North American Bee Flashcards
Why are bees important
1/3 bites of food in the US depend on honey bees
Pollinate $15 billion worth of crops / yr
More than 130 fruits and veggies
What contributes to colony loss?
Climate change, pests, pesticides, urbanization, diseases
Colony loss in the US
Beekeepers lost 39% of managed honey bee colonies
Colony collapse disorder (CCD)
Dead colony without adult bees, no dead bee bodies and honey and wax present
No treatment
Factors included in colony collapse disorder
Parasites and pests
Pathogens
Poor nutrition
Sublethal exposure to pesticides
Varoa Mite
External parasites that attack and feed on honey bees
Reproduce only in a honey bee colony
Attaches to the body of the bee and weakens the bee by sucking fat bodies
Varroa mites cause a disease called ________
Varroosis
The bee queen lays up to _____ per day in the brood cells
2,000
Synthetic treatment of varroosis
Amitraz
Apivar
Contact (mode)
Essential oil treatment for varroosis
Thymol (thyme)
Apigard
Fumigant (mode)
Acid treatment for varroosis
Oxalic/ formic acid
Mite away/ formic pro
Fumigant
Small Hive Beetle (SHB)
Aethina tumida
First found in the US in 1996
Secondary or opportunistic pest causing damage to comb, stored honey and pollen
Small hive beetle controls
Practice good apiary management
Mechanical traps
Remove honey supers
Baited traps
Red ants
Chickens
American Foulbrood
Paenibacillus, spore-forming (transmitted through hives)
Foul smell, gooey mess, cap becomes dark brown, rope test, highly contagious
No end to cycle
American foulbrood treatment
Terramycin or tylan
Burn hives
