Honey Production Flashcards
- How many honey bee species?
- What is the Apis mellifera?
- What drug type must be prescribed to honey bees by a VS?
- 7 with many subspecies.
- European/Western Honey Bee.
- ABX.
- When did a decline begin in bee-keeping and why?
- How many professional bee farmers?
- How many hobbyists?
- What products are gained by beekeeping?
- Value of pollination of crops by bees to agriculture?
- How many honey producing hives in the UK?
- How many honey bees in the UK?
- WWII – end of sugar rationing.
- 450
- ~30000
- Honey/wax.
- > £400M
- > 200000 hives
- ~12billion bees.
Honey composition…
1. Water
2. Sugars
3. Fructose
4. Glucose
5. Sucrose, maltose
6. Water activity
7. pH
8. Properties useful in vet med e/g/ wound management?
- 17%
- 80%
- 37%
- 30%
- 13%
- 0.5-0.6
- 3.9
- Good antibacterial properties.
- Concern of honey in public health?
- Infant botulism.
Infant botulism
Clostridium botulinum spores
Rare bacterial infection
Constipation, muscle weakness, difficulty eating and breathing.
Honey should not be given to infants <1 year.
National Surveillance Scheme – Honey sampling…
1. Who carries out this testing?
2. What are they testing for?
3. How many samples per year in England and Wales?
4. Where are samples sent to for analysis?
5. Who are the results sent to?
6. How long is the whole process?
7. What happens if an unacceptable residue is found?
- National Bee Unit on behalf of VMD.
- Testing for residues of banned substances (e.g. neonicotinoids), contaminants and authorised vet meds.
- > 100.
- Fera.
- VMD.
- ~3 months
- Follow up visit – investigation and advice.
Illegal substances or high conc. of authorised medicine – legal action may follow.
Honey Production…
1. Frame temperature?
2. What is done with the combs?
3. Extraction of honey?
4. Once extracted…
5. Then…
6. What is the humidity of bulk storage?
7. After storage…
8. Controls?
- 32-35C.
- Uncapped manually/mechanically.
- By centrifugation.
- Honey recovered into sump tanks and heated to 46C to overcome cooling and improve settling.
- Honey strained and liquefied in hot air at 60-70C.
- 60% air humidity for 17-18% moisture of honey.
- Packed.
- HACCP controls.
- What does the Varroa mite do?
- Disease associated?
- Consequence?
- What is used to prevent?
- Attaches to bee body.
Sucks haemolymph. - Varroosis.
- Colony collapse.
Stress.
Viral spread.
Economic loss. - Pyrethroid insecticide – resistance now widespread.
What are the 2 notifiable bee diseases?
American foulbrood and European foulbrood.
- What organism is American foulbrood caused by?
- What organism is European foulbrood caused by?
- What must be done in the case of discovering this notifiable disease?
- Paenibacillus larvae (spore forming bacterium).
- Melissococcus plutonius (Non-spore forming bacterium; survives in wax).
- Contact National Bee Unit or local bee inspector.
- Close the hive.
- Disinfect beekeeping equipment.
- Not remove any colonies, equipment or honey from the site until the disease, if confirmed, has been controlled.
- Contact National Bee Unit or local bee inspector.
- How does American foulbrood affect honeybees?
- Mode of infection.
- Main cause of spread?
- Resistance?
- How is infection controlled?
- Stress-related?
- Fatal with no cure.
- Ingestion of spores during feeding by larvae from nurse bee mouth pieces.
Germinate in larvae guts and replicate to high numbers.
Kill larvae after cell sealed. - Beekeeping practices and adult bees.
- Very resistant – long lasting spores.
- Destruction of infected hives.
Irradiation of contaminated equipment. - No
- Mode of infection for European foulbrood?
- Why is EFB more difficult to spot than AFB?
- Stress-related?
- Larvae become infected after ingesting food contaminated with the bacteria e.g. via nurse bees. The bacteria replicate in the midgut of the larvae. Competing for food in the gut, causing larvae to starve and killing the larvae before the cell is sealed.
- Less fatal than AFB so infection can be present for years w/o complete destruction of the colony so less easy to spot.
- yes.
Control of EFB?
Follow an authorised officer’s advice (NBU).
Destruction of heavily infected hives.
Antibiotic treatment possible (with caution).
‘Shook swarm’: transfer of bees to new combs.
Other diseases in bees?
Sacbrood – mild viral disease.
Chalkbrood – Ascosphaera apis (fungus).
Bald brood – Uncapped cells, wax moth infestation?
Nosemosis.
– Nosema ceranae - fumgus.
– Traditionally affects Asian honey bee.
– Detected world wide.
– Role in bee decline in Europe uncertain.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).
US term coined 2006.
Complete absence of adult worker bees.
No dead bees visible around hive.
Live queen.
Usually honey and immature bees.
For reasons unknown.
