
- Remove the frame with the queen (leaving, let’s say, 3 frames of brood). Insert dummy boards tight to each side of remaining frames
- Place queen excluder, eke with entrance over old box,
- Place clean brood box with Queen on her frame + 2 drawn combs right above brood frames below.
- Pack with dummy boards close up and contain warmth.
- Close the bottom entrance and feed in a contact feeder in small quantities to draw out comb
- As soon as Queen moves off the dirty frame in the new box, move it down below and replace with another frame of drawn comb.
- Build up frames gradually
- As the bees emerge from dirty box, remove empty brood frames and close up with dummy boards.
- After 21 days remove whole dirty box, eke and queen excluder. Place clean box on clean OMF
- Cut out and burn the old comb. Scorch the queen excluder and dirty brood box. Boil the old brood frames in washing soda solution 1kg:5l.
Describe a method of changing a complete box of frames immediately. You can lose the brood 13
- Shook swarm on a STRONG colony
- The whole colony is shaken from dirty combs onto fresh foundation in a clean hive. The brood is sacrificed, along with any varroa in cells.
- Only suitable for strong colonies. Not on a colony with nosema
- Do in late spring/early summer so bees have time to draw out comb, forage and prepare for winter.
- Pro: Colony gets a dramatic boost: many diseases, inc EFB, chalk brood and varroa in cells are cleaned out.
- Con: You lose all the brood
- Move old hive to one side and place clean floor on original site with a QE on top to prevent the queen absconding until there is brood. Add a clean brood box with fresh foundation. Remove 3-4 frames.
- In old box, find the queen, cage her and keep her safe.
- Remove each frame in turn, and shake it sharply into gap to dislodge the bees, brushing all bees off with a handful of grass.
- Place empty frames in a spare box and cover to prevent flying bees landing on them.
- Knock any bees in the original box, floor and cover into the clean box.
- Replace empty frames very gently to avoid squishing bees.
- Release the queen into the colony via the top bars and cover with a crown board
- Add a rapid feeder in the eke with 1:1 sugar syrup to help the bees draw out the foundation.
- Replace the roof.
- When the queen has started laying, remove the QE from the bottom
- Continue to feed as necessary until most of foundation is drawn.
- Consider varroa treatment.
Describe healthy brood 8
- Concentric circeles of brood of the same age
- Single eggs laid in base of cell
- Pearly white, C-shaped, segmented larvae lying in a bed of milky brood food
- Larvae of same age/size together
- Biscuits colour, dry, slightly convex, cappings without perforations
- Even brood pattern (wall to wall apart from wires), few empty cells
- Ring of stored pollen around brood
- Signs of stored honey above pollen and brood
How to inspect frames for health 5
- Take a spare cover board and matchsticks
- Placd supers over upturned roof with cover board
- Cover open brood with dummy board
- If see Queen, cage her and keep her safe.
- Identify what is on frame – stores/brood/both
- Remove outside frames of stores from box; glance at it for deformed bees (eg deformed wing virus) or stunted drones (drone layer).
- Shake bees off brood into gap - to NOT bang box
- Know what healthy brood looks like, and identify anything that does not conform to this
- Hold frame at an angle to see scales.
- Any pepper pot appearance -> suspicious -> examine for scale
Name the import regulations 1
The Trade in Animals and related Products Regulations 2011
Who should beekeepers legally inform if they suspect their colonies have foul brood 1
The National Bee Unit via the Regional Bee Inspector
Other than EU, what countries can you import bees from and why 4
What does EU include? 1
- Countries where AFB, tropilaelaps and SHB are notifiable diseases and pests and there is an inspectorate to supervise
- New Zealand
- Australia
- Argentina
EU includes IoMan and Channel Islands
What is the full name of the law controlling foul brood diseases and exotic pests. 1
Bee Diseases and Pests Control (England) Order 2006 amended 2010
If AFB/EFB is suspected/diagnosed - law involved and main actions 8
- Notifiable disease under Bee Diseases & Pests Control Order (England) 2006
- Notify The Animal and Plant Agency’s National Bee Unit if suspicious and follow their instructions precisely.
- Place apiary and kit under self-imposed standstill
- Bee inspector will
- Inspect visually
- Use lateral flow device
- Later confirm test in laboratory
- Diagnosis -> Standstill order confirmed by RBI until lifted in writing by RBI
- AFB: Colony destruction by RBI
- EFB: Colony destruction/antibiotics/shook swarm at discretion of RBI
- Beekeeper MAY NOT administer antibiotics
Outline the key points of the Trade in Animals Regulations 2011 - import from EU 9
- Queens +up to 20 attendants from EU, NZ, Australia, Argentina
- Packages from NZ + EU only
- Apiary must be at least 100km from SHB/tropilaelaps infected area
- From hives tested for AFB in the last 30 days
- In a AFB-free area/30 days since prohibition and all hives within 3km confirmed free of AFB
- New packaging, cages and food inspected immediately prior to despatch and free from contact with disease/pests
- Accompanied by a completed, signed health certificate valid for 10 days, which the consignee must keep for three years.
- Health certificate must have a unique number and be completed and signed by an authorised person
- Notify the NBU 24 hours in advance via Import Notification button on Bee Base
Outline the key points of the Trade in Animals Regulations 2011 - import from third country 8
- IMPORTATION from 3rd country ie non EU): Bees must come in through an approved Border Inspection Post at Manchester, Gatwick or Heathrow airport
- Give BIP one working day’s notice
- From apiary is supervised and controlled by a competent authority
- When consignment unloaded, consignee must present it + documents to BIP to inspect.
- The BIP will issue a Common Veterinary Entry Document if bees healthy; they will keep the health certificate.
- If bees fail to get a CVED, consignee will be served notice to isolate and slaughter the bees according instructions in the notice.
- Tx queens into new cages before introduction
- Send attendant bees and packaging to NBU within 5 workings days in breathable containers
Describe colony destruction and clean up AFB/EFB 9
- Seal all openings except entrance which is reduced to 50mm
- Place gauze over feed holes.
- After dark, block entrance securely
- Pour in 1/2 pint of petrol through feed hole and leave for 10 mins.
- Dig 1m3 hole and burn all bees, frames, combs and quilts.
- Scrape hive parts free of and then burn wax and propolis
- Scorch hive with blow torch especially corners
- Disinfect all appliances, tools and clothes in 1/2kg washing soda, 1/4kg bleaching powder, 4.5l of hot water, rinse and dry
- Get certificate of destruction for BDI claim.
Describe the actions of a bee inspector in an apiary after diagnosing AFB (or EFB). 7
- Upon diagnosing either foul brood disease, the inspector will issue a standstill notice prohibiting the removal of any hives, bees or equipment from the apiary, which the beekeeper signs.
- The inspector will also serve a notice to the beekeeper requiring the treatment (in the case of EFB) or destruction (in the case of AFB or severe EFB) of any bees, combs and products from the hive, and the destruction or treatment of any debris, appliances or other things liable to spread the disease.
- In these notices, the inspector will include a description of the method of destruction or treatment, the date by which these must take place and may also specify that the treatment must be carried out in the presence of an authorised person, such as himself.
- The Inspector may then supervise, or authorise supervision by another party, the destruction of the colony(ies) in the case of AFB or severe EFB, which will involve the beekeeper digging a pit, killing the bees and burning the bees and combs.
- In the case of EFB, the Inspector may personally administer any antibiotic treatment (oxytetracycline hydrocholoride) – the beekeeper may not self-administer – and/or supervise a shook swarm
- The inspectors signs the destruction certificate to substantiate an insurance claim on the Bee Disease Insurance.
- After 6 weeks, the inspector will return to confirm the apiary is free from disease before revoking the standstill order in writing.
What are the signs of AFB? 6
This looks healthy but if I were looking for AFB, I would be looking for:
- Uneven brood pattern - pepperpot - queen won’t lay in cells with scales
- Perforated cappings - raggedy holes on edge of capping
- Pupae turning yellow to brown, proboscis out
- Match stick rope 1-2”
- Larvae dry up to dark scale at the bottom of the cells
- Scales reflect light and won’t come out.
Describe the impact of AFB in colony 9
- Nurse bees pick up the spores and infect larvae through brood food.
- larva under 24-hours larva req ten of spores to die
- 3-day larva req millions of spores to die
- Pupae die of scepticemia
- Impact is loss of brood; colony may recover from <100 infected larvae, not if >100
- Slow to build up, but once enough cells are infected, pupae die faster than queen can lay new eggs, so colony dies out.
- Queen won’t lay in cells with scales - so pepperpot exacerbated
- Weakened colonies target for robbers, so spreads disease.
- Spores in black scale, > house bees try to remove, and become infected
- Spores survive up to 50+ years (Gregory 31) heat /disinfectant/ desiccation and get everywhere inc honey.
Describe the lifecycle of AFB 7
- Life cycle 10-15 days (Yate 187)
-
Spores ingested in larval food
- Larvae up to 24 hrs succumb with just 10 spores
- Larvae 3+ days need millions
- Germinate in gut producing vegetative cells (do not multiply)
- Upon sealing, vegetative cells penetrate gut wall into haemolymph, where they multiply (Yates 188)
- Sporulation (dormant form) enables bacteria to survive harsh conditions until ingested. Infective 35+ years and resistant to heat, desiccation and disinfectant
- Death by septicaemia. Pupa melts, thickens and dries to a scale with proboscis protruding from scale to cell centre, a mass of bacterial spores
- As HB try to clean the cell for more eggs, they recycle toe spores around the colony. When they become nurse bees, they contaminate food with AFB
Demonstrate how to hold frames with suspected AFB
- Take out frames of stores to make space.
- Clear frames of bees: Fingers on sides of frame, thumbs over top, shake hard into gap without knocking box
- Know what looks normal and look for the unusual: poor brood pattern, gaps, abnormal larvae and dodgy cappings (remove to investigate)
- Tilt frame to look for reflections on scales.
- If sus, check with a match stick for rope, then burn in smoker
- Photograph unusuals
- If matchstick test test positive, close hive up, reduce entrance to one bee space.
- Contact SBI
- Wash gloves
- Impose a standstill
What is the treatment or management for AFB in the UK? 2
- Compulsory destruction of infected colonies under supervision of Bee Inspector.
- The colony will be destroyed after dark, when all the flying bees have returned
- The bees and combs burned and buried in 1m deep pit
- Hives and appliances can be disinfected by scorching with a blow lamp
- Gloves, overalls, footwear and smoker is washed thoroughly in washing soda.
Differences between when each EFB and AFB become evident 3
- Both of brood - no symptoms in adults
- EFB before capped- bacteriaum
- AFB after capping - spore forming bacterium – v resilient
- Possible to have both on same comb.
What are the main ways AFB/EFB are spread and how is it spread within hive. 7
- The Beekeeper cross contaminating thro honey, kit, frames
- Robbing, drifting, swarming
- Migratory beekeeping
- Purchase of infected bees
- Adults not affected. Larvae infected through brood food by nurse bees
- AFB: Infected scales have millions of spores which infects house bees’ mouth parts as they clean. These ar tx by trophillaxis to nurse bees, to larvae in brood food, to adults by trophillaxis and to honey. No impact on adults.
- EFB if a larvae is removed before pupation the infection is removed with it. If larva pupates, it defaecates in cells which house bees later clean out and thus tx bacteria to larvae via brood food and to adults by trophillaxis. No impact on adults.
Explain why the visual evidence of EFB infection is likely to vary throughout the inspection season. 6
- Impossible to spot EFB when there is little brood. The house bees remove the infected larvae quickly with their package of EFB spoors sealed inside, leaving just a pepperpot brood.
- In spring, more brood that adult bees, and the nurse bees may only just be able to keep up with demand for brood food.
- So only healthy larva to survive and pupate. The infected larvae die of starvation and become visible to the beekeeper.
- When there is plenty of food for both larvae and bacteria, larvae may survive, perpetuating the disease.
- The house bees still recognise infected larvae and remove them, leaving pepperpot brood pattern but no evidence of cause.
- As the bees clean out the dead and dying larvae, the clinical signs of the disease disappear and the levels of bacteria are reduced.
What are the signs of EFB 9
- Best time to spot it is in spring build up (may/June)
- Visible in larva - uncapped cells but easily confused with other brood abnormalities
- Large larvae (3-5 days from capping) lose segmentation, contort and ‘melt’; pearly white to yellow to light brown-green
- Dies at an unnatural attitude, twisted spirally around walls or stretched out lengthways
- Confused with sacbrood, PMS
- Pull white gutted larva apart - bacteria are white lumps/chains (contents shd be golden brown)
- Death by starvation
- Dead larva usually QUICKLY removed in one piece so hard to spot
- Decomposes rapidly to scale, is easily removed.
- Pepperpot - dead larva are either seen or there are just empty cells present
- EFB LFD
Describe the impact of EFB in colony 5
- Nurse bees carry spores on mandibles coz previous cleaning duties.
- Larvae starve/survive; Survivors spread disease
- Bacteria sealed in until pupation when hind gut connects with ventriculus and the pupa voids into cell.
- Pupal defecations contaminates mouth parts of house bees when cell cleaning, who later contaminate brood food as nurses
- Can fluctuate in colony as larva only die if on short rations
Describe the lifecycle of EFB 6
- The larva ingests the bacterial spores in brood food from infected nurse bees
- Germinate in the gut and multiply between the peritrophic membrane and the larval food
- Bacteria eats larval food in stomach and it starves to death in 4-5 days and is removed. Disease contained
- Secondary infections can smell
- Or the larva is fed enough and survives to defecate into the bottom of the cell after the 5th moult (disease spread)
- The faeces will contain spores that the young house bees clean out, infecting their mandibles. Can survive 3 year in old comb.
Demo how to hold frames with suspected EFB
- Take out frames of stores to make space.
- Clear frames of bees: Fingers on sides of frame, thumbs over top, shake hard into gap without knocking box
- Know what looks normal and look for the unusual: poor brood pattern, gaps, abnormal larvae
- Photograph unusuals
- Contact SBI
- Wash gloves
- Impose a standstill
What is the correct course of action if EFB is suspected and describe the possible treatments? 6
- Notify the National Bee Unit and place the apiary and all equipment on a self-imposed standstill
- Upon diagnosis, the regional bee inspector will issue a formal standstill notice, which the beekeeper signs.
- The beekeeper then follows the inspector’s instructions implicitly.
- Severe - inspector may order the destruction, burning and burial of the bees and combs, which he will supervise.
- Mild - the colony may be treated with antibiotics (Oxytetracycline hydrochloride) and/or shook swarm
- You cannot move bees until the standstill order has been revoked in writing after a second visit.
What antibiotic, how it works, best time to administer and what else will help 6
- Oxytetracycline hydrochloride
- A bacteriostat that curtails ability of bacteria to reproduce so enabling colony’s natural disease control mechanisms to overcome disease
- It does not cure EFB but supresses it
- Best time to administer is when there are no symptoms ie few affected larvae - larvae that survive defecate and continue cycle
- Combine with a shook swarm
- Do NOT use honey for humans.
For each treatment (destruction; antibiotics; shook swarm; SS+AB) describe the possible outcome for the colony and for other colonies in the same apiary and nearby
- The disease should be contained whatever the action, and the inspector will decide which course of action is most likely to given him this outcome.
- In the case of destruction, the bees in that colony will all die and there will be no spread of the disease providing the beekeeper has adequately scorched and disinfected all their equipment.
- The inspector will return after 6 weeks to retest remaining colonies are free from EFB before lifting the standstill order in writing.
- In the case of antibiotics, the least effective time to administer them is when the symptoms are showing. Oxytetracycline hydrochloride is a bacteriostat and curtails the ability of the bacteria to reproduce, enabling the colony’s natural disease control mechanisms to overcome the disease. This treatment is only effective when the level of bacterial infection is low – it is the larvae who survive that continue the cycle of infection, putting at risk all the bees in the area through drifting, robbing and swarming.
- In the case of a shook swarm, this removes infective bacterial in the combs, but the surviving bees will still be carriers – EFB may be endemic – and may still spread the disease through drifting, robbing and swarming.
- Antibiotic treatment + shook swarm will remove the infective bacteria from the combs and reduce the likelihood of EFB, present in the adult bees, spreading the disease through drifting, robbing and swarming.
What is sac brood
Common viral disease affecting brood which rarely causes measurable harm
What does sacbrood look like on frame and how larvae die 7
- Found in capped cells - chewed like AFB
- Infected larva change from pearly white to pale yellow
- Prevents pupa shedding 5th larval skin - fluids accumulate under skin to give it a sac-like appearance
- Death just before pupation with larva on its back: chinese slippers
- Adult bees eventually uncap them
- The scales forms as dead larvae dry out but are easy to remove
- Infection continues via cell cleaning and larval feeding
What is the impact of sacbrood on colony 1
Can shorten adult lives: stop feeding larvae, become foragers earlier and collect v little pollen
How is brood infected in sacbrood virus 1
Nurse bees infect larvae when they feed larvae with infected brood food.
How are nurse bees infected with sacbrood virus 2
- Nurse bees get it from contaminated
- water,
- pollen
- nectar
- cleaning out larval remains
- Virus viable for 4 weeks in larval remains, pollen or honey
Treatment of sacbrood 2
- Usually clears up on its own or Requeen
- Combs can be reused as virus only viable for four weeks
What type of pathogen is chalk brood? 1
Fungus
What does chalk brood affect 1
Chalk down death after capping
When is chalk brood most likely to flare up and why 2
- Typically flares up in Spring when colonies are expanding
- If there are spores in the hive, and larvae are mildly chilled to 30˚C, brood becomes more susceptible
- Spores infect the brood from contaminated worker mouth parts and germinate in the hind-gut of the larva
How long is chalk brood infective 1
Condition endemic and spores infective for 3+ years
Chalk brood signs 5
- Affects sealed brood - perforated cappings
- Mummified white larvae with mouth parts forming characteristic protuberance in centre. Often take on hexagonal shape of cell before shrinking, at which point bees removed them.
- Mummies on floor out outside hive; easily shaken out, leaving pepperpot
- Chalky mummy turns grey to blacks as fungus sporulates
Chalk brood lifecycle 6
- Larva ingests spores it with its food.
- Needs COOL to germinate 30˚C, and CO2 of hindgut
- So on pupation the spores germinate in hindgut.
- Hyphae (threads) grow through gut wall, body and cuticle to produce a mycelium, a swollen mass of fluffy white fungus with small yellow lump where head used to be.
- Mummy turns from white>grey>black.
- Dark mummies produce vast numbers of sticky, resistant spores which remain infective for 3+ years.
How to avoid chalkbrood 7
Avoid
- Making up queen mating nucs in little boxes with too few bees;
- Chilling brood as we inspect, esp on cold, wet windy days
- Dividing colonies leaving too few bees to cover brood;
- Spreading brood early in season
- Over-stimulating brood rearing in spring -> too much brood, not enough HB
- Transferring combs from infected colonies.
- Damp apiary sites
Chalk brood treatment 3
- Move onto clean comb with shook swarm/bailey frame change.
- Requeen - some strains may be more resistant than others
- Minimise stress
Impact of Chalkbrood on colony 3
- Rarely fatal to colony
- Can depress honey yield
- Colonies produce fewer drones because they are on extremities
Causes of chilled brood 3
- Lack of bees (eg during spring build up or bees lost to poisoning) to cover brood, combined with spring temperature fluctuations
- Starvation - bees clack energy to keep cluster temperature up
- Beekeeper mishandling - spreading brood, leaving brood nest exposed for a long time (eg prolonged inspection at ambient below 14˚C).
Signs of chilled brood 1 and knock-on effect 1
- Brood of all ages turns grey or shiny black, usually at edges of brood nest from where bees withdraw when forming a cluster
- Mild chilling (to 30˚C) will increase susceptibility to chalkbrood
Bald brood causes 2
- Wax moth activity - Workers uncap pupae and tidy up cappings leaving characteristic rims.
- Queen problems
Addled brood Signs 4 + treatment 1
- Cappings similar to AFB
- Late-stage death of pupae about to emerge
- Abdomen underdeveloped in relation to head and thorax
- May be caused by unspecified genetic faults of queen - requeen with unrelated strain
You see pepperpot brood pattern. What are the possible causes 9
- EFB
- AFB
- Chalkbrood
- Stonebrood
- Sacbrood
- Addled brood
- PMS
- Starvation
- Diploid drones
What is stonebrood 1
What can it infect? 1
- Common soil- and air-bourne fungi;
- Can infect other species inc birds and breathing problems in humans, so take care when destroying combs infected by stonebrood
Stonebrooad lifecycle 5
- Simlar to chalk brood: Usually larva ingests spores it with its food, which germinate, produce hyphae, which grow through the pupa to form a yellow mycelium.
- Larva die after capping
- Mycellium turns green when spores form.
- BUT Can attack larva from cuticle inwards.
- Some adults affected and abdomens become hard.