1ST WORLD APIMONDIA CONFERENCE ON ORGANIC BEEKEEPING SUNNY BEACH, BULGARIA, 27 - 29. AUGUST 2010

TREATMENTS OF DISEASES IN BULGARIAN ORGANIC BEEKEEPING

Dinko Dinkov, Parvan Parvanov VETERINARY FACULTY TRAKIA UNIVERSITY BULGARIA

Disease Time of appearance Age of brood Typical Symptoms Diagnose Follow actions / Cause agent and predispose / Changes of bee / factors larvae Therapy

Bacterial diseases Foul Brood Diseases are present in American Mai-July, hot weather, Bulgaria. foulbrood (AFB) lack of nectar and Between ill found health Fast test for As antibiotic treatments are not / flow Sealing brood brood, hollow top of the diagnostic – Vita allowed following preventive Paenibacillus dark cells (Europe) LTD measures are used: larvae subsp. / (www.vita- fast tests for diagnostics - - Larvae (White) Bee larvae stick tightly to europe.com)[4] Vita (Europe) LTD the cells. Mucilage Diagnose must be (www.vita-europe.com) [4], sharpens long mass after confirm by confirm by laboratory; trying to extract bee larvae laboratory. destruction of diseased - from the cell with sharp / combs (burning); object. Putrid odor. [2] Not allowed transfer of into new - antibiotics! hives with new honeycombs; disinfection - NaOH- - solutions for disinfection ot the hive, then neutralised by organic acids [8] - 2% NaOH- solution in dose 0,5 lt / 1m2 twofold (1 h interval), followed after 2 weeks by three times washing (1 h intervals), with 3% Formic acid in dose 1 lt / 1m3 (12- frame beehive), and drying [1]. Equipment should be immersed in at least 0.5% hypochlorite for 20 minutes [9]. Hands of the beekeeper must disinfect before and after work with ill hives. Clothes – with boiling water; and laboratory control (1 year Field test for American Foulbrood - quarantine of apiary after last positive sample);

Disease Time of Age of brood Typical Symptoms Diagnose Follow actions / Cause appearance and / Changes of bee / agent predispose larvae Therapy factors

Unsealing brood Between ill found health Fast test for Mai-Jun, lowering of the (in some cases brood, hollow top of the diagnostics (Vita- temperatures, shortage As American and sealing yellow and grey cells Europe Ltd [4], European of nectar and pollen flow foulbood foulbrood (EFB) brood) / confirm by / Bee larvae not stick tightly laboratory Melissococcus to the cells. / Mucilage sharpens short Not allowed plutonius mass after trying to extract antibiotics. bee larvae from the cell with sharp object. Acid odor.[2]

Healthy brood European Foul Brood Showing American Foul Brood Showing Dead Larvae And Scales Tongue Attachment

Disease Time of Age of brood Typical Symptoms Diagnose Follow actions / Cause appearance and / Changes of bee / agent predispose larvae Therapy factors Septicaemia Laboratory from bacterial diagnose Mai-Jun or Adult bees have Crowded dead bees causes / Quarantine of apiary, September, lowering disorders easily crumbled[2] / Not allowed destruction of ill combs of the temperatures, Salmonella antibiotics. (burning), and shake of shortage of nectar sp., bees in new hives with and pollen flow Pseudomonas new honeycombs. aeruginosa etc.

Disease Time of Age of brood Typical Symptoms Diagnose Follow actions / Cause agent appearance and / Changes of bee larvae / predispose factors Therapy Viral diseases Acute bee As septicaemia from bacterial causes paralysis virus Lowering of the Different ages of Paralysis deformed wings (ABPV) or temperatures, bees of bees etc. (APV) shortage of nectar Israel acute and pollen flow paralysis virus (IAPV) Kashmir bee virus (KBV) Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV) Chronic Paralysis Virus [CPV] Cloudy Wing Virus (CWV) Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) Sacbrood virus (SBV) Kakugo virus (KV) Varroa destructor virus 1

Disease Time of Age of brood Typical Symptoms Diagnose Follow actions / Cause agent appearance and / Changes of bee larvae / predispose factors Therapy

Fungal diseases Chalkbrood Visual A fungal disease that The fungus will The fungus will then go / and laboratory Improvement of worker infests the gut of the compete with the on to consume the rest of Ascosphaera diagnose bees hygienic larva, most commonly larva for food, the larva's body, causing apis behaviour by visible during wet ultimately causing it to appear white and management and springs. it to starve. 'chalky'. selection. Requeening of the hive and increasing the ventilation.

Stonebrood Visual A fungal disease When a bee larva Eventually the fungus / and laboratory infects the gut takes in spores erupts from the Aspergillus diagnose. growing rapidly to they may hatch in integument of the larva fumigatus, The disease is form a collar like ring the gut. and forms a false skin. In Aspergillus difficult to near the head. It causes this stage the larvae are flavus and identify in the As Chalkbrood mummification of covered with powdery Aspergillus early stages of the brood of a fungal spores. After death niger. infection. The honey bee colony. the larvae turn black and (The fungi spores of the become difficult to crush, are common different hence the name soil species have stonebrood inhabitants different and are also colours. pathogenic to other , birds and mammals.)

Disease Time of Age of brood Typical Symptoms Diagnose Follow actions / Cause agent appearance and / Changes of bee larvae / predispose factors Therapy

Pests and parasites

Visual Varroatosis Parasitic mites that Adult, pupal and Varroa mites can be seen Broodright colonies [7] and laboratory / feed off the bodily larval bees with the naked eye as a “Apilife Var - Evaporating tablets” diagnose Varroa fluids of adult, pupal small red or brown spot with thymol, eucalyptus, camphor / destructor and larval bees. on the bee's thorax and mentol (Chemical Life, Italy), Different Varroa in combination (http://www.beekeeping.com/chemi chemicals are with Deformed Wing cal-laif/index.htm) [6] – low allowed as Virus and bacteria ecological dosage:1 tab broken in 3-4 pieces have been terapeutics for on the lath holding the comb, 3-4 theoretically varroatosis. times after 7-8 days;high dosage:2 implicated in Colony tabs broken for 2-3 pieces for 12 Collapse Disorder. Recently we have days, tenn repeat the same Bees that are infected some researches with this virus during sdministration 1 time. for essential oils their development will Ecostop (plates) (with thymolum from medical often have visibly and oleum menthae) herbs – see deformed wings. – Primavet-Sofia, Ltd [5]-1-3 plates “Hissopus Varroa are generally on the top of the brood frames, officinalis L. not a problem for a spryng and autom. essential oil for hive that is growing varoa control Apiquard (with thymol) strongly. “(P.Nenchev, - Vita (Europe) LTD (www.vita- Lecture 18 from europe.com)[4] - put the tray on conference ) the top of the brood frames, after 2 weeks - a second tray, last treatment after 4-6 weeks Thymol (Powdered crystals) – evaporate by loading into special frames Formic acid – 60% vapor; pads with absorbent material (40 ml from 60% F.acid) or gel packs "Mite- Away"[3]

Broodless colonies [7] Varroa destructor on a honey bee larva Oxalic acid – spray, drible or evaporation methods

Disease Time of Age of brood Typical Symptoms Diagnose Follow actions / Cause agent appearance and / Changes of bee larvae / predispose factors Therapy Acarine ’ Diagnosis for tracheal Tracheal mites Adult, pupal and Adult bees couldn t fly (Tracheal) mites generally Quarantine for 1 year for larval bees involves the apiary after therapy, followed mites dissection and with negative laboratory / microscopic test.[3] Acarapis examination of a woodi sample of bees from the hive (laboratory diagnose). / Acarine mites are commonly controlled with grease patties (typically made from 1 part vegetable shortening mixed with 3-4 parts powdered sugar) placed on the top bars of the hive. The bees come to eat the sugar and pick up traces of shortening, which disrupts the mite's ability to identify a young bee. Some of the mites waiting to transfer to a new host will remain on the original host. Others will transfer to a random bee - a proportion of which will die of other causes before the mite can reproduce. Menthol, either allowed to vaporize from crystal form or mixed into the grease patties, is also often used to treat acarine mites.

Disease Time of Age of brood Typical Symptoms Diagnose Follow actions / Cause agent appearance and / Changes of bee larvae / predispose factors Therapy

Visual Nosema Winter and spring; Flying bees / Disorders and laboratory diagnose Hives and other tree / lack of nutrition; queen / / and metal materials spore-forming honeydew honey for ill bees have white color of middle intestine Removal of honeydew (centrifuge, protozoan winter nutrition honey and transfer bees equipment etc.), Nosema in disinfected hives. disinfect with 2% apis and recently solution of NaOH as by Nosema A Bulgarian biological foulbrood diseases ceranae preparation is used [1]. Nosestat (“Primavet – Sofia”, Ltd. [5]), (iodine, Hands of the potassium iodide and beekeeper - disinfect formic acid showed high before and after work efficiency – treatments with ill hives. Clothes with sugar solution 3 - treat with boiling times at intervals of 3 water. days and repetition of the sheme after 7 days. Absence of cause [10; 11; 12]. agent in disinfected hives must be proved Extracts of plants that by laboratory. are environmentally safe and non-toxic for the humans - “ApiHerb”, “Chemical Life”, Italy [6] – feeding with sugar solution for 3 weeks.

Disease Time of Age of brood Typical Symptoms Diagnose Follow actions / Cause agent appearance and / Changes of bee larvae / predispose factors Therapy Visual The life cycle of this

Small hive and laboratory beetle includes This is a small, dark- Comb slimed by hive beetle larvae. Hives infested beetle diagnose pupation in the ground colored beetle that at this level will drive out bee colonies. / / outside of the hive. lives in beehives Aethina tumida Alternative controls Controls to prevent ants (cooking-oil-based from climbing into the -not been bottom board traps); hive are believed to also discovered Beetle eaters that go be effective against the in Bulgaria between the frames hive beetle. Use of that uses cooking diatomaceous earth oil. around the hive as a way to disrupt the beetle's lifecycle. The diatoms abrade the 's surface, causing them to dehydrate and die.

Wax Visual Not attack the bees / and laboratory Freezing storage of directly, but feed on the When honey supers are stored for the Wax diagnose beecombs could wax used by the bees to winter in a mild climate, or in heated (Aphomia / prevent disease build their honeycomb. storage, the wax moth larvae can destroy sociella) - Damaged comb because freezing kills portions of the comb, even though they will more often may be scraped wax moth larvae and not fully develop. associated out and will be eggs. Because wax moths cannot survive a cold with bumble replaced by the winter, they are usually not a problem for bees (Bombus bees. beekeepers in the northern sp.) Treatments with The destruction of the comb will spill or and contaminate stored honey and may kill bee B401(Bacillus Galleria larvae. thuringensis) – mellonella Vita (Europe) LTD (greater wax (www.vita- moths) europe.com) [4] – diluted with water to 5% (1 vol. B401 for 19 vol. of water) -1,5 ml from solution per 10 cm2 of comb.

References Буренин Н Л Г Н Котова Справочник по пчеловодству Москва “Колос” 1. , . ., . . , 1977, , , 203. Буренин Н Л Г Н Котова Справочник по пчеловодству Москва “Колос” 2. , . ., . . , 1977, , , 214-217. 3. New Mite-Away II Flyer. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_of_the_honey_bee ” ” 4. Vita (Europe) LTD. Available at: www.vita-europe.com. “ – ” 5. Primavet Sofia , Ltd. Contacts at: [email protected]. “ ” 6. Chemical Life , Italy, available at: http://www.beekeeping.com/chemical-laif/index.htm 7. Mutinelli, F., A. Baggio. 2004. Use of medical drugs against varrosis, Apiacta 39, 53-62. 8. Naturland standards for organic beekeeping, 2005, available at: http://organicrules.org/341/2/Naturland_beekeeping_standards_2005_01_en.pdf 9. Goodwin, M., STERILISING EQUIPMENT CONTAMINATED WITH AMERICAN FOULBROOD SPORES, available at: http://www.aucklandbeekeepersclub.org.nz/articles/Sterilising%20infected%20equipment.pdf – 10. Krastev, Y., 1989. Nosestat a product for nosematosis control. Pchelarstvo, 2, 14. 11. Krastev, Y., 1990. Comparative testing of some products for nosematosis control. Pchelarstvo, 1, 11-12. 12. Krastev, Y., 1994. Not to let nosematosis during the winter-spring period. Pchelarstvo, 9, 12-14.

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