Bee Pest

Hugh A. Smith (MSc. BSc.)Senior Plant Protection Officer

Apiculture UnitMarch 2012

Healthy Frame

Stored Honey

Honey or Brood ?

Healthy Brood

Brood frame

Drone cells

Honey

Good Brood Pattern

Healthy FrameHoney

Supersedure queen Cell

Varroa Mite

Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite

It was until recently mislabeled as Varroa jacobsoni.

It can only replicate in a honeybee colony. It attaches at the body of the bee and

weakens the bee by sucking haemolymph. In this process the mite may also spread RNA viral agents and bacteria to the bee.

Varroa destructor

Varroa destructor was until recently thought to be a closely related mite species called Varroa jacobsoni.

Both species parasitize the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana.

The mite species originally described as V. jacobsoni by Oudemans in 1904 is part of the same species complex, but not the same species that made the jump to Apis mellifera.

That jump probably first took place in the Philippines in the early 1960’s.

This late identification in 2000 by Anderson and Trueman led to some confusion and mislabeling in the scientific literature.

Varroa destructor vs Varroa jacobsoni

Varroa Mite on Adult Honey Bee

Adult Varroa

Bee Cell With Varroa

Pupa with Varroa

Synchronized with that of its honey bee host;

The female lays eggs in bee brood cells. Developing mites feed on developing

honey bee larvae. Males and females copulate in the cell. The male dies, but pregnant females

emerge from the cell along with their bee host and seek another cell to repeat the cycle.

It is thought the length of the post capping period in honey bees is an important indicator of eventual infestation.

Life Cycle of Varroa

Life Cycle

Varroa Mite

Varroa on Larva

Varroa on Pupa

Chemical ◦ Apistan™◦ Apiguard™◦ Others

Non –Chemical◦ Traps / hive designs◦ Brood Management◦ Stock Selection

Control of Varroa

Resistance

Determine a colony's infestation level

Monitor effectiveness of the treatment.

Integrated Pest Management

Management of Varroa

Varroa Insert for Detection

Varroa TreatmentPrevention Drone trapping

Screen Bottom BoardInspection and

monitoringSticky board or sugar roll

Least toxic control methods (soft treatment)

Formic acid, mineral oil

Last resort Apistan or Checkmite

Small Hive Beetle

Adult Small Hive Beetle Reddish Brown to

Black in colour; Measures 5mm in

length; 1/3 honey bees

size Very hard shell;

and May live up to

6mths.

Small Hive Beetle

Small Hive Beetle Larvae Cream to off-white in

colour; Measures:

◦ Length 1.1cm;◦ Diameter 0.16 cm

Resemble the wax moth larvae but have spines;

Pupate between 10 -16dys

Small Hive Beetle Larvae and Slime

SHBLife Cycle

Larvae attacks and feeds on honey and pollen;

Consume honeybee eggs and larvae of all stages;

Dripping of honey in the hive; Honey usually ferments and produces an

unpleasant odour;and Odour repels the honeybee.

Damages cause by SHB

Mechanical control traps (PVC) Bottom Board trap with honey attached Bait traps In hive treatment Outside hive treatment

◦ Soil treatment

Control Measures

Adult Wax Moth

Wax Moth

Greater Wax Moth Larva

Life Cycle of Acarine mites

Acarine Mite, Acarapis Woodii(Tracheal Mite)

Acarine mite

Acarine mite

Acarine Mites in Tubes

Acarine mites

Red ants Black ants Termites

American Foulbrood (AFB)

AFB is caused by a bacterium called Paenibacillus larvae subsp. larvae.

This bacterium forms spores when subjected to stress (such as lack of nutrients);

it is these spores that actually cause the disease.

Cause

This disease of honeybee brood affects sealed brood and has characteristic symptoms, which may include the following:

Pepper-pot brood pattern Sunken, greasy or perforated,

darkened cappings Roping, sticky larval remains Dark scales, difficult to remove from

cells

Symptoms

Spotty brood patternHoneyBrood

American Foulbrood

Bacteria that attacks brood – SMELLS BAD!

Brood Disease

American Foulbrood -2

Cell capsunken & open

AFB – Irregular & sunken brood

AFB- Dead pupae with tongue

AFB Larva “tongue”

Stick a toothpick into larva cell. You see goo instead of larva.

Sunken Cell Cappings

Match Stick Test

The beekeeper Robbing of dead or dying infected

colonies Adult bees and brood combs Imported Honey and Bee Products Reduce robbing All infected colonies are destroyed

Spread and control

AFB Cycle

Wolfgang Ritter etal; American foulbrood (AFB), Paenibacillus

larvae studied in in vitro rearings, ◦ 3-1384 spores per larva at a larval age of 24-28 h. ◦ with three spores died before day 6, ◦ 30% died at day 4, 36h before the time of capping . ◦ Day 4, approximately 480 000 bacterial colonies

were cultured per larvae inoculated◦ Day 3 nurse bees removed 40% and 50 % of the

infected larvae before disease symptoms are visible.

Match Stick Test

Milk Test

Honey Sampling

Test for AFB Presence

R M Goodwin etal. (1996)

An alternative means of identifying◦ to test adult honey bees for the presence of B.

larvae spores ◦ samples of adult bees can test positive for the

presence of B. larvae spores without their colonies exhibiting clinical symptoms of AFB

◦ limits the value of the test in identifying hives with clinical AFB symptoms.

Bacillus larvae spores carried by adult honey bees

American Foulbrood

Match Stick Test

Close the hive

Reduce the hive entrance to prevent robbing - take other steps if necessary

Disinfect your beekeeping equipment especially hive tool and wash hands before examining other colonies

What you must do if you suspect AFB in your apiary

Contact the Apiculture Unit (The Chief Plant Protection Officer)

Bee Control Act Have Disease confirmed Destroy Diseased beehive Antibiotic oxytetracycline (as the

formulation Terramycin®). (NO NO FOR Jamaica)

What you must do if you suspect foulbrood in your apiary

Chemical◦ Antibiotics◦ Impact of Chemical Treatment

Non-chemical◦ Jamaica Beekeeping Act/ Regulations◦ New Zealand Method

Control of AFB

Journal of Apicultural Research Vol. 38 (3-4) pp. 149-158 in 1999

Toxicity tests for adult bees - ◦ no impact & ◦ degradation time in honey was about 60 days. ◦ AFB was effectively controlled by oxytetracycline

hydrochloride and Terramycin but in all cases, colonies exhibited disease recurrence from five to 10 months after treatment.

Tylosin, erythromycin and oxytetracycline

Journal of Apicultural Research Vol. 40 (2) pp. 65-69 by M L Del Hoyo etal; Colonies exhibiting clinical symptoms of American foulbrood were

divided into 2 groups :◦ Shaking adult bees into a new hive; ◦ Shaking adult bees in front of the entrance to a new hive.◦ Honey bee and honey samples were taken before shaking and 1, 22, 44 and

66 days after shaking. ◦ Reduction in the number of colony-forming units in honey bee and honey

samples ◦ Honey and honey bee samples were positive for the presence of P. I. larvae◦ No AFB clinical symptoms detected in the honey bee colonies after 5

months,

Effect of shaking

AFB Equipment Destroyed St. Thomas

Quantity Estimated Values

Single 25 250000

Double 80 1120000

Triple 24 408000

Quadruple 1 22000

Hive Covers 208 99840

Hive Bodies 488 351360

Bottom Board 202 96960

Frames 742 53424

Queen Excluders 11 5280

Shallow Supers 9 5760

Nucs 13 10400

$2,423,024

The last word on…

PESTICIDES

More is NEVER BetterNEVER during Honey Flow!!NEVER into a honey super

DiseaseBurn This is the only way

to effectively destroy the disease. Other chemical treatments only mask the symptoms and it can return at a later time.

Chalk white. Sometimes mottled with black spots Watery to paste-like. Does not adhere to cell wall. Brittle. Chalky white, mottled or even black

Chalk Brood

Chalkbrood

Chalkbrood Mummies

Mouse Nest

Mice Destroy Combs

Sacbrood

Sacbrood

Suspects - CCD Varroa impact on colony – But dead hives

were not heavily infested Chemical – 170 chemicals (Sick and

healthy) No single chemical weaken bee health

Fungi and bacteria – infestation low in CCD hives

Isreali Acute Paralysis Virus – Produce symptoms of CCD (high in CCD hives)

Others - …………..?????????

Note: Most of the pictures used in this presentation are not the property of the presenter

The End