osba diseases of honey bees

7/25/2019 OSBA Diseases of Honey Bees

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Diseases of Honey Bees

Presented

By

The Ohio State Beekeepers Association


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Diseases

Based upon date provided by the Ohio Department of Agriculture -- 2005


3/42

Brood Disease

Americanfoulbrood


4/42

Brood Disease

Good healthy brood

American foulbrood

200 Apiary Statistics

!rom ODA

"olonies #nspected 2$%&'(

umber !ith A"B

#$$

%hat doesn&t seem li'e many but this is aserious disease spread very easilyand at some time or otherbee'eepers !ill e(perience it)

American foulbrood


5/42

Brood Disease

American foulbrood

)oun* lar+a in*est the bacterial spores,hen fed by nurse bees- The

spores then *erminate and be*into *ro, rapidly- Death to the

lar+a usually occurs as the pupaesta*e is reached- .ar+a that dieturn a coffee bro,n and be*in tomelt do,n into a *ooey mass-/ousecleanin* bees then try to

remo+e the dead lar+a and in theprocess become contaminated

,ith the bacterial spores that areno, dormant- The house beesthen carry the spores to otherbees% and the spores end up

either in the honey stores or arefed a*ain to ne, lar+a- Thus the

disease is spread ,ithin the

colony rather rapidly-


6/42

Brood Disease

American foulbrood

obbin* is one of the ,ays thatAmerican foulbrood is

spread- obbin* bees ,illtake back contaminated honey

to their o,n hi+es ,hich ,illresult in lar+a bein* fed ,ithspore laced honey- The

disease ,ill spread to manycolonies ,ithin se+eral miles

from the infected hi+e-

)ou should al,ays check forAmerican foulbrood ,hen

e1aminin* your hi+es- #f youare able catch this disease

early% further spread can bepre+ented-


7/42

Disease

American foulbrood

The ,ay to test for this disease is

to place a thin stick% t,i*%

stra, into a cell ,ith this

coffee bro,n *luey

substance- Stir and dra, the

thin stick out- #f the *luey

substance sticks and ropes% it

is most likely A!B-

)ou can also take a sample of

comb from this frame and

ha+e your bee inspector send

it in for confirmation of A!B-


8/42

Disease

American foulbroodTreatment

#f dia*nosed as A!B% the colony

and bees can be treated inOhio ,ith Terramycin or Tylan-

This must be used and

consumed by the bees at least

3 ,eeks prior to a honey crop-

These only mask the disease-The spores are not killed and

can re4infect the hi+e

The only sure ,ay to *et rid of it5


9/42

Disease

American foulbrood

Treatment

Burn *** %his is the only !ay to

effectively destroy the disease)Other chemical treatments only

mas' the symptoms and it can

return at a later time)Ho!ever+ this is a disease you must al!ays reali,e is

in your hives at some point in time some bees

have built up a resistance to A"B) .f you burn

and your neighbor doesn&t !hich is legal in Ohio

if he treats !ith chemicals+ have you gained

anything by burning/


10/42

Brood Disease

6uropeanfoulbrood


11/42

Brood Disease

Good healthy brood

6uropean foulbrood


!rom ODA


umber !ith A"B #

1uropean foulbrood


12/42

Brood Disease

6uropean foulbrood

"ause

1uropean foulbrood 1"B3 is a brood disease of

honeybees caused by the bacteriumMelissococcus pluton)) 4arvae are most

susceptible to infection !hen they are less than$ hours old+ and usually die !hile still in thecoiled state) 6oor nutrition and severe stress+for e(ample insecticide poisoning+ often causethis disease to brea' out) %he larvae first turn

yello! then bro!n in color) %he disease isusually noticed in early spring+ and to a lesser

e(tent in autumn)


13/42

Brood Disease

6uropean foulbrood

7ultiplication and spread

%he bacteria multiply vigorously in the gut of larval bees!hich have been given food contaminated !ith M.

pluton.) As !ith American foulbrood+ 1"B can also bespread by7

bees robbing infected hivestransferring infected honey supers and combs to clean

hives

using contaminated bee'eeping e8uipment

feeding infected honey and pollen)


14/42

Brood Disease

6uropean foulbrood

Treatment: Good beekeeping hygiene will keep this

disease in control, however, if a hive should befound with EFB it is important to prevent anyrobbing of the hive and frames from this hiveshould not be transferred to any other hive.Treatment with terramycin ! colony recovers

rapidly.The effect of EFB is to reduce a coloniesbee population and thus reduce a honey crop.

!lso consider re"ueening if the bees are notcleaning up the disease.


15/42

Brood Disease

"halkbrood


16/42

Brood Disease

Good healthy brood

"halkbrood

200 Apiary Statistics!rom ODA


umber !ith 9hal'brood 5:;

9hal'brood


17/42

Brood Disease

"halkbrood

#dentification: ! fungal disease caused by!scosphaera apis . #t is now foundthroughout the $nited %tates. #t is a

disease of stress in the early spring toearly summer. %evere cases can befound in the comb later in the year.&ften the bees will try to remove themummy larva '' it is called chalk broodbecause the mummies are chalk like inappearance and touch. These mummiescan often be seen at the entrance of thehive.


18/42

Brood Disease

"halkbroodTreatment: There is no chemical approved

treatment for this disease. The bestmanagement plan would be to: strengthen a

weak hive with more brood and bees,replace the "ueen (literature indicates that itmight be genetic characteristic) with a"ueen of known hygienic behavior. To

avoid spreading chalkbrood, you can avoidusing pollen from a chalkbrood hive forsupplemental feeding and avoid mi*ingframes of comb from a chalkbrood hive withother hives you may have.


19/42

.nsect pest in hives


!rom ODA

"olonies #nspected

2$%&'( 8arroa 7ite 9%:20 colonies

Tracheal 7ite 3$ colonies

Small /i+e Beetle &( colonies

;a1 moth n


20/42

.nsect pest in hives8arroa 7ites


!rom ODA"olonies #nspected

2$%&'(

8arroa 7ite 9%:20 coloniesThe *reatest threat to all beekeepers

in Ohio- #t has beenresponsible for morebeekeepers lea+in* the hobbythan anythin* else- This is thehoney bees = $ enemy-


21/42


8arroa 7ites

#dentification: This mite isknown as varroadestructor. +arroa

mites can be found inthe $nited %tatese*cept awaii. Themite is small but canbe seen with the nakedeye. -ites are aboutthe sie of a pin headand are reddish/brownin color.


22/42


8arroa 7ites

They can be detected by several methods. &ne is with varroa screens and a sticky board. -ites

fall through the screen onto the sticky board where thencan then be detected and counted to determine the

infestation level. The second method involves checking drone brood for

mites. The third method involves scooping up 011 or so bees

and sub2ecting them to a sugar roll or ether roll test. Thesugar roll test does not kill the bees and is preferred.

The method is simple. %coop up the bees into a pint 2ar,add powdered sugar (a tablespoon will do) and shakeand roll the 2ar.

+arroa mites will drop off the bees to the bottom of the2ar where they can be counted.


23/42


8arroa 7ites

They can be detected by severalmethods.

-ost common is the stickyboard test. ! protective

screen is placed over thesticky board and the stickyboard is left in the hive for a

period of 34 hours. Themites on the sticky boardare then counted. ! stickyboard can be made easily bytaking a sheet of wa* paperand coating it with vegetableoil. 5ay it on the bottomboard and place screen overit. This will also detectchalk brood.


24/42


25/42


8arroa 7ites

They can be detected by severalmethods.

Third method involvesscooping up 011 or so bees

and sub2ecting them to asugar roll or ether roll test.The sugar roll test does notkill the bees and is

preferred. The method issimple. %coop up the beesinto a pint 2ar, add powderedsugar (a tablespoon will do)and shake and roll the 2ar.+arroa mites will drop offthe bees to the bottom ofthe 2ar where they can becounted.


26/42


27/42


8arroa 7ites

Treatment:

# can not tell you

e*actly what willwork. ! number of

products areavailable for the

beekeeper. %omework at times and atother times have noapparent effect.


28/42


8arroa 7ites

Treatment:

#n general use:

!pistan strips (01 fluvalinate);heck-ite< (;oumaphos)

Formic !cid

%ucrocide

!piguard (Thymol)

=owdered sugar!lso no chemical means such as

drone comb capture frames.

>on?t ask me which is best@


29/42

.nsect pest in hivesTracheal 7ites


!rom ODA

"olonies #nspected2$%&'(

Tracheal 7ite 3$ colonies

Still a problem- #ntroduced in themid $''0s- A real problem inthe early $((0s in Ohio-


30/42


#dentification: This mite isnamed !carapis woodi

. #t was first identifiedas the #sle of Aight>isease. This mite hasbecome wellestablished in the

$nited %tates e*ceptawaii. These mitescan be observed undera microscope. Theyare found in thetracheae of adult

honey bees.


31/42


ighly infested hives usually die inthe fall or winter. &ne may findfew bees in a dead hive. Thisis contrary to starvation when

most of the bees will be on theface of the comb '' dead.Early detection is important. #fthe beekeeper notices a rapiddecline in population, thesituation is already out ofhand.

Fortunately, breeding better "ueenbees with resistance to thetracheal mite has reduced thetracheal mite problem fromwhat it was 01 years ago.


32/42

.nsect pest in hivesSmall /i+e Beetles

200 ApiaryStatistics

!rom ODA


Small /i+e Beetles &(colonies


33/42


#dentification: The %B is found primarily inthe %outhern states of the $nited%tates is now found in many otherstates especially states that import

bees for pollination. #t is called:!ethina tumida .

The small beetle is black and can be foundmoving rapidly inside the hive whene*posed to sun light.

The 5arvae may be mistaken for wa* mothlarva but they do not spin cocoons asthe wa* moth larva and leave a slimetrail within the hive. They can make acomplete mess of a hive which canresult in the loss of comb in theframes and loss of honey crop. Thisbeetle seems to prefer weak hivesespecially "ueen less hives to do its

damage.


34/42


Treatment: %everal treatments areavailable to the beekeeper for%B.

First, a ground drench ' %B larva crawlfrom the entrance of a hive and

pupate in the ground around thehive stand. The product is called:Gard%tar. !lways read labeldirections for the use of the

product.%econd, ;heck-ite< ' T- a strip whichcontrols both %B and +arroamites.

Third % +arious trap desi*ns- This is thetrap desi*ned by 7ike /ood-


35/42

.nsect pest in hives;a1 7oths

200 ApiaryStatistics

!rom ODA


>ot reported in data collected byODA-


36/42


#dentification: There are t,o*eneral types found in the?nited States Galleria

mellonella 5.the Greater;a1 7oth and!chroiagrisella F.the .esser ;a17oth-

Both do considerable dama*eto bee hi+es that are in

,eak condition and tostored comb in supers- #tis the ;a1 ,orms are aserious problem in ,arm,eather and darkconditions- They can do alot of dama*e in a +ery

short period of time-


37/42


Treatment: Aa* moths attack weakhives. %trong hives will keptthem under control.

Aa* moths do not like light.E*posing e"uipment to light,closing up e"uipment tightlyand fumigating with C=ara'mothC (=ara'>ichlorobenenecrystals) a product availablefrom most bee suppliers, andusing biological control such

as Bacillus thuringiensis.

See Ann /armans article in!ebruary 200: Bee "ulture7a*a@ine- A *ood in+estmentin beekeepin* is to subscribeto the bee ma*a@ines-


38/42

Other


39/42

Other


40/42

Other


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=eneral %reatments %he follo!ing chart is from the 200> Dadant 9atalog) .f you don&t have a copy of this

catalog+ you should re8uest one from Dadant)


42/42

=eneral %reatments "rom Dadant catalog 200>

osba diseases of honey bees

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