HONEY BEE INSECT PESTS AND DISEASES

All Living Organisms can be attacked by pests                                                                   

Careful inspection of the colony:   

Population decline and reduction in honey production.

Pesticides damage the colony or nutritional deficiencies.  

Bees two distinct life forms:

Brood and adult.

Insect pests of Honey bees

Natural Enemies damage the bee colony:

1. Two types of wax insects

2. Three types of Mites

3. Small hive beetle

4. Five types of Wasps

5. Seven types Birds

6. Three types of Rats:

7. Ants

8. Two types - Termites

These insect pests do heavy damage to bee colonies.

Damage by wax moth.

 Two types Greater wax moth Causes large losses of stored comb

Warm temperature: Accelerates moth population year round.

Larval stage: Does damage by boring and leaving silk lined tunnels or galleries in the comb & reduced to nothing more than a mass of web.

Wax Moth

A female moth lay eggs in side the hive or cracks on the box; it hatches in to young ones larvae depending upon the temperature.

Start feeding there and finally spins a silk cocoon on the wooden frames or hive walls.

In the cocoon, the larva changes into a pupa and then into the adult moth.

This metamorphoses can last from one to 9 weeks. After they immerge, the adult females begin laying eggs in 4 days. They will try to enter the hive, but if the hive is strong, they aren't allowed to enter and they lay eggs in the cracks on the outside of the hive

Wax moth - Consistent & vexing problem in stored comb.

Control - Chemical fumigants – methyl  bromide,  cooling/freezing of comb. 5 C0 – 10 days.

Symptoms of wax moths:

Live larvae (wax worm) and webbed like tunnels in combs.

Cocoons attached to wooden parts of frames and hive body.

Destroyed comb.

Strongly populated  -Have wax moths unaffected

Honey bee colonies: because moth larvae are sought out and then cast out of the hive.

Weak Colony: disease, starvation or some other occurrence, wax moth move into clean up in the colony by consuming comb.

Control Measures

Physical control:

Heat.  All stages of the greater wax moth are killed at a temperature of 115°F (46°C) for 80 minutes or a temperature of 120°F (49°C) for 40 minutes.

Cold. All life-cycle stages of the wax moth, including eggs, are killed by freezing at the following temperatures and times:

            - 6.7C at 4.5 hours

            -12.2C at 3 hours

            -15.0C at 2 hours.

WARNING: Very cold honey combs are breakable.

Biological Control

As it is a lepidoperous pest so larvae may be controlled through Bacillus thurengensis 

 Eggs may be destroyed through Trichogramma chillonis wasps

Fumigation

Phosphine

(Phostoxin, Gastion, Celphide, Alphos Detia and Fumitoxin)

MITES

Tracheal Mites –

These microscopic mites enter the tracheae (breathing tubes) of young bees.

these mites block air exchange and stick with the walls of the tubes to suck blood.

Symptoms resemble those of nosema. Bees become weak, crawl at the hive entrance and sometimes uncouple their wings so that all four wings are visible. Colony death rates are highest during winter and early spring.

Treatments: Infested colonies are treated with MiticurÆ or special formulations of menthol.

Varroa Mites –

These mites are about the size of a pin head and are copper in color.

Adult female mite enters larval cell as it, completes development.

In 60 hours she lays, 1st egg (male), After 24 hours she lays female egg.

Male develops start  feeding on pupa & mates with mature female. When adult bee emerges female mites are also mature –

Female mites cling to adult bees and suck their blood. Infested colonies almost always die within three to four years unless they are treated.

Chemical control

Ø  Miticides - Apistan®; Checkmite+®; Amitraz® Formic acid - Apicure®;  lactic, oxalic

Ø  Colonies are treated with special formulation of Menthol.

Sulpher Dusting: Frames may be treated by sulpher   dusting but some time it create problems in adult bees.

Small Hive Beetles

Life cycle of SHBs

The female beetle enters a weak hive and lay eggs. Within 24 hours, these eggs hatch into very small larvae that begin to feed immediately.

The larvae feed on the honey and pollen stores, as well as on the developing brood for 7 to 10 days.

Then they leave the hive, crawl on the ground to a suitable location, dig into the soil, and pupation take  3 to 5 weeks during cooler temperatures), after which the new adults emerge from the soil and seek out a beehive to start the cycle all over again.

Control of Wasps

Apiary site location i.e. free from wasps

Complete netting of the whole apiary where bees may pass and Wasp may not.

Collection through Hand net from the Apiary.

Destroying their nests.

Place some edible material mixed with minute quantity of insecticides.

Directly spray the nests through contact insecticides.

New Avian Predator of Honey bees in Pakistan

Insectivorus birds = prey upon useful insects like honey bees.

Severe attack of Forced to leave the locality

this bird: considerable decline in bee population.

Quantitative data Collected from killed birds

On prey items: eating bees in the air.

IMPORTANT DISEASES

American Foulbrood - (AFB)

European Foulbrood - (EFB)

Chalkbrood

Nosema Apis

Sacbrood (V)

Septicemia

Bee paralysis

Dysentry

Starved brood

Bee mortality due to pesticide

Mortality to extreme cold.

American Foulbrood –

(AFB) is a bacterial disease of larvae and pupae.

 This bacteria form highly persistent spores.

Spread by adult bees and contaminated equipment.

 Infected larvae change color to dark brown.

Larvae die after they are capped.

Concave capping rather than convex.

 Check for AFB by thrusting a small stick or toothpick into the dead brood.

Treatment: To prevent AFB, feed colonies the antibiotic TerramycinÆ according to label instructions.

European Foulbrood –

Ø  (EFB) is also a bacterial disease of larvae.

Ø  Infected larvae die before they are capped.

Ø  Infected larvae are twisted in the bottoms of their cells.

Ø   change to a creamy (yellowish color)  color

Ø  Because EFB bacteria do not form persistent spores, this disease is not as dangerous as AFB. Colonies with EFB will sometimes recover on their own after a good nectar flow begins.

Treatment: To prevent EFB, treat colonies with TerramycinÆ.

NOSEMA

Is a widespread protozoan disease of adult bees.

 Bees appear weak and may crawl around the front of the hive.

Damp, cold conditions seem to encourage this disease. Discourage nosema by selecting hive sites with good air flow.

TREATMENT:

1. Treat nosema by feeding the drug FumidilÆ B in sugar syrup.

2. Antibiotic. Oxytetracycline @ 1 capsule per box, mixed with glucose and Vitamin B-complex, spray the solution over frames or feed it in the sugar solution.

CHALKBROOD –

Is a fungal disease of larvae.

Infected larvae turn a chalky white color, become hard then turn black.

Chalkbrood is most frequent during damp conditions in early spring.

we can see dead larvae on the floor at the hive entrance

Strong Colonies usually recover on their own.