Honey Bee Diseases

Bees are susceptible to a number of diseases. If you are an experienced beekeeper or just starting out, you will need to be aware of these diseases and how to prevent or avoid them. One way to do that is to acquire bees that have a resistance to diseases and parasites to ensure the safety of your brood; however, some beekeepers feel that resistance is better avoided to prevent the pathogen or pest from developing immunity to treatments.

  1. American Foulbrood

    • This killer disease is caused by Paenibacillus larvae, a spore-forming bacterium. This is the most virulent of all the bee diseases. As the 3-day-old bee larvae ingest the spore present in their food, the spore germinates in their gut and develops into the vegetative form. The bee will normally die after their cell is sealed; by this time the larvae may contain up to 100 million spores. The spore is highly infections and rapidly spreads throughout the brood. The spores are not always fatal. At an early enough stage, drug treatment is effective in preventing the vegetative state from developing. Successful treatments include Terramycin, which is an antibiotic.

    Stonebrood

    • Stonebrood is a fungal disease caused by Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus fumigatus. These fungi commonly live in soil and are also pathogenic to other insects and birds. The infection causes the whole honey bee brood to become mummified. Though it is hard to identify this disease in the earliest stages, when bee larvae ingest the spores, they hatch in the stomach, producing a collar near the head. After they die, the bees become solidified, hence the disease's name. As the fungus erupts, it will form a false skin. Workers will remove infected larvae from the colony, and if this happens soon enough, the hive may survive.

    Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV)

    • ABPV is a common source of infection for honey bees. It is related to the Kashmir bee virus, the Israel acute paralysis virus and black queen cell virus. Once the bees are infected with this disease, the colony will suddenly collapse, despite the fact that it is often found in seemingly healthy hives.

    Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)

    • CCD is perhaps one of the least understood of bee diseases. Beekeepers first witnessed it in North American bee colonies in 2006. It involves the sudden disappearance of the worker bees from the colony. The cause is not known, though it has been suggested that factors may include stressors caused by environmental changes, a combination of pathogens, transgenic crops, mites, pesticides or radiation emission from man-made devices such as cell phones.

    How To Prevent Bee Diseases

    • The best way to attempt to prevent bee diseases is to add treatments such as Terramycin, Sulfazole and other available therapeutic medications to the bee's food during the spring and fall seasons. These treatments can save the life of many bees annually.