Different kinds of bee diseases are an urgent problem for any beekeeper. Unfortunately, most of them have not yet been studied. In this case, the symptoms of many bee diseases are not pronounced, and it is quite difficult to determine them with the naked eye. And this, in turn, can lead to the loss of dozens of families due to the impossibility of making a diagnosis at an early stage.
The most common bee diseases and their treatment
To date, breeders have bred a huge number of unpretentious and hardy breeds of these insects. Many of them can be bred including in Russia. Fortunately, all modern varieties of bees are quite resistant to various infections. However, some diseases, unfortunately, can still occur in apiaries, and quite often.
The most common answer to the question of how bees are ill in apiaries are:
All these diseases are quite dangerous and can significantly reduce the productivity of families. Treatment of bees for varroatosis, decay, nosematosis and other diseases should begin immediately after the discovery of their first symptoms. It can be produced using industrial preparations as well as folk remedies.
Causes of Varroatosis
Hundreds of books have already been written about this dangerous and common disease. It is caused by the tick Varroa destructor, which parasitizes on working bees, drones, larvae and pupae. In our country, this disease was first registered in 1964 and is by far the most common in apiaries.
Varroatosis infection occurs when healthy individuals come in contact with patients. In most cases, this becomes possible when the honey is stolen by bees from other apiaries, the hives are too crowded, and insects visit the same melliferous plants.
Main symptoms
Unfortunately, this disease manifests itself far from immediately. Its first signs can be noticed only a year or two after infection. The main symptoms of varroatosis are:
the appearance of ugly individuals in the family;
emaciation of bees;
damage to part of the open brood (decaying larvae);
the presence of a large number of dead larvae on the arrival board.
With a visual inspection of insects, you can easily find the tick itself.
How to rid an apiary of Varroa destructor
Treating bees for varroatosis is a rather complicated procedure. Traditional methods alone in this case are usually not enough. A pronounced therapeutic effect in this disease is provided mainly only by special industrial preparations. When families infected with varroatosis are found in an apiary, beekeepers most often use two types of agents:
On the basis of amitraz, such effective drugs as Aqua Flo, Bipin-T and Apimax are made. For bees, the instructions for using all of these remedies are pretty simple. They have a very good effect. Using fluvalinate, drugs such as Api-San, Varropol, Fumisan are made.
In addition to special preparations, formic acid is also often used to treat bees from varroatosis. The top of the frames is treated with this tool. Evaporating, formic acid kills ticks even in bee broods.
The drug "Bipin-T": instructions for use
This remedy is used most often from bee varroatosis. Apply it in spring or autumn in the absence of brood in families. For treatment, 1 ml of the drug is diluted in 2 liters of warm water. The result is a milky liquid. This solution is filled into a syringe and the hive is poured at the rate of 10 ml per one street. After 7 days, the procedure is repeated. For the best effect, it is advisable to carry out such treatment twice - once after the end of the honey collection, the second time - before the families are wintering.
Bipin-T, the instructions for use of which is thus simple, is not used for hives from less than 3-4 streets.
Apimax tool: how to apply
Of course, Bipin-T is not the only medicine popular among beekeepers. Prevention and treatment of varroatosis and other diseases (for example, nosematosis, ascospherosis, rotten) is something that Apimax is also often used against. For bees, instructions for its use are as follows:
American and European foulbrood: causes of infection
It is also a very common bee disease. Both their treatment and prevention are carried out according to certain technologies, which every beekeeper is required to know. The causative agent of American foulbrood is the bacterium Bacillus larvae, European - Melissococcus plutonius. The spores of the first pathogen can remain active for many years. In dead larvae, for example, they remain alive for 30 years. The causative agent of the European foulbrood perishes faster. So, on the clothes of a beekeeper, he can live no more than 95 days. Adult insects are not affected by both of these types of bacteria. Only larvae fall ill with American and European foulbrood.
The main causes of infection in this case are:
theft of bees;
spore transfer by small insects;
top dressing with infected honey;
work in the hive with dirty hands.
Signs of illness
The main symptoms of American and European foulbrood are:
the presence of a large number of dead larvae in combs;
the presence of an unpleasant viscous mixture at the bottom of the cells;
darkening of the wax caps and the appearance of holes in them.
Foulbearing diseases of bees (both their treatment and prevention - responsible procedures) can be diagnosed, including by changing the color of the larvae.
Treatment
It is impossible to get rid of decayers with the help of only medications. The fact is that chemical agents do not destroy spores of pathogens. Therefore, only the disinfection of hives in combination with medicines helps to effectively defeat these diseases of bees. Both their treatment and prevention, among other things, should include the following measures:
As medicines in the treatment of bee colonies from rotten rot, they usually use:
sulfathiazole;
norsulfazole;
tetracycline;
erythromycin.
All of these tools can be used in the form of a suspension in sugar syrup, powder or ordinary solution.
Disinfection of beehives infected with decay is carried out using formaldehyde (4 or 10%). In this case, metal parts are processed by flaming. After visiting the apiary, the beekeeper should steam the clothes for 30 minutes. The same methods usually perform the prevention of foulbroods.
Causes of hives infected with nosematosis
This disease is most often found in those apiaries that are not too carefully looked after. It causes nosematosis of bees, the treatment of which is easier than rotten rot or, for example, varroatosis, the bacteria Nosema apis. It lives and breeds mainly in the droppings of sick bees. The causes of infection of the hive with nosematosis usually become:
Also, rainy and windy weather in summer and sharp changes in temperature in winter can provoke this disease in bees.
Signs of nosematosis
The latent form of this disease has no pronounced symptoms. In this case, the family usually just weakens a little and in it more often it is necessary to replace the uterus. But in most cases, in apiaries, an acute form of nosematosis is still found. Bees in this case:
Some time after the appearance of these signs, insects die.
Nosematosis treatment
To combat this disease in an apiary:
All these procedures in a fairly short time can save families from such a dangerous disease as bee nosematosis. Its treatment is most effective when using the Fumagillin-B antibiotic.
Causes of ascospherosis infection
This disease causes Ascosphaera apis in the hive. It affects mostly drone larvae at the age of 3 to 4 days. Infection occurs through the outer integument. Larvae with a mushroom sprouted on their body lose their elasticity, die and dry out. To provoke this fungal disease can:
The main symptoms of the disease
It is possible to determine that the hive is infected with ascospherosis by the following signs:
How ascospherosis is treated
The hive infected with Ascosphaera apis fungus is usually provided by feeding insects with powdered sugar containing the Nistatin powder, powdered. You can buy it by visiting almost any beekeeping store. Also, a yarrow herb is considered a good remedy for this disease (powder is scattered in the streets).
Disease prevention
In order to prevent the spread of any infection in the apiary, of course, first of all, you must comply with the requirements of sanitation and hygiene. These include:
How to place an apiary correctly
The most common bee diseases and their symptoms, as well as their treatment, are what we have dealt with in detail above. However, of course, it is better to try to prevent infection in the apiary at all than to try to eradicate it later. You can protect bees from diseases, including by choosing the right place under the hives. Families should be established, first of all, near medical gatherings that do not contain any toxic chemicals or other substances harmful to insects.
The radius of the apiary territory is usually equal to 2-3 km. This area, in addition to rich honey collection, should be characterized by the absence of possible foci of the spread of diseases:
large bodies of water;
large motorways;
stockyards.
Good hygiene practices
For the winter, bees are supposed to leave 25-30 kg of honey. Also in the hive must be present in sufficient quantities of bee bread. In the summer, bees should provide easy access to water. It is usually poured into special drinkers installed next to the hive.
Disinfection
This procedure is carried out most often in the fall, after the end of the flight. Disinfect all metal and wood implements, including the hives themselves. Previously, all items to be processed are wiped with liquor. The latter is prepared by boiling a solution of ash (1 part for 2 parts of water). To prevent the infectious diseases in the apiary, you can also visit the beekeeping store and purchase a solution of formalin (1%) or iodine chloride (1%). After washing with any of these products, the hives are transferred to a concrete site. Here they are dried, after which they actually proceed to the treatment with a pathogen-killing agent.
Disinfection of beehives, metal and wood equipment is usually carried out with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide (10%) and formic acid (0.5%). They are treated with this agent twice, with an interval of 1 hour. The stock and hives are thoroughly sprayed with the prepared solution. After 4 hours, all processed items are washed with water.
Among other things, to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in the apiary in the autumn, it is necessary to disinfect and soil under those hives in which sick bees were seen in the summer. In this case, bleach (38%) is used at the rate of 5 kg per 1 sq. M. The earth treated with this tool should be dug to a depth of 5 cm.
Instead of a conclusion
Thus, we have found out what are the most common diseases of bees. Both their treatment and prevention should be performed using certain technologies. Eradicating the infection in the hive is usually done with both antibiotics and thorough disinfection. It can be used to combat bee diseases and folk remedies. However, the use of such techniques is mainly only as a complement to the treatment of much more effective industrial drugs.