Bees 3 diseases pests and poisoning

Question 1

00 epidemic and endemic -

define these two words

Answer 1

• Epidemic: prevalent among commuity at a specific time where most individuals have no resistance to pathogen
• Endemic : it can be found all the time and depends on resistance of host which can be
  
  • genetic
  • induced
  • behavioural
  • environmental

Question 2

0 define pathogen

Answer 2

An agent causing a disease

Question 3

0 septicaemia - define

Answer 3

Multiplication of micro-organisms in blood

Question 4

0 0 healthy brood - describe the appearance of healthy brood

Answer 4

1. Single eggs laid in bottom of cell
2. larva swimming in brood food
3. C shaped, pearly white, clearly segmented
4. Cappings domed, biscuity brown, dy and rough, no perforations
5. Brood of different ages in concentric circles
6. Even brood pattern with few empty cells

Question 5

0 list 8 key bee pathogens

Answer 5

1. Virus
2. Bacteria
3. Fungi
4. Microsporidia - reproduce inside animal cells
5. Protozoa - single celled animals
6. Mites
7. Flies
8. Moths

Question 6

0 1 virus

Give examples 5

How viruses are spread 5

How they work and reproduce 2

Treatment options 1

Impact reduction options 2

Answer 6

1. Examples
   
   1. Sacbrood, CBPV, BQCV, Bee Virus X, Bee Virus Y, Acute Bee Paralysis Virus etc
2. Spread
   
   1. by ingestion, inhalation, injection + vertical transmission: Q>E, Sperm>Q etc.
   2. Quickly dies outside its host so must pass on quickly to another host
   3. Helped if hosts live in confined space
   4. Can be endemic without causing noticeable disease/effect
   5. Mutate easily
3. Reproduce
   
   1. Hijacks host cell’s ability to produce energy and build proteins so that cell is programmed to produce new virons while normal functions of cell shut down
   2. When cell dies it releases millions of viruses to infect other cells. Signs visible when sufficient cells are affected
4. Treatment
   
   1. Any treatment to kill virus kills the cell
5. Reduce impact
   
   1. Reduce impact of viruses by reducing varroa numbers
   2. Requeen with more resistant queens.

Question 7

0 bacteria

Examples 2

What they are 1

How they work? 1

What kills them 1

Answer 7

1. Examples include EFB and AFB
2. Unicellular organisms that can produce very resistant spores
3. Pathenogenic species invade animal tissues to produce infection.
4. Most helpful, a few baddies. Can be killed with antibiotics.

Question 8

0 fungi

Give 2 examples 2

Give and overview of how they work 1

What kills it 2

Answer 8

1. Chalk brood, Stone Brood
2. Long threads called hyphae grown through the body to form a mycleium like mushrooms/ahtletes foot
3. Once established in larvae cannot be treated
4. Spores killed with acetic acid;

Question 9

0 4 Microsporidiam 5

two examples and overview 4

Answer 9

1. Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae
2. A single celled organism, which forms spores, and generally affect gut.
3. Fires a hollow tube into targeted cell and microsporidian contents pass through tube into host cell where they multiply.
4. Reproduce inside animal cells (obligate parasites)

Question 10

0 5

protozoa

Give an example

Answer 10

1. Malpighamoeba mellificae

Question 11

0 Mites

Give 2 examples, and family

How key characteristic

What kills them

3

Answer 11

1. acarine and varroa destructor
2. Arachnids - 8 legs
3. IPM and acids - formic, oxalic

Question 12

0 6 Give an example of a fly and how to recognise it

Answer 12

1. Braula coeca
2. 6 legs
3. wingless fly, not a pathogen

Question 13

08 Moths

Give two examples of moths 2

Answer 13

Large WM: Galleria Mellonella

Lesser WM: Achroia grisella

Question 14

01 AFB signs confusion

Name 3 other conditions that could be confused with AFB

and explain why they are different. 4

Answer 14

1. Parasitic Mite Syndrome
   
   1. Larva slumped against the lower wall and dry to a scale.
   2. The scale and the larva can be removed easily.
2. Sacbrood
   
   1. Larva remains rigid in its sack and the larval head sticks up.
   2. Removal is easy and the remains do not produce a ‘rope’ in a matchstick test.
   3. but
3. Addled brood
   
   1. Typically with abdomen underdeveloped in rel to head and thorax
   2. Easily removed by bees
4. AFB
   
   1. Matchstick test produces a 1-2cm rope
   2. Scales hard to remove
   3. Scales light up under a florescent lamp

Question 15

03 EFB signs

Explain why the visual evidence of EFB infection is likely to vary throughout the inspection season. 6

Answer 15

1. 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.
2. In spring, more brood that adult bees, and the nurse bees may only just be able to keep up with demand for brood food.
3. So only healthy larva to survive and pupate. The infected larvae die of starvation and become visible to the beekeeper.
4. When there is plenty of food for both larvae and bacteria, larvae may survive, perpetuating the disease.
5. The house bees still recognise infected larvae and remove them, leaving pepperpot brood pattern but no evidence of cause.
6. As the bees clean out the dead and dying larvae, the clinical signs of the disease disappear and the levels of bacteria are reduced.

Question 16

1 Field diagnosis - signs of AFB

detailed signs in brood and identification 12

Answer 16

1. Any season.
2. Open brood - NO signs tho HB may remove infected larva - leaving pepperpot
3. Visible in sealed brood esp when bees shaken off comb
4. Chewed cappings moist and dark, concave AFTER larva dies.
5. Milky-coffee coloured brood slumped on lower wall with tongue stuck out across cell
6. Larva disintegrates, melts down, becomes thick and sticky
7. NO smell - any smell is due to secondary infections/putrefiction of larva
8. Matchstick pushed through capping produces a 1-2cm rope - conclusive.
9. Dries to hard black scale in a month, visible at bottom of cell
10. Usually bees uncap cell and try to remove scale, seen when holding frame at 45˚ angle, and which floresce in UV light
11. Pepper pot appearance -> suspicioius -> examine for scale
12. Id by eye / match stick / Lateral Flow Device

Question 17

1 field disgnosis AFB

Latin name 1

Answer 17

1. Paenibacillus larvae

Question 18

1 field diagnosis

Differences between when each EFB and AFB become evident 3

Answer 18

• Both of brood - no symptoms in adults
  
  • EFB before capped
  • AFB after capping
  • Possible to have both on same comb.

Question 19

1 Field diagnosis

Describe how lateral flow devices are used as diagnostic tools in the field for both EFB and AFB and state the limitations of these devices. 8

Answer 19

1. Macerate suspect larva in a buffer solution for 20 seconds.
2. Three drops into the LFD well, keeping the device horizontal.
3. The sample flows across the solid substrate by capillary action over three minutes.
4. It encounters lines of coloured reagent treated with a particular antibody.
5. One line, negative; two lines, positive.
6. The LFD: specific to one particular disease so separate tests for EFB and AFB.
7. It may not show positive if a different strain of the disease has evolved.
8. The LFD won’t show a positive result for a different disease, so if you are testing for AFB but EFB happens to be present instead, it will not show up.

Question 20

1 field diagnosis of EFB

What are the signs of EFB 9

Answer 20

1. Best time to spot it is in spring build up (may/June)
2. Visible in larva - uncapped cells
3. Large larvae (3-5 days from capping) lose segmentation, contort and ‘melt’; pearly white to yellow to light brown-green
4. Confused with sacbrood
5. Pull white gutted larva white apart - bacteria are white lumps/chains (shd be golden brown)
6. Death by starvation
7. Dead larva usually QUICKLY removed in one piece so hard to spot
8. Decomposes rapidly to scale, is easily removed.
9. Pepperpot - dead larva are either seen or there are just empty cells present

Question 21

1 field disgnosis EFB

Latin name

Answer 21

Melissococcus plutonius

Question 22

01 inspection techniques

How does a beekeeper inspect for disease? 7

Answer 22

1. Know what looks normal
2. Inspect for diseases regularly
3. Remember disease may be present in very few larvae at first
4. LF the unusual, poor brood pattern, gaps, abnormal larvae and dodgy cappings
5. Monitor for varroa
6. Remove cappings from cells which look doubtful
7. Inspect microscopically colonies that fail to build up in spring

Question 23

2 life cycle AFB 7

Yate and Davies 47

Se

Answer 23

1. Life cycle 10-15 days (Yate 187)
2. Spores ingested in larval food
   
   1. Larve up to 24 hrs succumb with just 10 spores
   2. Larvae 3+ days need millions
3. Germinate in gut producing vegetative cells (do not multiply)
4. Upon sealing, vegetative cells penetrate gut wall into haemolymph, where they multiply (Yates 188)
5. Sporulation (dormant form) enables bacteria to survive harsh conditions until ingested. Infective 35+ years and resistant to heat, dessication and disinfectant
6. Death by septicaemia. Pupa melts, thickens and dries to a scale with proboscis protuding from scale to cell centre, a mass of bacerial spores
7. 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

Question 24

02 EFB life cycle

9

Answer 24

1. The larva ingests the bacterial spores in broodfood from infected nurse bees
2. Germinate in the gut and multiply between the peritrophic membrane and the larval food
3. It starves to death in 4-5 days
4. Secondary infections inc Paenibacillius alvei, Lactobacillus euridice, Brevibacillus laterosporus and Enterococcus faecalis - smell
5. Or the larva is fed enough and survives to defecate into the bottom of the cell after the 5th moult
6. The faeces will contain spores that the young house bees clean out, infecting their mandibles. Can survive 3 year in old comb.

Question 25

3 AFB in colony

How is a colony affected by AFB 9

Answer 25

1. Larvae fed contaminated food
   
   1. larva under 24-hours larva req ten of spores to die
   2. 3-day larva req millions of spores to die
2. Antibacterial 10-HDA from mandib gland prevents germination in brood food
3. A colony may recover from <100 infected larvae, not if >100
4. Once enough cells are infected, larvae will die faster than they can be replaced by new eggs, so colony dies out.
5. Weakened colonies target for robbers, so spreads disease to other colonies. Also spead by - drifting and infected swarms.
6. Infected larvae detected by house bees and removed before capping (pepperpot), the basis for some strains of bees resistant to AFB
7. Queen won’t lay in cells with scales.
8. Spores are found in the dried out black scale, which house bees try to remove, and so become infected
9. Spores survive up to 50+ years (Gregory 31) heat /disinfectant/ dessication and get everywhere inc honey.

Question 26

3 EFB in colony

How is a colony affected by EFB 5

Answer 26

1. Nurse bees carry spores on mandibles coz previous cleaning duties.
2. Larvae starve/survive; Survivors spread disease
3. Bacteria sealed in until pupation when hind gut connects with ventriculus and the pupa voids into cell.
4. Pupal defecations contaminates mouth parts of jhouse bees when cell cleaning, who later contaminate brood food as nurses
5. Can fluctuate in colony as larva only die if on short rations

Question 27

04 prevention

Six steps to disease prevention 6

Answer 27

1. Squashed bees - remove so necrophoretic bes aren’t infected by remains
2. Second-hand comb - avoid
3. Replace used comb and frames - pathogens survive in comb and crannies
4. Score and disinfect equipement - especially second hand equipment
5. Tidy apiary and stores so bees to crawl over combs in store
6. Fumigate combs and boxes with 80% ethanoic acid

Question 28

4 prevention

Stress renders bees more susceptible to disease.

9 examples of stress-inducers

Answer 28

1. Confinement
2. Over-handling espeically in cold. wet, windy weather
3. High CO2 levels - poor ventilation
4. Poor supply of pollen, especially in spring - essential for larval growth and gland development
5. Disease/infestation - 1 disease can lead to another. eg Nosema ceranae can depress bee immune systems; varroa vectors
6. Pesticides
7. High density of colonies in the area
8. Migratory beekeeping
9. Unusual sites - eg in a poly tunnel

Question 29

4 spread of EFB and AFB

spread by beekeeper from colony to colony 14

Answer 29

1. Robbing when colony becomes weak
2. Drifting if adjacent hives not oriented in different directions
3. Moving
   
   1. colonies between apiaries
   2. migration
4. Food
   
   1. infected honey - always feed sugar syrup
   2. trapped pollen from an infected colony
   3. bees accessing infected honey, combs, wax and propolis in store
5. New bees
   
   1. Uniting a weak colony
   2. Swarms from swarms of unknown origin
   3. From bees purchased from doubtful source
6. Kit
   
   1. Contamination tools not washed in hot washing soda
   2. comb exchange between hives and apiaries
   3. second hand kit not scorched/disinfected
   4. cross contamination when visit a friend

Question 30

4 spread of EFB and AFB

What is the principal way EFB and AFB spread in colony - overview 3

Answer 30

1. Both TX to larvae through brood food by nurse bees
2. AFB: Infected cells have millions of spores in remaining scale - this infects house bees’ mouth parts as they clean, tx by trphillaxis to nursebees, tx to larvae in broodfood and tx to adults by trophillaxis and tx to honey.
3. 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 eat infected faeces and tx to larvae via brood food and to adults by trophillaxis

Question 31

5 authorised treatment 6

If AFB/EFB is suspected/diagnosed - law involved and main actions 8

Answer 31

1. Notifiable diease under Bee Diseases & Pests Control Order (England) 2006
2. Notify The Animal and Plant Agency’s National Bee Unit if suspisious and follow their instructions precisely.
3. Place apiary and kit under selfimposed standstill
4. Bee inspector will
   
   1. Inspect visually
   2. Use lateral flow device
   3. Later confirm test in laboratory
5. Diagnosis -> Standstill order confirmed by RBI until lifted in writing by RBI
6. AFB: Colony destruction by RBI
7. EFB: Colony destruction/antibiotics (oxytetracycline hydrochloride)/shook swarm at discretion of RBI
8. Beekeeper MAY NOT administer antibiotics

Question 32

05 Colony destruction and clean up

AFB/EFB 9

Answer 32

1. Seal all openings except entrance which is reduced to 50mm
2. Place gauze over feed holes.
3. After dark, block entrance securely
4. Pour in 1/2 pint of petrol through feed hole and leave for 10 mins.
5. Dig 1m³ hole and burn all bees, frames, combs and quilts.
6. Scrape hive parts free of and then burn wax and propolis
7. Scorch hive with blow torch esp corners
8. Disinfect all appliances, tools and clothes in 1/2kg washing soda, 1/4kg bleaching powder, 4.5l of hot water, rinse and dry
9. Get certificate of destruction for BDI claim.

Question 33

05 EFB treatment antibiotics

What antibiotic, how it works, best time to administer and what else will help 6

Answer 33

1. Oxytetracycline hydrochloride
2. A bacteriostat that curtails ability of bacteria to reproduce so enabling colony’s natural disease control mechanisms to overcome disease
3. It does not cure EFB but supresses it
4. Best time to administer is when there are no symptoms ie few affected larvae - larvae that survive defecate and continue cycle
5. Combine with a shook swarm
6. Do NOT use honey for humans.

Question 34

05 Law EFB/AFB and inspectors

Describe the actions of a bee inspector in an apiary,

after diagnosing AFB (or EFB). 7

Answer 34

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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
6. The inspectors signs the destruction certificate to substantiate an insurance claim on the Bee Disease Insurance.
7. After 6 weeks, the inspector will return to confirm the apiary is free from disease before revoking the standstill order in writing.

Question 35

05 Law treatment for EFB

What is the correct course of action if EFB is suspected and describe the possible treatments? 7

Answer 35

1. Notify the National Bee Unit and place the apiary and all equipment on a self-imposed standstill
2. Upon diagnosing either EFB, the regional bee inspector will issue a formal standstill notice prohibiting the removal of any hives, bees or equipment from the apiary, which the beekeeper signs.
3. The beekeeper then follows the inspectors instructions implicitly.
4. If a severe case of EFB is found, the inspector may order the destruction, burning and burial of the bees and combs, which he will supervise.
5. If a mild case is discovered, the colony may be treated with antibiotics (oxytetracycline hydrochloride) at the discretion of the inspector (it is against the law to self-administer).
6. Or the inspector may propose a shook swarm. This will require a clean hive with queen excluder under the brood box to stop the queen absconding until she starts to lay. Plus an eke and feeder with 2:1 syrup to feed the bees from third day after they have used all honey in crops to make comb, to draw out the rest of the comb.
7. The inspector may combine a shook swarm with antibiotic treatment.

Question 36

05 law

What is the treatment or management for AFB in the UK? 2

Answer 36

• The colony will be destroyed after dark, when all the flying bees have returned
• The bees and combs burned and buried 1m down and the equipment scorched or disinfected

Question 37

05 Law

For each treatment (descruction; antibiotics; shook swarm; SS+AB) describe the possible outcome for the colony and for other colonies in the same apiary and nearby. 8

Answer 37

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. The inspector will return after 6 weeks to retest remaining colonies are free from EFB before lifting the standstill order in writing.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Antibiotic treatment may be administered in combination with a shook swarm which 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.

Question 38

05 Law

Who should beekeepers legally inform if they suspect their colonies have foul brood 1

Answer 38

The National Bee Unit via the Regional Bee Inspector

Question 39

05 the Law

What is the full name of the law controlling

foul brood diseases and exotic pests. 1

Answer 39

The bee diseases and pest control (england) order 2006

Question 40

05 EFB treatment

How to carry out a shook swarm 5

Answer 40

1. Find queen and keep her safe
2. Remove dirty hive and replace with clean hive and fresh foundation.
3. Place queen excluder under the broodbox until Q starts laying
4. Remove 4-5 frames and shake workers in, replace frames gently, running queen in afterwards
5. Feed to draw out comb after two days

Question 41

06 Asian Hornet

How to track

Answer 41

1. Get ahead while waiting for formal inspection so start tracking immed
2. When found, place bait in the centre of an areas marked with compass bearings
3. Catch and mark each Asian hornet to ensure you are tracking the same one
4. Time how long it takes to return
5. Estimate distance based on the hornet’s flying speed
6. Move the bait and compass markings in the direction they are flying to ensure you have the right direction
7. That hornet will lead you to a tree.

Question 42

06 hornets

List the characteristics of the Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina) 5

Answer 42

1. Q 30mm long, w: 25mm long;
2. Head dark from above, orange from front
3. Dark antennae
4. Black velvety thorax
5. Velvety brown abdomen with conspicuous yellow fourth abdominal segment
6. Yellow tips to its legs
7. Predators and hawking behaviour at hive entrances
8. Very large nests in tall trees, avoids stands of conifers. Will use garages as nesting sites.

Question 43

06 latin names of hornets

Answer 43

1. European Vespa crabo
2. Asian Vespa velutina

Question 44

06 SHB actions by beekeeper if suspected in apiary 5

Answer 44

1. Notify the National Bee Unit
2. Place the apiary and all equipment under immediate self-imposed standstill
3. Send samples (frozen to death) to the NBU for examination/submit to examination by the Regional Bee Inspector
4. Continue to monitor for the beetle
5. Start taking steps to eliminate the beetle using traps.

Question 45

06 SHB consequences to beekeeper

Answer 45

1. Place entire apiary under a self-imposed standstill order
2. Aftr inspection the RBI issues a formal standstill notice prohibiting the movement of bees, hives, equipment or anything else that could contain beetles/larva/eggs, which the beekeeper must sign
3. The infested colony is likely to be killed and burned.
4. Every other colony in the apiary will be inspected.
5. The ground around the apiary may be treated with a soil dench
6. Equipment and appliances may be treated or destroyed in accordance with the notice.

Question 46

06 SHB features

egg, larvae, adult 8

Answer 46

1. Eggs laid in brood combs or hive crevices, pearly white 1.5x.025mm (2/3 size of HB eggs).
2. Larvae 10-11mm long, 3 pairs of leags near the head, rows of dorsal spines
3. No webbing or frass, but infested comes look slimy.
4. Larvae attracted to light
5. Adults: 1/3 size of a worker bee, 3-4.5mm wide, 5-7mm long
6. Broad body flattened dorsoventrally.
7. Short wing cases - segments of abdomen visible - and covered in small hairs.
8. Reddish brown on emergence. Darkens to dark brown/black.
9. Clubbed antennae
10. They scurry around fast, open mandibles to demand food from bees by trophillaxis.

Question 47

06 SHB latin name

Answer 47

1. Aethina tumida - Coleoptera

Question 48

06 SHB life cycle 8

Answer 48

1. Gravid females can lay 1000-2000 eggs in lifetime, 1.5x0.25 mm pearly white
2. Eggs hatch after 2-6 days
3. Larvae (and adultes) prefer to eat bee eggs + brood, will eat pollen + honey.
4. They burrow through combs consuming nest.
5. Larvae carry yeast Kodomaea ohmeri which makes honey ferment, turns combs slimy, smells of rotten oranges, and the yeast is a threat to people who are immuno-suppressed (care when handling affected combs)
6. Up to 30 larvae per cell, generates enough heat to cause combs to collapse and for colony to abscond.
7. After 10-14 days fully grown and mass on the hive bottom,
8. Larvae move towards light at hive entrance and burrow into soil constructing smooth-walled earthen cell.
9. Need warm, moist soil to pupate. Soil humidity is the limiting factor.
10. Requires soil temp above 10˚C and ideally 17-23˚C to complete pupation.
11. Usually 10cm deep
12. Usually within 20m of hive.
13. Will crawl up to 200m to find suitable soil and can survive 48 days without food or water.
14. Pupae are white and darken during metamophosis.
15. Emerge reddy brown and darken to black
16. The mate and disperse after a week 8-16km in search of new colonies to lay eggs in, attracted by scent of hive odours
17. Adults can survive 9 days without food and water.
18. The will trick bees into feeding them by trophillaxis.
19. Opening a hive can trigger the beetles present to lay eggs (released from ‘prison’).
20. In South America as many as 5 generations a year are possible
21. SHB will fly with swarms.
22. Once present in large numbers, the queen will stop laying.

Question 49

06 SHB pupation 6

Answer 49

1. The move towards the light
2. They leave the hive and burrow in the ground arond the hive entrance constructing smooth-walled earthen cells
3. Need moist warm soil (above 10˚C)
4. Mature larvae wander for up to 48 days without food and water
5. They metamorphose inside these and emerge after av 3-4 weeks
6. One week after emergence adults search for colonies in which to lay eggs.

Question 50

06 SHB

Differences between SHB larvae and and Wax moth larvae. 3

Answer 50

1. SHB dorsal spines; WM none
2. SHB 3 pairs thoracic legs; WM 3 pairs thoracic legs +4 pairs pro legs on abdomen
3. SHB larva is rigid and hard; WM soft and fleshy
4. SHB active in light; WM shy away from light
5. SHB no wax gland; WM wax gland at top of head
6. SHB no silk lined tunnel; WM moves in silk lined tunnels
7. SHB av 10mm larva; WM av 20mm larva

Question 51

6 SHB detection of adults

How to check for SHB

Answer 51

1. Use a torch
2. Hard to detect in small numnbers.
3. Remove hive roof and check for adult beetles running around under lid
4. Place roof upside down next to hive
5. Remove supers and upper brood (if brood and half used) and place them on the upturned roof for a few minutes
6. Place the crown board on top
7. After a few minutes, life boxes out of way and examine for beetles in the upturned roof
8. When hive is opened beetles scuttle away from light so look for adults moving in the hive and running over comb, crown boards and floor
9. In warm weather adults will mostly b on floor
10. In cold weather they hide in the cluster
11. Look for eggs in irregular masses in cracks and crevices.
12. Look for larvae in the combs or bottom board
13. There may be as many as 30 to a cell before they disperse, often in the corners of frames
14. Remove combs one at a time from each box and examine for adults and SHB larvae damage
15. Distringuish from wax moth - frass and webbing vs slimey
16. Whiles feeding the larvae carry a yeast Kodmaea ohmeri which causes the honey to ferment (and smells like rotten oranges) and is a threat to immno-suppressed people - caution for people handling slimey frames.
17. Use plastic corrugated hive floor inserts towards the rear of the hive, which exploit SHB tendence to seek dark crevices to hid in
18. Use plastic corrugated hive floor inserts towards the rear of the hive, which exploit SHB tendence to seek dark crevices to hid in
19. Place in a sealed plastic bag to examine of beetles may escape.
20. Use a Bettle Blaster 2/3 filled with oil and check on every inspection
21. Use a Beetle Jail attached to frames with vinegar in the middle and oil in the outer compartments - depropolise on inspection

Question 52

06 trophilaelaps

The differences in mites

Varroa Desctructor

Braula Coeca

Milittiphis alvearius

Tropillaelaps

Acarine

Answer 52

1. Varroa mites
   
   1. 1.6mm wide x 1.1mm long, 8 legs, moving slowly.
   2. Hides bettween lower abdominal segments
2. Braula coeca
   
   1. 1.5mm long and 1mm wide, and three pairs legs clearly visible on sides of body, really hairy
   2. Rides on top of bee
   3. Only eggs laid in honey will hatch
3. Melittiphis alvearius - pollen mites
   
   1. 0.75 x 0.75,,
   2. In hive debris
4. Trophilaelaps
   
   1. 1mm long x0.5mm wide, fast running over brood combs
   2. hide in cells rather than on adults
   3. Cannot live on adults because mandibles can’t pierce adult cuticle
   4. Phoretic for only 1-2 days . Can’t survive more than 3 days without brood as feed exclusively on brood - cannot pierce adult cuticle.
   5. 6 day life cycle - so build up 25:1 faster cf varroa.
5. Acarine
   
   1. 150umx 65um needs x20 microscope
   2. Lives in prothoracic trachaea

Question 53

06 Trophilaelaps

How to monitor for Trophilaelaps - 3 ways and overview of methods

Answer 53

only 3-4% of adult tropilaelaps mites attach themselves to adult honey bees.

1. When adult tropilaelaps mites emerge from a brood cell, they almost immediately enter another brood cell within 24 hours, which makes it unlikely that they will be noticed until the level of infestation is quite high
2. Monitoring mite drop
   
   1. Monitor on OMF with sticky board coated in vaseline.
   2. Check every 5-7 days in summer.
   3. Mix debris in meths in a large container. The dead mites float, wax and propolis sink
3. Uncapping
   
   1. Select pink-eyed worker or drone brood
   2. Slide upcapping fork prongs under cappings, lift out pupae and count mites
   3. Younger mites motionless and whitish
4. Using acaricides
   
   1. In conjunction with an OMF and sticky insert below
   2. Apply acaricide following instructions
   3. Look for dead mites after 24 hours.

Question 54

06 Tropilaelaps latin name

Answer 54

• Tropilaelaps clarea
• Tropilaelaps mercedesae

Question 55

06 Tropilaelaps overview

What are they 1

Why they might not survive in UK 1

Life cycle 7

Damage 4

Answer 55

1. Damaging tropical/sub-tropical parasites of bee larvae, move fast cf varroa
2. Adults CANNOT feed on adult bees because mandibles not strong enough to pierce bee body wall membrane, so depend on brood haemolymph, seeking new hosts immediately. would die off in winter broodless period. Phoretic stage 1-2 days. Max 9 days. Req brood to feed
3. Life cycle
   
   1. Reproduce and feed on sealed brood, pref drones
   2. 3-4 eggs on pupa 48 hours after cell capped
   3. Eggs hatch after 12 hours, 2 nymphs stages
   4. Egg to adult: 6 days
   5. Feeding on pupae haemolymph
   6. Mites emerge with imago and search for new hosts.
4. Damage is similar to varroa
   
   1. irregular brood patterns,
   2. stunted adults with deformed wings
   3. shrunken abdomens
   4. May lead to colony loss or absconding

Question 56

06 SHB - how could it arrive in the UK - 6

Answer 56

1. Importation of honey bees – queens and packages of bees
2. Importation of alternative hosts – eg bumble bees
3. Soil or compost imports
4. Fruit imports
5. Natural spread by flight
6. Movement of freight containers and transport vehicles

Question 57

08 import

The name of the Regulations

and its key contents

relating to importing animals and related products 18

Answer 57

1. The Trade in Animals and related Products Regulations 2011
2. Bee Diseases and Pests Control (England) Order 2006 amended 2010
3. Queens +up to 20 attendants (+ apckages from NZ + EU)
4. Apiary must be at least 100km from SHB/tropilaelaps infected area
5. In a AFB-free area/30 days since prohibition and all hives within 3km confirmed free of AFB
6. From hives tested for AFB in the last 30 days
7. New packaging, cages and food inspected immediately prior to despatch and free from contact with disease/pests
8. Accompanied by a completed, signed health certificate valid for 10 days, which the consignee must keep for three years.
9. Notify the NBU 24 hours in advance via Import Notification button on Bee Base
10. Health certificate must have a unique number anad be completed and signed by an authorised person
11. IMPORTATION from 3rd country: Bees must come in through an approved Border Inspection Post at Manchester, Gatwick or Heathrow airport
12. Give BIP one working day’s notice
13. From apiary is supervised and controlled by a competent authority
14. When consignment unloaded, consignee must presented it + documents to BIP to inspect.
15. The BIP will issue a Common Venerinary Entry Document if bees healthy; they will keep the health certificate.
16. If bees fail to get a CVED, consignee will be served notice to isolate and slaughter the bees according instructions in the notice.
17. Tx queens into new cages before introduction
18. Attendant bees and packaging to NBU with packaging within 5 workings days in breathable containers

Question 58

08 import

countries other than EU and why 4

What does EU include? 1

Answer 58

1. Countries where AFB, tropilaelaps and SHB are notifiable diseases and pests and there is an inspectorate to supervise
2. New Zealand
3. Australia
4. Argentina
5. EU includes IoMan and Channel Islands

Question 59

08 imports

Where can consignments enter the UK from thrid countries?

Answer 59

• Through Border Inspection Post at Heathrow Gatwick or Manchester airport

Question 60

08 import

What can you import, and from where?

Answer 60

1. From EU/New Zealand - Queen bees and Packaged honey bees
2. From other third countries - Queen bees, with each queen in a single cage + up to 20 attendants

Question 61

09 Parasitic mite syndrome

7 signs

2 tests

Answer 61

1. Chewed/sunken cappings similar to AFB
2. Pepperpot brood pattern
3. Dead untended brood pattern
4. Larva slumped on lower wall with varroa feeding on them
5. Larvae also spiral up the cell welall or coil in a c-shape at the opening
6. Larvae are white or yellow but not coffee with milk
7. Dry to a scale
8. Unlike AFB, scale can easily be removed. Fail matchstick test

Question 62

09 Varroa latin name 1

Answer 62

Varroa destructor

Question 63

09 Varroa - impact on the bee 7

Answer 63

1. Can be present with no effects until levels build up
2. Shortens life leading to major population losses
3. Makes bees more susceptible to other diseases
4. Mites activate viruses already present
5. Mites may carry and transmit viruses
6. Only not parasitised autumn born bees are likely to survive till spring.
7. Workers with several mites likely to suffer from PMS and die.

Question 64

09 Varroa life cycle

describe the varroa life cycle 12

Answer 64

1. Female varroa rides on honey bees on phoretic stage, feeding on haemolymph between ventral abdominal segments
2. Brood pheromones indicate the larva is ready to be sealed, gravid females enter brood cell and hide in the brood food, breathing through a peritreme
3. 4-hours after sealing, she emerges from brood food, pierces larval cuticle and feeds on its haemolymph, gaining weight rapidly
4. After 60-70 hours she lays one unfertilised egg, a male, on the side of the cell.
5. Thereafter, every 30 or so hours she lays a fertilised female egg on the side of the cell – a total of 4-5 eggs
6. The egg develop fast and hatch, and pass through two juvenile stages before becoming adults
7. Juvenile mandibles are soft so they feed at hole created by mother
8. Egg to adult male 5-6 days and he mates with his mature sisters; Egg to adult female is 6-7 days.
9. Male and immature females die in the cell.
10. Bee emerges with mother and av 1.72-2 larvae, 2-3 drone brood
11. Female can reproduce up to 4 times,
12. Live 2-3 months in summer, up to 5 months (phoretically) in winter.

Question 65

09 Varroa 1

What are the signs of varroa 5

inc PMS signs 3

Answer 65

1. Maybe none for a long time
2. Abnormal brood development - eg DWV
3. Dramatic population losses
4. Underweight bees on emergence
5. Parasitic mite syndrome/varoosis can look similar to AFB
   
   1. Sunken and chewed cappings
   2. White/yellow larvae slumped in the bottom or side of the cell.
   3. Dries to removable scale

Question 66

9 Varroa

build up in colony -

If you start with 100 varroa, what will the population grow to in theory over 50 days 2

Answer 66

1. Worker brood multiply 10-fold to 1000
2. Drone brood multiply 50 fold to 5700

Question 67

09 Varroa 3 impact on colony

4 impacts on the colony

Answer 67

1. Spring collapse - Early deaths of older bees before there are enough younger bees to take on their roles > Colony breakdown
2. Viral symptoms in bees and brood
3. VD acts as a trigger/vector exacerbating effects of previously harmless viruses
4. More unrelated diseases due to weakened state of colony and supressed bee immune response.
5. Bees may abscond, invading other colonies (with phoretic mites)

Question 68

09 varroa and Apis cerana

Explain with colonies of A mellifera succumb to VD

where as colonies of A ceranae

are able to co-exist with the parasite. 6

Answer 68

1. A cerana (AC) has struck a natural balance with V destructor.
2. Apis mellifera (AM) has no natural defences against varroa;
3. AC quick to remove VD from worker cells.
4. AC drone capping so hard, only a drone can bite its way out.
   
   1. If one mite infests a cell, the larva will survive and the drone, the mite and her offspring will emerge into the colony.
   2. If more than two mites infest a drone cell, the larva dies and the mites get entombed in drone cells.
5. AC has strong grooming instinct so phoretic mites removed
6. AC smaller than AM; shorter development; less time for mites to develop to maturity.

Question 69

09 Varroa

VD ad Brausa Coeca differences 7

Answer 69

1. VD Feeds on haemolymph: BC feeds from mouth cavity
2. VD spreads disease; BC does not spread disease
3. VD 1.6 wide x 1.1 long; CD 1 wide x 2mm long
4. VD arachnide mite; BC wingless fly
5. VD 8 legs; BC 6 legs clearly visible
6. VD no effect on honey; BC tunnels through honey
7. VD hides between lower abdo segments; BC crawls on bee esp head

Question 70

09 varroa spread

Suggest why the population of Varroa increases continuously in a honeybee colony? 2

Answer 70

1. Each female varroa can have 3-4 brood cycles
2. producing an average of 1-45-1.72 mites per worker cell and 2-3 per drone cell
3. A mellifera cannot reduce the population without outside invervention.

Question 71

09 varroa spread

Suggest why Varroosis has spread so quickly throughout the UK 6

Answer 71

1. A mellifera has no natural defence against varroa
2. Varroa has built up resistance to certain treatments
3. Can survive the winter in the phoretic stage on hosts
4. Bees tx the mite when they drift, rob, swarm, and drones
5. Colony collapse leads to mite invasion as bees seek new homes.
6. Beekeeper can spread it - uniting and migrating bees, sharing brood comb etc.

Question 72

09 varroa

Why might a colony be strong at honey harvest and then collapse from varoosis? 6

Answer 72

1. Number of bees declines nutuarally as autumn approaches, as does brood
2. Mite numbers likely to be at their greatest and infect a greater proportion of the brood
3. 1x mite results in very weak bee unable to carry out normal duties.
4. Several mites lead to PMS
5. Weakened colonies can be robbed so they end up short of food.
6. Only 10% of the mite population will die when brood rearing stops, but bees are not broodless long enough for this to have an impact alone

Question 73

09 Verroa description

Answer 73

1. 1.6mm wide x 1.1mm long shaped like a crab
2. males smaller and live out lives in brood cells
3. flattened body
4. reddish brown
5. 8 legs

Question 74

10 varroa

Give three methods of detection

Answer 74

1. Use OMF
   
   1. and monitor mite falls over a week and get a per-day average
   2. This method is very sensitive and capable of detecting very few mites, does not disturb the colony.
   3. It does encourage wax moths, takes several days and requires extra equipment.
2. Uncap drone cells.
   
   1. Drone pher acts as kairomone attracting female mites:
   2. 100 uncapped cells with uncapping fork at pink eye stage by running the fork through the tops of the comb and lifting out the drones in a single action.
   3. Varroa can easily be seen against the pale bodies of the drones.
   4. Repeat for at least 100 drones.
   5. If there are more than 5-10% of drone pupae are affected, the infestation is serious and colony collapse may occur before the end of the season.
   6. Results are approximate and you may not detect a very light infestation.
   7. The methods is quick and easy and can be done on routine inspections, giving an instant measure of infestation levels.
3. Sugar roll.
   
   1. Take 300 bees from brood nest (to represent the colony) with jar and mesh lid and roll in handful of icing sugar for 2 mins
   2. Set jar aside in shade for 2 mins and then shake sugar (and mites) out through mesh into shalow dish or water over a white surface.
   3. Repeat rolling and shaking twice more then release bees at front of hive to return
   4. 5 mites = 500 phoretics in colony = 1000 in total

Question 75

10 varroa monitoring

When to take action

Answer 75

1. Winter/spring 0.5 mites per day
2. May 6 mites
3. June 16 mites
4. August 33 mites
5. September 20 mites
6. Most accurate with no brood/good sized nest

Question 76

10 varroa monitoring - how often should you monitor 4

Answer 76

1. At least 4x season
2. Early spring
3. After spring honey flow
4. Honey harvesting time
5. Late autumn

Question 77

10 varroa monitoring

how to monitor with OMF

Answer 77

1. With OMF insert deris collecting tray
2. leave in place for 3-5 days
3. Count mites
4. Convert to a daily mite drop

Question 78

10 varroa monitoring

Suggest why regular monitoring of a colony is necessary after treatment? 5

Answer 78

1. It’s not possible to eradicate V destructor – it is now endemic
2. so monitoring allows the beekeeper to keep track of developments,
3. to check what treatments have worked and how well,
4. be aware the mite recovery period,
5. to know when to retreat and to know if an invasion has taken place.

Question 79

11 Define IPM (5 parts)

Answer 79

• A system of controlling varroa
• using a range of different biotec methods
• at different stages
• to keep varroa infestations below levels were they will cause significant trouble
• Monitoring so that treatment is not applied until critical thresholds are reached.

Question 80

11 varroa treatment

IPM - give three reasons why IPM works 3

Answer 80

3 mite features enable IPM:

1. Vulnerble at phoretic stage because exposed
2. Mites prefer drone brood
3. If brood limited, mites use brood available

Question 81

11 Varroa Treatment IPM

Drone culling 4

Answer 81

1. Take a super frame w worker foundation and insert at edges of brood.
2. Bees usually draw lower part with drone comb.
3. Once brood sealed, it can be removed and destroyed.
4. Return frame and repeat.

Question 82

11 Varroa treatment 4 Queen trapping

how 3, pros 2, and cons 4

Answer 82

1. Requires queen trap and three numbered frames each with clean drawn comb added as follows.
2. The queen is trapped on a fresh frame of drawn brood comb every 9 days.
3. When the brood in each of these is sealed (9 days after queen moved on) it can be removed and destroyed
4. Pros
   
   1. Gets ride of almost all mites in the colony without chemicals
5. Cons
   
   1. V labour intensive so only suitable for small no of hives
   2. Timing is crucial -
      
      1. the cycle of 9 days must be precise
      2. not before nectar flow
      3. not too late in summer or not enough bees will be reared for winter

Question 83

11 Varroa treament sugar dusting 4

Answer 83

1. May remove a proportion of phoretic mites
2. Should be done on every inspection
3. Requires on open OMF so mites can fall
4. Use seive with handful of icing sugar

Question 84

11 varroa treatment artifical swarm

Answer 84

1. Perform an articificial swarm, treating broodless bees chemically
2. Perform on a colony showing signs of swarming

Pagden method: Day 1

1. Move parent colony 3m to side
2. Place complete hive with some drawn comb on original site, with feeder so bees can draw out rest of comb
3. Put a queen excluder between floor and brood box to prevent absconding
4. Find queen and place her onto drawn comb in new nest. (DO NOT Tx brood)
5. Leave supers on parent hive
6. Flyers (which only have 2% of mite population on them) will return to new colony, leaving only QC and young bees in parent colony
7. Destroy QCs

Day 7

1. In old colony, destroy all but 1 unsealed QC,
2. Trap the queen in a hair curler queen cage/ whole fame queen trap so that new queen can hatch but cannot be mated. This will maintain the social structure of the colony while ensuring lengthy broodless period.
3. In new col, Check the queen is laying
4. Remove QE from under brood and place over brood chamber

Day 21

1. Open new colony and remove two combs of open brood.
2. Open parent colony (all workers should have hatched). Cull remaining drone brood.
3. Replace two frames with the two frames of open brood from new colony next to caged queen to act as bait.
4. Fed as required

Day 30.

1. Remove the two bait frames from parent and destroy.
2. Cull the caged virgin.
3. Requeen the parent colony.

Final step

1. Cull the old queen in the new colony and unite using a standard method.

Question 85

11 IPM

List, with a brief description, methods that could be used as IPM to combat varroosis 18

1. OMF with 5cm drop is said to give 14% reduction in varroa
2. Drone brood removal. Insert a shallow frame about 2 frames in from the edge of the brood section; the bees will draw the bottom half out with drone brood. Remove when capped. Repeat.
3. Queen comb trapping. The queen is trapped on a fresh frame of drawn brood comb every 9 days. When the brood in each of these is sealed (9 days after queen moved on) it can be removed and destroyed
4. Sugar dusting. Dust a handful of icing sugar over the brood after every inspection with OMF open to promote additional grooming
5. Trickle oxalic acid between the seams in winter when the colony is broodless/new swarm captured.
6. MAQS laid over brood chamber in spring, summer, winter containing 65% formic acid
7. Use a bee gym positioned in the middle of the OMF to facilitate grooming.
8. Use thymol gels after the honey harvest while the weather is still warm enough (15˚C by day) to evaporate the essential oils.
9. Artificial swarm to create an almost broodless break when bees can also be treated with oxalic acid.

Answer 85

1. OMF with 5cm drop is said to give 14% reduction in varroa
2. Drone brood removal. Insert a shallow frame about 2 frames in from the edge of the brood section; the bees will draw the bottom half out with drone brood. Remove when capped. Repeat.
3. Queen comb trapping. The queen is trapped on a fresh frame of drawn brood comb every 9 days. When the brood in each of these is sealed (9 days after queen moved on) it can be removed and destroyed
4. Sugar dusting. Dust a handful of icing sugar over the brood after every inspection with OMF open to promote additional grooming
5. Trickle oxalic acid between the seams in winter when the colony is broodless/new swarm captured.
6. MAQS laid over brood chamber in spring, summer, winter containing 65% formic acid
7. Use a bee gym positioned in the middle of the OMF to facilitate grooming.
8. Use thymol gels after the honey harvest while the weather is still warm enough (15˚C by day) to evaporate the essential oils.
9. Artificial swarm to create an almost broodless break when bees can also be treated with oxalic acid.

Question 86

11 varroa - what are the problems with one acaricide

Answer 86

1. Mites build up resistance
2. Some develop enzymes that break down the chemical action before it reaches site of action
3. Other mites change genetically over time to block the chemical path to the site of action
4. Contamination builds up in the wax having a synergistic impact over time.

Question 87

11 varroa treatment

chems, when, type, name and format

Answer 87

1. Bayvarol, Apistan: Pyrethroid strips: spring/autumn
2. apigGUARD (thymol gel in packs), Api Life Var (thymol eucalyptol, mentol and camphor, broken tablet), spring/autumn:
3. Thymovar (strips), thymol, late summer
4. MAQS, formic acid, can kill mites in sealed cells, spring/summer/autumn
5. Api-Bioxal , oxalic axic solution disolved in syrup and 5ml per seam, winter in phoretic stage
6. Apivar (2017), amitraz

Question 88

11 varroa treatment

resistance types

Answer 88

1. Resistance to pyrethroids arises because mites were exposed to low doses which allowed them to survive to breed resistant strains
   1.

Question 89

11 varroa treatment detecting pyrethroid resistance

Answer 89

1. USA Beltsville Test
2. Cut a strip of apistan (9x25mm) and staple to an index card. Place in a jar with strip facing inwards.
3. Prepare a 2-3mm light metal mesh cover.
4. Shake bees from 1-2 combs into a upturned roof and scoop out ¼ cup (about 150) and pour into jar
5. Place a sugar cub in jar. Cover with mesh lid leave in dark place at room temp for 24 hours.
6. Hit jar 3x with hand over white paper and count dislodged mites.
7. Kill bees in freezer (1-4 hours). Count remaining mites
8. Calculate the percentage mite kills. Less than 50% indicates you may have resistant mites.
9. Discard results if total number of mites per jar is below 5.

Question 90

11 varroa treatment after resistance detected

Answer 90

1. stop using resistant treatments
2. Monitor mite pops
3. Use IPM approaches
4. OMF w 5cm gap below

Question 91

11 varroa treatment

problems with ‘treatment’ 4

Answer 91

1. Essential oils and formic acid work by evapouration so dep on temp, and ventilation vital, esp w formic acid
2. All chems cause stress, so use as little as poss
3. Chems build up in wax so can have synergistic effect and second treatment can be more damaging to bees, so change comb often
4. Many varroa now resistant to pyrethroids.

Question 92

12 acarine appearance

Answer 92

• Tiny mite 150x65um (arachnida)
• male is smaller
• req microscope

Question 93

12 Acarine impact on bees 5

Answer 93

1. NO VISIBLE SIGNS
2. Affects the honey bee’s capacity to breathe, resulting in weakened and sick honey bees which have a reduced lifespan lthough infected queens can live for years
3. Symptoms include population drop, bees crawling on the ground
4. May slow colony development in spring.
5. No correlation with CBPV; but when CBPV present, acarine often present.
6. No chemical control but thymol varroa control seems to reduce it

Question 94

12 acarine Latin name

Answer 94

Acarapsis woodi

Question 95

12 Acarine life cycle 9

Answer 95

1. Gravid female enter a young bee’s (under 9 days) tracheae via first thoracic spiracles
2. Pierces the tracheal cuticle and sucks hyaemolymph
3. They lay 5-7 eggs
4. These hatch after 3-4 days > larva > nymphs > adults
5. Males take 11-12 days to fully develop; females 14-15 days.
6. Mate in tracheae.
7. Gravid femaes leave in search of new hosts
8. Hangs on to a hair by hind legs waving forelegs in air until a young bee (<9day days) passes, then latches on.
9. Vibrations from wings and puffs of air draw it to first thoracic spiracle
10. They can only survive for about 2 hours phoretically.

Question 96

12 Acarine treatment

Answer 96

1. Selective breeding : buckfast bees resistant; NZ bees susceptible
2. Apiguard as been shown to work well in several countries
3. Menthol crystals have been used successfully in N America but high temperatures are required and effects variable

Question 97

12 ameoba associated virus

Answer 97

Bee Virus X

Question 98

12 Amoeba latin name 1

Type of pathogen 1

Answer 98

1. Malphighamoeba mellificae
2. Protozoan

Question 99

12 amoeba life cycle

Answer 99

1. A little animal that builds a protective wall around itself (a cyst)
2. Cysts are ingested by adult bees eating faeces in hive
3. In gut, these emerge and look like amoeba with flagellum
4. Migrates into Malpighian tubules through openings at pyloric valve
5. Attacks cells lining malpighian tubules
6. Multiplies by division.
7. After 22-24 days they form new cysts which pass out to gut and voided in faeces

Question 100

12 amoeba inpact on bee

Answer 100

1. No apparent impact
2. Often found in bees infected with Nosema Apis - may aggravate condition
3. Poss assoc with Bee Virus X

Question 101

12 Amoeba

How to alleviate 1

Answer 101

Alleviate with clean comb

Question 102

12 Nosema latin names 2

Answer 102

1. Nosema apis
2. Nosema ceranae

Question 103

12 Nosema

What spreads nosema 3

Answer 103

1. From infected to non-infected bees through contaminated water/food.
2. Through trophillaxis
3. Cleaning contaminated combs

Question 104

12 Nosema Apis 1

Name 3 associated viruses x3

Answer 104

• Black Queen Cell Virus
• Filamentous Virus
• Bee Virus Y
• None related, but only multiply when bees are infected with nosema and significantly affect its pathengenicity.
• All invade the gut and nosema apis may reduce bee’s resistance to these viruses.
• Also assoc with amoeba

Question 105

12 Nosema apis

Describe the life cycle 8

Answer 105

1. Ingested via infected faeces as HB clean nest.
2. Nosema infects epithelial cells of ventriculus.
3. Fires a hollow tube at target cell and microsporidian contents pass through tube into host cell.
4. Multiplies over 5 days until cells are packed with spores.
5. Cell ruptures, shedding spores into gut to be excreted, starting another round of infection, particularly when bees confined (eg in winter).
6. Dysentery associated with N apis, in prolonged confinement, leading to defecation in hive, prolongs the infection.

Question 106

12 Nosema apis impact 9

Answer 106

1. Sickness not apparent.
2. Lifespan halved.
3. HPG do not dev fully so cannot feed brood so becomes forager earlier.
4. Epithelial cell function and enzyme production may be disrupted/cease so cannot digest protein.
5. Winter bees cannot lay down fat bodies.
6. Increase of water in rectum leads to dysentary; in winter, voiding in hive
7. N apis does not cause dysentery but this makes N apis worse
8. Queen may stop laying/die/be superseded. BCV may result if QL feed NA.
9. Honey production down.

Question 107

12 Nosema Apis

How does summer affect nosema 2

Answer 107

• Infections tend to clear up because bees void away from the colony.
• Confinement makes it worse - eg when migrating/bad weather

Question 108

12 Nosema

How does winter affect nosema 3

Answer 108

1. NA causes severe problems in winter: dysentary voided in hive because of cold causes more bees infected
2. Longevity of autumn bees shorter, as not enough fat bodies.
3. Even if bees survive, they do not have developed HPF to produce brood food, causing spring dwindle.

Question 109

12 Nosema apis treatment

What treatments are currently available in the UK 4

Answer 109

1. No medical treatments
2. Bailey frame change for a weak hive, especially reducing the number of frames in the change to just those with brood, echoed in the clean brood by the same number of clean drawn comb.
3. Good husbandry - maintain stone, well fed colonies
4. Requeen susceptible colonies with queens from more tolerant stocks.

Question 110

12 Nosema ceranae

differences with apis 7

Answer 110

1. Spores fewer and more slender than apis - 5x2.5um cf 5.5x3.5um
2. Attacks basal cells of gut wall as well as epithelium and compromises immune system by providing entry point for viruses and bacteria
3. No season variation with cerana
4. NCcrana builds up more slowly, but their continual incrase throughout the year, regardless of season, means ultimately higher levels of infection
5. No dysentery
6. Also spread in pollen as it is moistened with nectar from bee’s crop so infects very young bees
7. Colonies affected by ceranae alone/caranae+apis more likely to collapse than apis alone - poss as apis clears up in summer.
8. Apis damaged by heat; ceranae damaged by freezing

Question 111

12 nosema signs

x6

Answer 111

1. The colony fails to build up in spring
2. The are steaks of diarrhoea on frames and combs
3. Microscopic investigation (grinding the abdomens of 30 bees in 10ml of water and mounting some goo on a slide at x400 magnification) will reveal nosema spores which look liks small grains of rice about 5.5x3.5um for apis/5x2.5um for cerana
4. Pulling apart a bee will reveal the ventriculus. That of a healthy bee looks straw brown with distinctive constrictions. That of an infected bee is white, swollen and the constrictions are obscured.
5. Faecal material examination.Collect faeces of bees on clear glass places placed near th entrance. Scrape off the depoist and mis it with a drop of water and prepare a wet mount from the resulting suspension.
6. Do the same with the Queen by trapping her in a petridish for about a hour. . Queen faces appear as clear colours liquid which can then be transferred to a microscope slide and covered with a cover slip.

Question 112

13 alimentary canal

Describe the alimentary canal 12

Answer 112

1. The proboscis, a hollow tube, that delivers saliva from the post cerebral and salivary glands to dissolve crystallised honey and which is used to suck up liquids (nectar, honey and water).
2. The mouth (pharynx) is the inlet for the hypopharyngeal glands and proboscis, the inlet/outlet of the mouth via the mandibles and the entrance to the oesophagus.
3. As nectar passes over the hypopharyngeal plate in the pharynx, enzymes from the hypophayngeal glands, via the hypopharyngeal ducts, are added to nectars to start digestion.
4. In younger bees, brood food is secreted from the hypopharyngeal glands and fed to brood using mandibles.
5. The pharynx is connected to the oesophagus, which is tube through the thorax to the stomach, surrounded by contracting muscles that moves the food along by peristalsis to and from the honey sac.
6. The honey sac (an extension of the oesophagus) is a ‘bag’ connected to the ventriculus via a proventricular valve – this one-way valve holds water, nectar and honey in the honey sac at will, or allows it to pass it to the ventriculus for digestion.
7. The pads of the proventricular valve filter pollen out from the nectar held in the honey sac, and collects it into a bolus to be passed into the ventriculus.
8. The ventriculus is lined with epithelial cells producing enzymes that help digest components in the food so that it can be absorbed through the gut wall into the haemolymph.
9. There is a jelly-like membrane between the food and the epithelial cells called the peritrophic membrane which protects the ventricular cells from food abrasion.
10. At the end of the ventriculus, and the alimentary section of the digestive system, is the pyloric valve which controls the passage of the now waste products to excretory system.
11. Just before the pyloric value is an opening when the 100x Malphigian tubules void into the very end of the vetriculus. These tubules excreted waste from the body.
12. The excretory system comprises the small intestine and the rectum, where waste is held until it is voided via the anus.

Question 113

13 alimentary canal

3 diseases of Brood and Adults

and location

Answer 113

1. Adult
   
   1. Nosema apis in epithelial cells of the ventriculus > no enzymes > no protein > no HPG > no fat cells > diarrhoea
   2. Nosema ceranae in epithelial cells of the ventriculus > weakens immune system allowing other diseases
   3. Malpighamoeba apis in Malpighian tubules - no effect on bees, may aggravate nosema apis
2. Brood
   
   1. EFB - Melissococus plutonius - in ventriculus between pertrophic membrane and food - starves larva to death
   2. AFB - Paenipacillus larvae - via ventriculus into haemolymph, death by scepticaemia
   3. Chalkbrood - Ascophera apis - upon pupation the spores germinate in hindgut - pupa can’t shed 5th skin

Question 114

13 excretory system describe

Describe excretory system in relation to two conditions
which affect the honey bee 2 x 2

Answer 114

1. The bee has 100 x Malpighian tubuules which excretee waste matter from the haemolymph
   
   1. Malpighamoeba apis is a protozoa that multiplies in these tubules.
   2. Seems to have no effect on the honey bee
   3. May make Nosema apis worse.
2. The bee’s ventilation system comprises pairs of spiracles along it’s thoras and abdomen, leading to trachael leading to air sacs leading to trachaeoles that get progressively smaller and where gaseous exchanges takes place in the haemolymph.
   
   1. Acarapis woodi is a mite that lives in the trachael system of the thorax, and feeds by piercing the tracheae and sucking haemolymph.
   2. be detected in dissection with a x20 microscope;
   3. the tracheal system turns brown or black where the mites have been living.

Question 115

13 respiratory system

Answer 115

1. Spiracles x 10 pairs (3 thorax, 7 on abdomen, 6 visible)
2. First spiracle on T2 is largest cannot be closed (acarine)
3. 2nd spiracle is smallest and hidden
4. 3rd spiracle on A1 is large and amajor outlet for CO2, in flight.
5. These lease to tracheae > air sacs : tracheoles to al organs and tissues where gaeous exchange takes place.
6. Insects can withstand higher concentrations of CO2 than humans. Normal concentration is 1%. At 2% chalk brood spoors will germinate.

Question 116

14 Addled brood

Signs 4 + treatment 1

Answer 116

1. Late-stage death of pupae about to emerge
2. Abdomen underdeveloped in relation to head and thorax
3. Cappings similar to AFB
4. May be caused by unspecified genetic faults of queen
5. Requeen with unrelated strain

Question 117

14 Bald brood causes

Answer 117

1. Workers uncap pupae and tidy up cappings leaving characteristic rims.
2. Wax moth activity

Question 118

14 chalk brood

Name 4 conditions that could be confused with the early stages of this disease

and describe how a differential diagnosis is made 6

Answer 118

1. EFB - affected larvae have chains of white bacteria in their gut when pulled apart, twisted around cell wall, white through to discoloured yellow to dark brown, watery, granular larvae occasionally ropey
2. AFB - discoloured through to dark brown, unsealed or with perforated sunken discoloured cappings, ropey larvae, hard to remove scales, match stick test
3. Sacbrood - discoloured yellow through to black, gondola shaped in capped cells or under perforated caps, easily removed
4. Chalkbrood - white and mouldy, hard larvae white or grey/black mummies in cells on the floor, or out the front of the hive

Question 119

14 Chalkbrood

Latin Name and type of pathogen 2

Which brood are affected 1

What causes it, when 2

how spread? 1

How long are the spores infective 1

Answer 119

• Ascosphaera apis - fungus
• Sealed brood
• Flares up in Spring when colonies expand
• If there are spores in the hive, and larva mildly chilled to 30˚C larva, brood becomes more susceptible
• Spores in fect the brood from contaminated worker mouthpars and germinate in the hind-gue of the larva
• Condition endemic and spores infective for as long as 15 years

Question 120

14 Chalkbrood

life cycle 7

Answer 120

1. Larva ingests spores it with its food.
2. Needs COOL to germinate 30˚C, and CO2 of hindgut
3. Upon pupation the spores germinate in hindgut.
4. 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.
5. Mummy turns from white>grey>black.
6. Dark mummies produce vast numbers of sticky, resistant spores which remain infective for 15 years.
7. Spores are spherical, 1.9-3.2um

Question 121

14 chalkbrood 3

what are the signs of Chalkbrood? 5

Answer 121

1. Affects sealed brood
2. Perforated cappings
3. Mummified white larvae with mouth parts forming characteristic protruberance in centre
4. chalky mummy turns grey to blacks as fungus sporulates
5. Mummies on floor out outside hive; easily shaken out, leaving pepperpot

Question 122

14 Chalkbrood

actions of HB in cleaning up chalkbrood 3

Answer 122

1. Detect dead larvae, upcap and remove the hard lump (like a mummy > pepperpot.
2. Mummies found on hive floor/in front of entrance.

Question 123

14 Chalkbroad beekeeper impact

What should the beekeeper avoid to reduce likelihood of chalkbrood 7

How to treat chalkbrood 3

Answer 123

Avoid

1. Dividing colonies leaving too few bees to cover brood;
2. Making up queen mating nucs in little boxes with too few bees;
3. Chilling brood as we inspect, esp on cold, wet windy days
4. Spreading brood early in season
5. Over-stimulating brood rearing in spring -> too much brood, not enough HB
6. Transferring combs from infected colonies.
7. Damp apairy sites

Treatment

1. Move onto clean comb with shoo swarm/bilaey frame change.
2. Requeen - some strains may be more resistant than others
3. Minimise stress

Question 124

14 chalkbrood effect on colony

Answer 124

1. Rarely fatal to colony
2. Can depress honey yields by 5%
3. Colonies produce fewer drones because they are on extremities

Question 125

14 Chilled brood

Causes of chilled brood 3

Answer 125

1. Lack of bees (eg during spring build up or bees lost to poisoning) to cover brood, combined with spring temperature fluctuations
2. Starvation - bees clack energy to keep cluster temperature up
3. Beekeeper mishandling - spreading brood, leaving brood nest exposed for a long time (eg prolonged inspection at ambient below 14˚C).

Question 126

14 chilled brood

What are the signs 2

What is a knock on effect of chilling 1

Answer 126

1. Brood of all ages turns grey or shiny black
2. Usually at edges of brood nest from where bees withdraw when forming a cluster
3. Mild chilling (to 30˚C) will increase susceptibility to chalkbrood

Question 127

14 Pepperpot

You see pepperpot brood pattern. What are the possible causes 9

Answer 127

1. EFB
2. AFB
3. Chalkbrood
4. Stonebrood
5. Sacbrood
6. PMS
7. Starvation
8. Addled brood
9. Diploid drones

Question 128

14 Starved brood

Answer 128

1. Causes
   
   1. Incoming food is erratic and they have few stores
   2. Eg strong spring build iup and then dearth caused by bad weather
2. Signs
   
   1. Egg laying may cease
   2. Young larvae and eggs eaten by bees, especially drones - pepperpot
   3. Larvae pulled out of cells and thrown out
   4. Chilled brood
   5. Adults beome torpid and may fall off frames
3. Treatment
   
   1. Spray with a 1:1 solution of sugar syrup
   2. Feed with fondant in early spring/syrup in later spring-autumn and maybe pollen supplement

Question 129

14 Stone brood Latin name 2

Answer 129

1. Apergillus flavus
2. Asperillus fumigatus

Question 130

14 Stonebrood attributes

What is it? 1

What can it infect? 1

Answer 130

1. Common soil- and air-bourne fungi;
2. Can infect other species inc birds and can cause breathing problems in humans, so take care when destroying combs infected by stonebrood

Question 131

14 Stonebrooad lifecycle 8

Answer 131

1. Usually larva ingests spores it with its food, which germinate, produce hyphae, which grow through the pupa to form a yellow mycelium.
2. Larva die after capping
3. Mycellium turns green when spores form.
4. Can attack larva from cuticle inwards.
5. Some adults affected and abdomens become hard.

Question 132

15 acarine diagnosis

5 steps and 2 outcomes

Answer 132

1. Bees are disected to inspect large prothoracic tracheae
2. Req 30 flying bees (for same statistical reasons as nosema), freshly killed + microscope x20 magnification
3. Pin bee twice through mid thorax to cork legs upwards
4. Push head and front legs off with forceps
5. Remove the narrow chitinous collar around thorax with forceps to reveal the large tracheae in mesothorax.
6. If brown/black = acarine present
7. Should be creamy yellow

Question 133

15 acarine

How would a colony be managed if this diagnosis is positive? 4

Answer 133

1. There are no licenced treatments for acarine.
2. Thymol may help, and pyrethroids may have an impact, depending on the timing of the dose.
3. Requeen with a queen from a more resistant strain of bee.
4. Site hives to reduce drifting and narrow up entrances of weak hives to prevent robbing

Question 134

15 Nosema and Amoeba diagnosis

Signs of Nosmea 1

Three steps 3

What to look for 1

Answer 134

1. Signs of diahroea on frames
2. OR Microscipic examination x400.
3. Crush 30 bee abdomens in 10ml water
4. Smear goo on slide.
5. What to look for:
   
   1. Nosema: rice shaped grains 5.5x3um (Cerana = 5x 2.5um)
   2. If Nosema light infection: 0-5 spores; heavy = 15+
   3. Amoeba: round 6-10um diameter

Question 135

16 fumigating comb

How to fumigate comb 10

Answer 135

1. Need appropriate tools and personal protection (gloves, eye protection and ideally fumigation breathing mask)
2. Use 80% acetic acid, more effective in airtight conditions.
3. Scrape woodwork free of wax and propolis.
4. Combs should be dry and boxes stacked on a wooden board (fumes corrode concrete)
5. Remove metal spacers and cover runners and nail heads in Vaseline (to prevent fumes attacking metal work)
6. On top of every brood box/two supers, place a piece of towelling holding 150ml of acetic acid in a plastic lid. Extend the ends over frames as wick. (Fumes heavier than air and fall down between frames)
7. If necessary, place an eke over top box and cover with a piece of board/sealed crownboard.
8. Seal joints with tape and cover with a lid
9. Leave for 7 days in summer; 10 days in winter
10. Air frames 48 hours before use; – acetic acid does not harm honey

Question 136

16 Fumigating comb

What diseases are contolled by fumigation of comb 5

Answer 136

1. Nosema apis spores
2. Amoeba cysts
3. Wax moth - eggs, larvae, and adults, and maybe chrysalis
4. Chalkbrood spores
5. EFB if bacteria are not buried in wax and debris

Question 137

16 fumigation protection

State ALL the precautions which must be taken when using acetic acid to protect the user, the equipment and the surroundings. 9

Answer 137

1. Keep the acid in a labelled bottle securely and out of reach of children
2. Use protective gear including gloves, a fumigation mask to prevent you inhaling the acid, and eye goggles
3. Take care not to splash or spill the acid – any splashes should be cleaned up with plenty of water
4. In case of contact with eyes or skin, wash immediately with tons of water and seek medical help urgently.
5. Dispose of unwanted chemicals in a legal and environmentally responsible way
6. Ensure the combs are dry – the fumes do not penetrate honey
7. Remove the metal spacers and cover the runners and nails in Vaseline to stop the metal corroding
8. Place the boxes on a wooden board to prevent the fumes coming in contact with concrete as the fumes corrode concrete
9. Air the equipment for at least 48 hours before using to ensure it is free from fumes

Question 138

17 Bailey comb change

What is it 1

Why do it 2

When do it 1

How 4

Cleaning 2

Answer 138

1. A bailey frame change, where the bees are moved onto clean comb but the brood in the old brood box is allowed to hatch out, rather than being removed straight away.
2. Clean comb essential in nosema, amoeba, chalk brood, EFB if bacteria are not buried in wax and debris, either timed with a flow/fed to draw out foundation
3. Remove Q on one brood frame, close space with dummy board
4. On dirty brood place: QE, then eke wth entrance same way, clean brood, 10 clean frames and foundation, QE, Supers
5. Close up bottom entrance. When queen moves off old frame move down to dirty brood.
6. Leave for 21 days then remove old brood box.
7. Scrape dirty box, fumigate/scorch with 80% ethanoic acid, burn comb and scrub frames in hot washing soda solution

Question 139

17 Bailey Comb change

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. 13

Answer 139

1. Clean combs are essential. With a weak colony, perform a Bailey comb change as follows:
2. Remove unoccupied peripheral brood combs without disturbing the brood nest.
3. Remove the frame with the queen on (leaving, let’s say, 3 frames of brood). Insert dummy boards tight to each side.
4. Place QE, Eke with entrance, clean brood, with Qframe and 2 drawn combs right over old frames, with dummy boards close up.
5. Close the bottom entrance and feed in a contact feeder in small quantities to draw out comb
6. When Q moves off the dirty frame in the new box, move down below and replace with another frame of drawn comb.
7. As the bees emerge from dirty box, remove empty brood frames.
8. After 21 days remove whole dirty box, eke and QE. Place clean box on clean OMF
9. Burn the old comb. Scorch the queen excluder and dirty brood box. Scrub the old brood frames in very hot soda solution.

Question 140

17 Shook swarm description

What, who for and when, impact, and exactly how. 12

Answer 140

1. Whole colony shaken from combs onto fresh foundation in a clean hive. Old frames inc brood removed and burned. Colony fed.
2. Only suitable for strong colonies in late spring/early summer to give bees time to draw out comb, forage and prepare for winter.
3. Colonies get a dramatic boost from a shook swarm because nosema, chalkbrood and varroa mites are also cleared out.
4. Prepare a clean hive with QE below brood box to stop queen absconding.
5. Find Queen and cage her.
6. Move dirty hive to one side. Place cleanr hive in dirty hive’s position.
7. Set aside 3-4 central frames from new hive and shake all bees from dirty combs into clean box, return dirty combs to dirty box and cover to prevent bees returning.
8. Replace the 3-4 frames gently. Release queen into the brood chamber.
9. Add crownboard, and roof.
10. For EFB, delay feeding 2:1 syrup for two days until bees have consumed all the honey in their crop building comb.
11. When the queen is laying and there is brood, remove the queen excluder below the brood box.
12. Maintain feeding if there is not a nectar flow until the bees have drawn out the comb.

Question 141

18 Acute Bee Paralysis virus

Associate pathogens 1

Who it affects 1

Speed of death 1

Transmission vectors 3

Answer 141

1. Varroa + related to Israeli Acute paralysis virus; activated and spread by varroa
2. ACUTE Kills bees in under 5 days
3. Infected nurse bees spread disease in brood food
4. Larvae fed with high levels of ABPV die; low levels > survive but later infect others as nurse bees
5. Also found in pollen loads and salivary glands of bees, who spread disease

Question 142

18 Amoeba associated virus and traits 5

Answer 142

1. Bee Virus X
2. Not dependent on Malphighamoeba mellificae, but appears in its presence.
3. Infected bees have shorter lives.
4. Assoc with deaths of colonies in spring.

Question 143

18 Bee Virus X 3

Answer 143

1. Assoc with Malpighamoeba millificiae
2. Assoc with deaths of colonies in spring.
3. Shortens bee’s life.

Question 144

18 Bee virus Y -

assoxiations1

who it affects 1

signs 1

Answer 144

1. Assoc Nosema apis -
2. No signs
3. Infects adult bees, early summer
4. May worsen N apis/N apis may weaken gut leading to easier entry.

Question 145

18 BQCV

Cause and signs 1

Associates 2

Answer 145

• Q larvae infected nurse bees feeing larvae infected food
• Q cells become dark/black and Q pupae die
• Associates: Nosema apis
• Virus remains viable in larval remains, honey or pollen for up to four weeks.
• TX by drifting robbing, contaminated water, equipment, infected comb

Question 146

18 CBPV causes

Answer 146

1. Colonies may carry CBPV without showing symptoms and it is not until the colony is put under stress that the symptoms start to show
2. The virus appears to infect older bees more frequently and foragers are often found to have a higher virus burden
3. Not yet associated with Varroa
4. Outbreaks at the peak of spring and summer.
5. Maybe a combination of large population sizes and periods of confinement in the colony, due to bad weather, cause crowded conditions which exacerbate the spread of infection through bodily contact between bees.
6. In laboratory experiments, direct contact with infected individuals causes spread of the virus, body hairs are rubbed away through repeated contact and, as a result, the virus is able to penetrate the cuticle and establish infection.
7. The virus is also known to spread through faeces of infected bees

Question 147

18 CBPV treatment 8

Answer 147

1. Reduce overcrowding by adding brood boxes or supers, thus decreasing viral transmission by reducing bee to bee contact.
2. Reduce the general bee population in an area may prevent food shortages acting stress to colonies.
3. Move affected colonies to an isolation apiary to help contain the disease.
4. Feed colonies especially if there is no nectar flow, or if colonies are confined due to bad weather.
5. Adjust hive positions if necessary to reduce drifting, and narrow the entrance to reduce robbing
6. Good hygiene is crucial.
7. Reduce frame and super exchange between colonies and apiaries
8. Scorch hive boxes, burn comb and disinfect cleaned frames in very hot water with soda cyrstals and breaching powder.

Question 148

18 CBPV type 1 symptoms to death 7

Answer 148

1. More common in bees than type 2
2. Abnormal trembling motion of adult bees’ wings
3. Wings may be spread or dislocated (k-wing).
4. Paralysis of adult bees’ bodies
5. Adult bees are unable to fly and so are often found crawling in large numbers on the ground
6. Bloated abdomens due to build up of fluid in honey sac
7. This can lead to dysentery-like symptoms;
8. Sick bees die in a few days
9. Can lead to sudden collapse of colony.
10. Heavily infected colonies may collapse, particularly seen at the height of the season

Question 149

18 CBPV type 2 symptoms to death 5

Answer 149

1. Bees hairless and appear shiny and black.
2. They look greasy in bright light
3. Can fly at first and then become trembly and lose ability to fly
4. Other bees aggressive, nibbling them and preventing them returning to hive
5. Die.

Question 150

18 Cloudy Wing virus

associated with, symptoms 3

Answer 150

1. Assoc with varroa but may be airborne
2. 15% of UK colonies are affected
3. Causes wings to lose transparency.
4. Bees soon die.

Question 151

18 Deformed wing virus - signs 3

Answer 151

1. Doesn’t kill bee so is endemic.
2. Deformed wings, which are not always apparent.
3. Stunted bodies.
4. Bees can’t fly

Question 152

18 Deformed wing virus

associates and traits 3

Answer 152

1. Assoc with Varroa Destructor and multiply in it
2. ALSO closely related to
   
   1. Varroa destructor virus 1,
   2. Kakugo virus (in bee brains linked to aggressive behaviour in bees).
3. All can tx genetic material between each other, so a complex of viruses builds

Question 153

18 Filamentous virus 5

Answer 153

1. Assoc with Nosema apis.
2. May worsen N apis and/ N apis may weaken gut leading to easier entry.
3. Multiplies in fat bodies and ovarian tissue of adults workers
4. Causes haemolymph to become milky in appearance.
5. May to August.

Question 154

18 Israeli acute bee paralysis virus

associated with 2

Answer 154

1. Viruses multiply in the cell while it is alive until the cell dies
   
   1. A related form is Acute Bee Paralysis Virus.
2. Associated with varroa and with colony collapse disorder in US (in 96% of CCD cols)
3. Not sole cause of CCD - cause/marker

Question 155

18 Kashmir Bee Virus 2

Answer 155

• Varroa + Kashmir Bee Virus leads to rapid decline of the colony with infected beeds cashing in their chips in a few days

Question 156

18 how to reduce virus impact 6

Answer 156

1. Keep varroa pop low
2. Test for nosema in autumn
3. Use resistant queens
4. Avoid moving bees - inhibits their natural controls
5. Keep no more than 10 colonies per apiary
6. Disinfect by scorching or acetic acid. Viruses cannot survive in dead colonies.

Question 157

18 Sacbrood virus

When found, life cycle, impact on adults, treatment 10

Answer 157

1. Found in capped cells - chewed like AFB
2. Nurse bees infect larvae when they feed larvae with infected brood food.
3. Nurse bees get it from, contaminated water, pollen or nectar or cleaning out larval remains
4. Prevents pupa shedding 5th larval skin - Fluids accumulating under skin give it a sac-like appearance
5. Infected larva change from pearly white to pale yellow
6. Death occurs just before pupation with larva streatched on on its back with its head towards the cell capping.
7. Larva remains rigid, swells and larval head sticks up
8. The scales formed as dead larvae dry out ar brittle but easy to remove
9. Infection continues via cell cleaning and larval feeding
10. ADULT impact:
    
    1. Can shorten adult lives: start foraginge earlier; stop feeding larvae; collect v little pollen
11. Usually clears up on its own or requeen
12. Virus viable for 4 weeks in larval remains, pollen or honey

Question 158

18 Slow bee paralysis

what virus is is associated with 1

How does it infect bees?

Answer 158

1. Varroa destructor
2. By injection via varroa
3. Death in 12 days
4. Kills adults and larvae
5. May cause colony collapse late in a year, even after varroa has been destroyed.

Question 159

18 Varroa destructor associates 10

Answer 159

1. Varroa destructor virus 1.
2. Deformed wing virus.
3. Cloudy wing virus.
4. Kakugo virus.
5. Kashmir bee virus.
6. Slow bee paralysis virus.
7. Acute bee paralysis virus.
8. Chronic Bee paralysis virus 1
9. and 2
10. Israeli acute paralysis virus.

Question 160

20 braula adaptations

4

Answer 160

1. Body covered in stiff hairs helping it to hold on
2. Feet have stiff spins so can grip bee hairs
3. Mouth parts adapted so it can feed from bee’s mouth during trophilaxis -
4. Perches on bees head and reaches into cavity behind glossa

Question 161

20 braula appearance 4

Answer 161

• Reddish brown as adults
• 2mm long; 1mm wide
• Three pairs clearly visible legs on either side
• Live on top of bees, unlike varroa which hide between lower abdo segments.

Question 162

20 braula impact

Answer 162

1. NOT a pardite
2. V attracted to queens because stable and constantly fed.
3. For beekeeper the problem is tunnels in cappings. Honey is fine.
4. Freeze 24 hours before eating.

Question 163

20 braula

insect group and latin name 2

Answer 163

1. Diptera
2. Baula coeca

Question 164

20 braula life cycle

type of insect 1

life cycle 6

Answer 164

1. A wingless fly not a louse
2. egg laid in just about to be capped honey
3. legless maggot 1.5mm long tunnels through capings eating honey and pollen
4. pupates inside its last larval skin and emerges 21 days after egg laying and climbs on to a bee.
5. White at emergence, then darkens to reddy brown in 12 hours
6. Adults feed from directly from the bee’s mouth parts.
7. Breed between May and Sept and overwinter phoretically.

Question 165

21 signs of poisoning 6

Answer 165

1. Large numbers of dead and dying bees at the front of a hive, depending on how many foragers were affected, often with their tongues sticking out.
2. Bees returning to the hive, refused entry and spinning around on ground before succumbing
3. Guards repel affected bees and colony upset and bad-tempered
4. Fewer foragers at the entrance than normal
5. If the insecticide is fast acting, foragers die enroute so colony dwindle for no apparent cause
6. Sometimes brood damage may occur if pollen contaminated

Question 166

22 crops likely to be affected by poisoning

Answer 166

1. Oil seed rape
2. Field beans
3. Fruit
4. Weed poisoning
5. Pesticides (fly though)
6. Wheat – fly through
7. Oats – fly through
8. Linseed
9. Sugar beet

Question 167

22 how bees can be poisoned

Answer 167

1. Bee can be poisoned:
   
   1. By direct contact (flying through the spray)
   2. By eating nectar or pollen that has been sprayed
   3. By breathing in vapours
2. Three methods of spraying
   
   1. Fixed wing plane
   2. Helicopter
   3. Tractor
3. Bees can be caught
   
   1. Working on a crop that is sprayed
   2. Working on flowering weeds IN a crop that is sprayed
   3. Flying OVER a sprayed crop
   4. Wind DRIFTING spray to a hive or patch of forage

Question 168

23 poisoning -

What advance action should you take take when notice of poisoning crops is given

Answer 168

1. Participate in a spray liaison scheme
2. Collaborate with farmers in 3 mile radius - spray before 8am, after 8pm.
3. Gather info - What is being sprayed, where, when, with what
4. If the apiary is in the crop - mark them clearly
5. Move colonies - impractical with a large apiary
6. Partially close up the hive - some bees may get poisoned
   
   1. Drape loosely with a wet sheet
   2. Partially cover the entrance with loose grass or straw which may be enough to keep bees in the hive while allowing them to draw air into the hive (remove when danger passed)
7. Fully close up the hives - danger of over heating
   
   1. Provide additional supers with combs to allow bees to disperse
   2. Provide water in a rapid feeder for cooling by evaporation
   3. If possible, use a travel screen and off set the lid to provide a through draft.
   4. Shade from the sun if possible

Question 169

24 poison spray

Describe a spray liasion scheme 4

Answer 169

1. The Association appoints a spray liaison officer
2. The key internal and external contact in all spray matters
3. Promote communication with local farmers and their associations
4. Educate club members on what to do if poisons is planned, and if poisoning is suspected.

Question 170

25 poison

What action to take when spray damage suspected 8

Steps to save 3

Steps to report 5

Answer 170

1. SAVE
   
   1. Feed the bees well which 50:50 syrup which will dilute the effect of toxins in the honey sac
   2. Ventilate the hive to disperse the toxins in the hive
   3. Reduce entrance in badly affected colonies to prevent robbing
2. COLLECT EVIDENCE
   
   1. Collect and label 3 samples of 200 bees (jamjar) per hive; freeze.
   2. Take dated photos of the dead bees, the hives, the crop and its state of flower
   3. Create a report with the details of the numbers of colonies and bees affected, the time and date of the spraying, the details of what the farmer was spraying and the name and contact details of any witnesses.
   4. Inform the Regional Bee Inspector/the local association spray liaison officer
   5. Only send samples to the NBU if instructed, and follow the instructions for packaging and sending the samples.

Question 171

26 main causes of damaged comb 4

Answer 171

1. Mice, rats, pigmy dormice
2. Moths inc Galeria mellonllella and Achroia grisella.
3. Small hive beetle larvae - Aethina tumida
4. Braula coeca which lay their eggs on walls of cells filled with honey

Question 172

26 european hornet

Latin name, description, counter measures

Answer 172

1. Vespa crabo
2. Sometimes attack hives
3. Larger than Vespu velutina and with reddish face and red and yellow striped body
4. Narrow the hive entrance to just one bee space if necessary
5. Site wasp traps containing jam in water and beer near hive entrances

Question 173

26 mice 5

Name, food, bee reaction, prevention

Answer 173

1. mus sylvaticus (field mouse) enter hives in winter seeking somewhere dry and warm build a nest in which to hibernate
2. Feed on pollen, honey and bees.
3. Will disturb the cluster which will move away from them, maybe to their deaths if they are separated from their stores.
4. Bees will sting a mouse to death, but not if the weather is cold and they are in their cluster
5. keep out with a mouseguard, or shallow floor of one beespace (7-8mm)

Question 174

26 wasps

Latin name, recognise, why, how, counter measures

Answer 174

1. Vespula vulgaris and Vespula germanica - Wasps
2. The same size as bees but with distinctive black and yellow stripes
3. At the end of the summer, when they no longer have larvae to feed and the supply of their sweet larval saliva finishes, they search out other sweet foods such as honey
4. A weak colony can become a target of robbing. The inhabitants of a wasp nest will often concentrate on one hive and by repeated attacks and sheer numbers, gain access to the stores, completely emptying the hive of stores.
5. Many bees die defending the wasps, they may also give up and the rest die of starvation within a day or so.
6. Counter measures: siting wasp traps containing jam in water and beer near hive entrances
7. Narrowing the hive entrance to one bee space if necessary.

Question 175

26 Woodpeckers

Name, how to recognise, how it feeds, effect and control 5

Answer 175

1. Picus Viridis (Green woodpecker)
2. Has a green spotted back and a powerful beak which can bore into beehives very rapidly.
3. In very cold weather they find it difficult to forage in the hard ground. Can peck through a national in an hour
4. Its tongue can reach several centimeters beyond the end of its beak, is sticky and barbed and pulls bees out of the hive.
5. Effect – lost of bees, damage to hives rendering them no longer weather proof, allowing entry to mice
6. Since the bees are protected by law the only way to control them is to cover the hives in wire netting leaving a space between the hive so that the woodpeckers beak cannot reach the woodwork

Question 176

27 wax moth

greater appearance

Answer 176

1. Galleria Mellonella
2. 28mm for wing tip to wing tip
3. Size varies in relation to larvae nutrition
4. Mottled buff and brown forewings with paler hindwings
5. Concave shape of the outer wings

Question 177

27 wax moth

lesser appearance

Answer 177

1. achroia griosella
2. Av 18mm across outstretched wings which overlap when at rest
3. Silver grey in colour
4. Front of thorax and head almost white

Question 178

27 Wax moth damage

List the similarities and differences between the damage caused by greater wax moth and lesser wax moth 7

Answer 178

1. The larvae of both tunnel through wax in a silken tunnel to which their faeces and bits of wax stick, and the comb eventually disintegrates.
2. Greater are more likely to tunnel through honey leaving a trail under the comb
3. Lesser are more likely to be found in stored combs and weak colonies.
4. The faeces of both cause bee brood deformities in wings and legs
5. Bald brood results when both types of moth tunnel under larva, lifting them, so these don’t have enough space to pupate to nurse bees uncap the cell.
6. Greater pupate in groups, tunnelling holes into hive woodwork and frames before spinning their cocoons.
7. Lesser pupate in cells in cocoons covered in frass
8. G Mellonella may tunnel through comb honey
9. G Mellonella will cause damage to woodwork by tunneling into box and frames when it pupates. Greagarious aso line up in rows. A Grisella pupates in combs covered in frass.
10. Tunnelling more likely to be by Mellonella, which can lift worker brood. HB recognise bee pupa need more space and uncap cell > bald brood

Question 179

27 wax moth differences

Answer 179

1. Greater: gregarious, espeically in pupal stage,
2. Greater: damage wood as well as combs when they excavate little troughs to pupate inside
3. Greater: in bad cases, honey bees can be trapped in their cells by the silken threads of moth larva, leaving them unable to emerge.
4. Lesser unliekly to damage colonies unless these are very weak
5. Lesser have smaller larvae and brown heads
6. Both cause bald brood, tunnelling can lift the worer brood. The workers recognise they honey bee larva as insufficient room to develop and uncap the cell. The lesser wax moth may start the uncapping process. by biting through the wax.
7. Both prefer brood comb because they like to eat larval skins and pupal cases

Question 180

27 Wax moth life cycle

Answer 180

1. Soon after emerging, female moths leave hive.
2. Males produce a pheromone and ultrasonic sound to attract females
3. After mating, females enter hive through small cracks or at night
4. Lays 300-600 creamy white eggs in batches in cracks and crevices in boxes and combs (rarely foundation)
5. After a few days these hatch into larvae with reddish brown head:
   
   1. 3-5 days at 29-35˚C; 30 at 18˚C
6. Rate of dev is temperature dependent
   
   1. inside occupied hive at high temps, this is fast.
   2. where they endure lower temps - eg abandonned nest - may persist as larvae for months
   3. Optimum temp: G mellonella 4 weeks as larvae
   4. Optimum temp: A grisella 2 weeks as larvae
7. Eats wax but favours old larval and pupal skins of bees and pollen. Wax moth on clean comb with no brood/pollen, may never pupate
8. Behaviour when disturbed
   
   1. Mellonella runs
   2. Grisella feigns death
9. They tunnel through comb in a silken tunnel to which their faeces and bits of wax become attached, and comb eventually disintegrates
10. They pupate in silken cocoon
    
    1. Mellonella pupate in groups, and each excavates woodwork/makes holes in frames.
    2. Grisella pupates in combs, its cocoons covered in frass so they appear dark
11. After about 4-10 days females emerge and the cycle starts again.

Question 181

27 wax moth prevention

Answer 181

1. Strong colonies
2. Clean apiary
3. Clean out OMF
4. Avoid cracked equipment (eg frames with spit top bars
5. Don’t leav comb lying around
6. Stack boxes with newspaper between them to restrict movement between boxes.

Question 182

27 Wax moth problems cause by them 5

Answer 182

1. Tunnelling through sealed bood can result in bald brood - bees remove cappings danaged by larva
2. Presence of moth larva faeces >deformaties of legs and wings of developing bees
3. G mellonella can damage comb honey by making silvery tunnels in cappings - freeze to destroy larvae
4. G Mellonella make holes in boxes or frames to pupate, often in groups, damaging woodwork.
5. Will destroy comb with silken tunnels and frass - which makes it unusable for brood.
6. both prefer brood com because they can eaat larval skins and pupal cases

Question 183

27 wax month bacteriological control

Answer 183

1. Bacillus thuringiensis (trade name Certan) kills WM larvae
2. 46˚C for 1 hour
3. -0˚C for 5 hours

Question 184

28 storing combs

Answer 184

1. Dispose of old comb quickly and clean old freames
2. Scorch old boxes especially in nooks to kill eggs /larvae
3. Boil frames in washing soda
4. Freeze comb at below -18˚C in a chest freezer for more than 2-48 hours. Then stack over OMF with air spec for air to cirulcate/leave outside exposed to frost
5. Fumigate dry combs with 80% acetic acid (fumes won’t penetrate organic matter inc honey
6. Fumigate with sulphur strips
7. Use biologial control: Bacillus thuringiensis (Certain of B401) to kill larvae and one application lasts a season, used same day it is made up at a rate of 1.5ml to 10cm2

Question 185

28 wax moth control

8 methods

Answer 185

1. Spray solution of Certan bacillus thuringiensis - kills larva only - onto dry combs and allow to dry before stacking
2. Fumigate with sulphur strips - 2 strips/6 boxes
3. Fumigate with 150ml 80% acetic acid/box kills ECA, and afterwards spray comb with certan and stack on OMF with Mouse excluder and newspaper between boxes
   
   1. Also kills noesma and chalkbrood fungus
4. Heat 49˚C kills ELCA (but temp control must be precise to avoid ruining wax)
5. Freezing 0 to -18˚C for 2-48 hours to days kills ELCA
6. Store combs in as cold a place as possible
7. Use carbon dioxide
8. Wormwood herb is reputed to deter moths.

Question 186

Sacbrood virus When found, life cycle, impact on adults, treatment 10

Answer 186

18 Sacbrood virus

When found, life cycle, impact on adults, treatment 10