Chalkbrood: A common spring disease by The Daily Guide to Beekeeping

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chalkbrood, disease management, diseases, honey bee diseases

Many diseases and pathogens infect honey bee colonies, but chalkbrood is likely the most common among beekeepers. Ascosphaera apis causes chalkbrood, which is a fungal brood disease. Beekeepers commonly detect chalkbrood in the spring because chalkbrood is considered a stress-related disease. However, chalkbrood is observed throughout the year. Many times, chalkbrood becomes established in colonies because of many interacting factors, such as environmental stressors, genetic makeup of colonies and beekeeping practices. Chalkbrood contaminates larvae when nurse bees admix chalkbrood spores with brood food. The fungal spores out-compete larvae for food and eventually, turn larvae into “chalk-like” mummies. Beekeepers can observe chalkbrood in many colors, ranging from white to grey to black. As larvae turn black, the chalkbrood begins producing fruiting bodies, which are highly infectious. Beekeepers can find these mummies at the entrance or bottom boards, especially if chalkbrood is widespread. At this point these mummies can spread spores to other colonies in the area. Chalkbrood often infects 3-4 day larvae, and can be found as uncapped or capped larvae. If the colony shakes a frame with capped chalkbrood, the frame will rattle when shaken.  

Read the fully article here: Chalkbrood: A common spring disease — The Daily Guide to Beekeeping

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How to send samples of adult bees to the USDA for diagnosis by InsideTheHive.TV

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Beltsville Bee Lab, diseases, diseases of honey bees, management of honey bee disaeses and pests, Sending Bee Samples, USDA Diagnostics

This is the video number one of a series of videos about the honey bee diagnostic laboratory at USDA Beltsville Maryland. This video series will cover the main diagnostic procedures applied to bees sent to the lab for diagnosis.
In this video, Dr. Humberto Boncristiani and Sam Abban discuss the best procedure to send samples of Adult honey bees to the lab. It is very important to send the sample the right way to improve the quality of the service.

If you want to know more about this service provided by the laboratory check the link below.

https://goo.gl/Yuff23

via How to send samples of adult bees to the USDA for diagnosis — InsideTheHive.TV

Breeding a better bee: Three social immunity traits, one massive experiment by Alison McAfee | Honey Bee Hub

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art, beekeeping pests, breeding better bees, diseases, honey bee diseases, honey bee genetics, opinion

Living in a honey bee hive is like living in a house with 40,000  siblings. It’s a pathogen’s dream. Left unchecked, contagious diseases can bring a colony to its knees, but honey bees – as well as other social insects – have evolved a way to fight back. Over millions of years, they have developed a collection of behaviors called ‘social immunity traits’ that help combat disease and parasite outbreaks.

Read the full article here: Breeding a better bee: Three social immunity traits, one massive experiment — Alison McAfee | Honey Bee Hub

Disease Management and Guidelines for the Honey Bee by NC State Extension

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disease management, diseases of honey bees, honey bee pests, management, management of honey bee disaeses and pests, pests

“It is the goal of every beekeeper to maintain healthy, productive colonies. This can only be accomplished by reducing the frequency and prevalence of disease within beehives. The following is an outline of recommendations for detecting and treating colonies for economically important parasites and pathogens of honey bees so that beekeepers may achieve this goal, and do so in a sustainable way for the long-term health of their colonies.”

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Overview

Disease/Pest	Causative Agent	Symptoms
Adult Parasites
Varroa mites	The parasitic mite Varroa destructor	Presence of adult mites, deformed wings
Tracheal mites	The parasitic mite Acarapis woodi	K-wings, morbidity
Nosema	The protozoan Nosema apis	Diarrhea, distended abdomens
Brood Pathogens
American foulbrood (AFB)	The bacterium Paenibacillus larvae	Discolored larvae, foul smelling brood, ropy remains, scale
European foulbrood (EFB)	The bacterium Melissococcus pluton and associated flora	Discolored larvae, foul smelling brood, non-ropy remains, no scale
Chalkbrood	The fungus Ascophaera apis	White or black mummies in cells or on bottom board
Sacbrood	A viral infection	Brown larvae in the curled “canoe” shape
Hive Pests
Wax moths	Larvae of Galaria mellonella	Silk cocoons and/or tunnels
Small hive beetle (SHB)	Larvae of Aethinda tumida	Wet combs, maggot-like larvae

Read the full Extension Guide titled “Disease Management and Guidelines for the Honey Bee by NC State Extension here: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/disease-management-and-guidelines-for-the-honey-bee

Bee Preview #2: Brother Adam’s Bees by The Honey Op

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Brother Adam, Buckfast bees, honey bee breeding, honey bee genetics, trachael mites

More than a century ago, a young Benedictine monk at Buckfast Abbey in southern England starting helping out the older brothers in the abbey’s apiary. The monk, originally from Germany, was known as Brother Adam.

The bees kept at Buckfast at the time were either Italians or a native British strain, and soon after Brother Adam joined Team Bee, a massive die-off occurred. About 2/3 of the abbey’s hives were lost as the bees succumbed to a disease then known as acarine (today I believe it’s more commonly referred to as tracheal mite disease, which tells you all you need to know about it). All the native British bees died. Only the Italian bees made it.

Read the entire artice here: Bee Preview #2: Brother Adam’s Bees — The Honey Op

Deformed Wing Virus by Prime Bees – College Station Bee & Honey Farm

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deformed wing virus, disease management, diseases, varroa mites, viri

All too often when people hear that I am a beekeeper they ask me, “What’s killing the bees?” Of course there is no one reason but viri spread by Varroa mites is one reason I bring up along with a couple other reasons. Here is a good summary by Prime Bees of what’s happening with the mites and the viri they spread. – Sassafras Bee Farm

Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a highly viral disease transmitted by Varroa destructor. The disease is commonly found in colonies infested with mites. Deformed Wing Virus is regarded as deadly due to its ability to spread fast in any colony. It causes massive wing deformation in bees making it difficult for them to live normally. DWV which is regarded as a low-grade infectious disease is commonly triggered by mite infestations. It has a reputation for being massively destructive leading to the decimation of well-established colonies globally. The deformed wing virus is common in late summer and early fall. A high concentration of mites can be overwhelming for any bee colony.

DWV occurs when varroa mites which are external parasites feed on the hemolymph of both developing and mature bees after attacking them. Consequently; it reduces their lifespan drastically while spreading the deadly disease to the rest of the colony members. The Varroa mite can trigger the virus transmission from one infected bee to the entire colony within a very short span of time. Their vectored viruses are notorious at affecting honeybees immune systems hence leaving them exposed to risks of DWV. This wing deformity is a sign of a high viral load on the bees, and ultimately, bees need their wings to survive. Those with deformed wings cannot forage. 

Read full article here: Deformed Wing Virus — Prime Bees – College Station Bee & Honey Farm

Diagnosis of Honey Bee Diseases – Free E-Book

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beekeeping books, diseases, E-book, honey bee diseases

Diagnosis of Honey Bee Diseases

by Hachiro Shimanuki and David A. Knox

Apiary inspectors and beekeepers must be able to recognize bee diseases and parasites and to differentiate the serious diseases from the less important ones. This handbook describes laboratory techniques (particularly those of the USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory) used to diagnose diseases and other abnormalities of the honey bee and to identify parasites and pests. Includes directions for sending diseased brood and adult honey bees for diagnosis of bee disease. (The directions on p. 50 for submitting Africanized honey bees for identification are no longer correct; for current information on Africanized submissions click here.)

Click here for free Ebook: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Agriculture Handbook 690. B&W, 61 pp. April 1991; revised July 2000

Restocking Honeybees by Beehive Yourself

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beekeeping history, honey bee diseases, Isle of Wight disease, Mr. Woodley

Mr Woodley and Restocking

Let’s first look at Mr Woodley’s experiences, he writes in 1917:-

“I, as a scourged member of the craft, am not chastened by being wiped out [by the “Isle of Wight” Disease], or nearly so, twice…I set about repairing the damage at the outset with some success; in fact, by using formalin and Lysol in equal proportions spread on strips of thin board and pushed in at the entrances twice weekly of many of my hives, the first spring of the outbreak of “Isle of Wight” disease I preserved every stock so treated, and I quite thought I had got a remedy, and had a good take of honey from these hives, but the following winter and spring I lost most of them.  Then I bought new swarms, both English and Dutch.  Both strains were hived in disinfected hives, boiled frames, new foundations.  Again using most of the advertised remedies, I had a fair take of honey.”¹

Read the fully article here: Restocking Honeybees — Beehive Yourself

A Potential New Tool in the Battle Against a Bee-Killing Bacteria by Meredith Swett Walker

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AFB, American Foulbrood, Apis mellifera, beekeeping, diseases, honey bee diseases

American foulbrood is a bacterial disease afflicting honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies. The Paenibacillus larvae bacterium germinates in the gut of a honey bee larva; dead larvae often decompose into a brown, gooey substance. New research suggests certain analogs to a molecule called indole may be useful in blocking the bacteria’s germination. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons/Tanarus, CC BY-SA 3.0)

 

It’s a beekeeper’s nightmare: She lifts the lid on her carefully tended hive and is greeted with a whiff of rotting flesh. Further inspection finds that the young bees of the colony, who should be plump, pearly-white larvae, have melted into a puddle of brownish goo at the bottom of their cells. This colony is infected with American foulbrood disease—most likely a death sentence.

Meredith Swett Walker

If she’s very lucky, she may be able to save the colony with a course of antibiotics, but the drugs don’t always work, and the disease is highly contagious. To save nearby colonies from infection, the beekeeper may be required burn the entire hive, bees and all.

American foulbrood disease, or AFB, is caused by the Paenibacillus larvae bacterium, a difficult-to-control and highly destructive pathogen found worldwide. In a study published last week in the open-access Journal of Insect Science, Israel Alvarado, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), explore whether blocking the germination of P. larvae spores is an effective way to treat this infection.

Read full article at: A Potential New Tool in the Battle Against a Bee-Killing Bacteria — Entomology Today