Symptoms:
Spotty laying pattern. Pierced and sunken brood cells. STINKY! Perform the "rope test": Press a stick into one of the dead larvae cells and pull it out slowly, if a gooey grey substance strings out from the cell about 1/2" or more, you have foul brood.
Solution:
Sadly, this is an incurable, EXTREMELY contagious and deadly disease. You MUST destroy all the bees & equipment the come in contact with a sick hive.
Many beekeepers (especially commercial ones) use a Terramyacin/sugar mix to try to prevent infection. THIS IS FAR FROM FOOLPROOF! There are strong arguments against this from antibiotic residue in the honey and wax to resistance to the Terramyacin itself. Many states REQUIRE the burning of these hives. We agree.
Video about AFB: http://youtu.be/v2Aa56jut7Y
Symptoms:
Brood is dull white, becoming light brown to almost black. Age of dead brood is usually younger, unsealed larvae. Consistency of remains are rubbery and granular, not elastic.
About EFB:
Melissococcus plutonius is a bacterium that infests the mid-gut of an infected bee larva. European foulbrood is less deadly to a colony than American foulbrood. Melissococcus plutoniusdoes not form spores, though it can overwinter on comb. Symptoms include dead and dying larvae which can appear curled upwards, brown or yellow, melted or deflated with tracheal tubes more apparent, and/or dried out and rubbery.[8]
European foulbrood is often considered a "stress" disease—a disease that is dangerous only if the colony is already under stress for other reasons. An otherwise healthy colony can usually survive European foulbrood. An outbreak of the disease may be controlled chemically with oxytetracycline hydrochloride, but honey from treated colonies could have chemical residues from the treatment. The 'Shook Swarm'[clarification needed] technique of bee husbandry can also be used to effectively control the disease, the advantage being that chemicals are not used. Prophylactic treatments are not recommended as they lead to resistant bacteria.
About AFB:
American foulbrood (AFB), caused by the spore- forming Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae (formerly classified as Bacillus larvae), is the most widespread and destructive of the bee brood diseases. Paenibacillus larvae is a rod-shaped bacterium, which is visible only under a high power microscope. Larvae up to 3 days old become infected by ingesting spores that are present in their food. Young larvae less than 24 hours old are most susceptible to infection. Spores germinate in the gut of the larva and the vegetative form of the bacteria begins to grow, taking its nourishment from the larva. Spores will not germinate in larvae over 3 days old. Infected larvae normally die after their cell is sealed. The vegetative form of the bacterium will die but not before it produces many millions of spores. Each dead larva may contain as many as 100 million spores. This disease only affects the bee larvae but is highly infectious and deadly to bee brood. Infected larvae darken and die.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD):
This has been all over the news, a tragic focus on the bees that at least has generated concern for their health. Unfortunately, there's not definitive information about the how, why and what to do about it. Many systemic practices are blamed from monocultures, pesticide build-up, to large-scale beekeeping transportation and feeding stresses. Diagnosing in the bee yard is difficult but usually indicated by an entire lack of adult bees in the hive (though there may still be a beleaguered queen essentially alone) with honey left behind that other bees aren't interested in robbing, even the wax moths delay entry.
Symptoms:
Hardened, white or black "mummies" that resemble the consistency of chalk. Mummies can be located in capped or uncapped brood cells, or they may litter the bottom board or on the ground directly outside the front entrance of a hive
Solutions:
Not a horrible problem. Indicates that the hive needs better ventilation. Requeen, make the hive stronger.
Video about Chalkbrood, sacbrood, moths, tracheal mites
About Chalkbrood:
Ascosphaera apis is a fungal disease that infests the gut of the larva. The fungus will compete with the larva for food, ultimately causing it to starve. The fungus will then go on to consume the rest of the larva's body, causing it to appear white and 'chalky'.
Chalkbrood is most commonly visible during wet springs. Hives with Chalkbrood can generally be recovered by increasing the ventilation through the hive.
Symptoms:
Capped brood in center, minimal gaps. Honey on the edges. Lots of bees keeping the brood warm (they've been scooted off in this photo to show the laying pattern).
can you spot the Queen in this picture?
Symptoms: Multiple eggs in one cell. Only spotty drone cells in hive.
Solution: Requeen! or add to hive with laying queen. Research before you do anything though.
Drone comb $
Symptoms:
Comb is brittle and covered with larvae and silk.
Solution: A strong hive generally needs no treatment to control wax moths; the bees themselves will kill and clean out the moth larvae and webs. Wax moth larvae may fully develop in cell cleanings when such cleanings accumulate thickly where they are not accessible to the bees.
Symptoms:
Diagnosis for tracheal mites generally involves the dissection and microscopic
examination of a sample
of bees from the hive.
Bees
are usually "K" wing, meaning the two wings on each side, which are
usually linked, have separated and the back one is in front of the front
one. A few are often worn out workers on their last leg. Usually with
frayed wings. Sometimes they are bees with crumpled wings, which are
from DWV (Deformed Wing Virus) which is spread by the Varroa mites.
Not very common.
Video about Tracheal Mites:
Symptoms:
Weak hive. Look on bottom board for evidence of mites. EXTREMELY common. Basically, expect an infestation and help the bees survive it.
Video about Tracheal Mites:
http://youtu.be/mgiYnbqFxdc - this video promotes chemical solutions, however it is informative about the issue. Shows screened bottom board usage.
http://youtu.be/DsZd9XppthI - this video shows how you can use powdered sugar to knock off the bees and promote grooming
About Varroa:
Varroa destructor and Varroa jacobsoni are parasitic mites that feed off the bodily fluids of adult, pupal and larval bees. Varroa mites can be seen with the naked eye as a small red or brown spot on the bee's thorax. Varroa are carriers for a virus that is particularly damaging to the bees. Bees that are infected with this virus during their development will often have visibly deformed wings.
Varroa have led to the virtual elimination of feral bee colonies in many areas and is a major problem for kept bees in apiaries. Some feral populations are now recovering—it appears that they have been naturally selected for Varroa resistance (these so-called feral populations may be Africanized bees).
Varroa were first discovered in Southeast Asia in about 1904, but is now present on all continents except Australia. Varroa were discovered in the United States in 1987, in New Zealand in 2000, and in the United Kingdom in 1992 (Devon).
Varroa are generally not a problem for a hive that is growing strongly. When the hive population growth reduced in preparation for winter or due to poor late summer forage the mite population growth can overtake that of the bees and can then destroy the hive. Often a colony will simply abscond (leave as in a swarm, but leaving no population behind) under such conditions.
Symptoms:
Look for streaks of bee diarrhea on the outside of the hive, on the frames and under their flight path.
Video about Nosema: http://youtu.be/hQ1LygeEOf8
Solution:
There are is a lot of discussion about this. Increase ventilation.
Requeening may be beneficial, and maintaining a strong colony often the
best cure for the disease.
About Nosema:
Nosema apis is a microsporidian that invades the intestinal tracts of adult bees and causes nosema disease, also known as nosemosis. Nosema is also associated with Black queen-cell virus. Nosema is normally only a problem when the bees can not leave the hive to eliminate waste (for example, during an extended cold spell in winter or when the hives are enclosed in a wintering barn). When the bees are unable to void (cleansing flights), they can develop dysentery.
Nosema is treated by increasing the ventilation through the hive. Some beekeepers will treat a hive with antibiotics.
Nosema can also be prevented or minimized by removing much of the honey from the beehive then feeding the bees on sugar water in the late fall. Sugar water made from refined sugar has lower ash content than flower nectar, reducing the risk of dysentery, and may have essentially the same nutritional content, although this remains a point of controversy among some beekeepers.
Symptoms:
Dead larvae appear watery and granular with a thick skin that forms a
sac.
The head of an infected larva is lifted toward the top of the cell,
resembling the shape of a canoe
Solution:
There are no chemotherapies for sacbrood. Requeening may be beneficial,
and maintaining a strong colony often the best cure for the disease.
Video about Chalkbrood, sacbrood, moths, tracheal mites
From ScientificBeekeeping.com:
Sick pupae, typical of a virus epidemic as varroa levels peak in September. Best I can tell is that they are dying from DWV or perhaps other viruses. I see this generally happening if the mite infestation reaches about 10% (30 mites in an alcohol wash of ˝ cup of bees from the broodnest). I started noticing these sort of symptoms several years ago, and am seeing more this year than ever! This photo is of a small patch of intense infection in one brood frame; in the rest of the hive, sick pupae and larvae were more scattered.
Supersedure
cells are typically built smack in the middle of the comb.
Supersedures occur when the bees are dissatisfied with their current queen and want to replace her. I say, they know best and you should let them finish.
Swarm cells occur when the bees have run out of room and want to move out. They make a new queen who will stay with the hive while the current queen will leave with most of the adult bees to find a new home. Generally, you want to avoid this as it means you'll lose bees and potentially annoy your neighbors. There are multiple ways to avoid swarming- provide more space, divide the hive before the urge strikes (the queenless half will have to requeen itself so you'll WANT that queen cell there). If you see swarm cells, set out a bait hive nearby to lure them into it and keep an eye out for the swarm.
