Bee Diseases

1
Focus
2
Bee Pests Diseases

3/28/08
3
Strong Hives Make Healthy Hives

• Most diseases can be avoided by keeping hives
  strong.
• Frequent examinations
• Prevention
• Hopefully you will not see many of these in your
  1st year.

4
Examine Your Hive

• In order to recognize a disease, you need to
• know what a healthy hive looks like.
• For example
• Are the bees bringing in pollen?
• Get use to what the brood looks like.
• What does it smell like?
• Activity at the entrance?
• You will learn this at your hive.

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Healthy Frame
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Stored Honey
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Honey or Brood ?
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Healthy Brood
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Brood frame
Honey
Drone cells
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Good Brood Pattern
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Healthy Frame
Honey
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Spotty brood pattern
Brood
Honey
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Supersedure queen Cell
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• We have seen healthy
• Now
• Diseases and Pests

15
Nosema
Dissected bee Hind gut is inflamed by
protozoan Bees unable to fly and have dysentery
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Dysentery
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Nosema Dysentery - treatment

• Symptom Dysentery Lethargy
• Feed syrup with Fumigilin B
• 1 teaspoon per gallon of syrup
• Fumigilin kills parasite and stimulates digestive
  tract
• Preventative feeding in Fall around Columbus day
• Feed again in Spring after long confinement.
• Feces from dysentery is very potent.

18
Nosema Update

• Reclassified as a fungus.
• New variety of Nosema called Nosema Ceranae.
• - More virulent than Nosema Apis - Prevalent
  later in summer. - Fumigilin is very effective
  treatment. - On the short list for CCD

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Varroa Mites on Adults
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Varroa Mites

• Detection
• Uncap some Drone cells and pick out the larva
• Use a Screened bottom board with a sticky paper
  and do a two day mite count (lt60 good)
• Ether Roll, Alcohol Roll, Sugar Roll (lt 6 good)
• Treatment
• Use a screened bottom board
• Cycle capped drone frames through freezer
• Dust with powdered sugar
• Break brood cycle.
• Mitecide treatments Formic Acid, Oxalate Acid,
  Sachcrocide Api Life Var, Apistan.

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Varroa Mites
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Wax Moth
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Moth Larva tunnel through comb
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Wax Moth

• Bees can fend off the moth during the summer.
• Frames removed from the hive contain eggs which
  hatch and eat up wax, brood and honey.
• Left unchecked the they will destroy the comb.
• You put nice looking frames away in the Fall and
  discover they are ruined a couple months later.

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Wax Moth prevention

• Freeze the frame for two days to kill larva.
• Expose frames to daylight.
• Fumigate removed frames with PDB
  ParaDichloralBenzene aka Moth Ice Crystals
• Place empty frames in stacked supers and place a
  teaspoon of PDB on a piece of paper on top of
  frames. Cover the stack of frames.
• Air out frames before putting back on hive
• Do not use Moth Balls DCB (dichloralnaphthalene)

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Chalkbrood - Mummies
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Chalkbrood

• A mold infection that is non fatal
• Symptom
• White moldy mummified bees on bottom board
• Treatment
• Rectify conditions that promote moisture such as
  a hive that is not tipped forward, spilled syrup
• Move hive to a sunny location.

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Skunks and Raccoons
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Skunks Raccoons

• Symptom
• Scratches on landing board, bottom board or front
  of hive. Muddy foot prints
• Bees have become nasty
• Treatment
• Raise hive at least 6 inches off ground
• Drive tacks through shingles and place in front
  of hive
• Roll of chicken wire in front of hive

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Mouse Nest
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Mice

• Mice move in for winter.
• The mice eat the honey comb and make a mess.
• Bees may kill the mouse and mummify the mouse in
  propolis
• Put on a Mouse guard in early September.
• Leave the Guard on until April.
• Mouse guard should be metal

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American Foulbrood
Bacteria that attacks brood SMELLS BAD!
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American Foulbrood -2
Cell capsunken open
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AFB Irregular sunken brood
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AFB- Dead pupae with tongue
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AFB Larva tongue
Stick a toothpick into larva cell. You see goo
instead of larva.
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AFB Foulbrood Treatment

• Foulbrood is contagious practice safe
  beekeeping. Avoid used equipment.
• Strong hives resist bacteria
• Frames smell rotten, or foul
• You can try Tylon (antibiotic) for mild cases.
• For severe cases kill the bees and burn the hive.
• Bees can be killed by spraying with soapy water

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European Foulbrood
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European Foulbrood

• Symptoms
• Larva die in twisted shapes
• Larva are uncapped
• Foul odor
• Treatment
• Treatable with antibiotics
• Tylon dusted and fed

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Tracheal Mites
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Tracheal Mites

• Small Mites that live in the tracheal tubes
• Symptom
• Can only be confirmed by doing an autopsy and a
  200X microscope
• Weakens hive and lowers ability to get through
  winter.
• Treatment
• Menthol pads
• Grease Patties 1/3 cup Sugar 1/4 Criscosee
  bottom of page 133 of textbook

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Small Hive Beetle
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Small Hive Beetle

• Currently not a problem in Northeast.
• Can come in via a package or Nucleus
• They crawl in and out of hive.
• A severe infestation will slime your honey
• Treatment
• West Beetle Trap
• Ground drench

44
Find the queen
45
Strong Hives Make Healthy Hives

• Most diseases can be avoided by keeping hives
  strong.
• Frequent examinations
• Prevention
• Hopefully you will not see many of these
• -------------------------------------------------
• Questions?

46
Overtime -IPM

• IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
• Regular measurement.
• Establish an economic threshold.
• Arrange treatment methods in ascending strengths.
• Drone trapping, sugar dusting, break brood cycle,
  organic acids, strong mitecides.
• Escalate to next higher treatment when threshold
  is reached.

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Overtime CCD

• Short answer dont know the cause.
• But probably multiple causes.
• Short List
• Varroa Mites
• Nosema
• Pesticides
• Healthy diet.