A Master Class in Beekeeping - Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper - page 82

SACBROOD : Adult bees are immune to the sacbrood virus, but it affects worker and
drone larvae during brood rearing in the late spring. Spotty brood patterns leave larvae
as watery sacs with their heads protruding, and these young bees are left dead in the
cell. This virus is thought to be transmitted by the house bees. The good news is that
this virus usually goes away in late spring, but there are no treatments for it.
CHALKBROOD : Called the “mummy disease,” chalkbrood is a powdery fungus,
Ascosphaera apis, that spreads to larvae through their stomachs. The fungus was dis-
covered in the United States in 1968 and is increased by too much moisture inside a
beehive. After the fungus spreads its spores, it consumes the worker and drone larvae,
leaving behind only white, pelletlike kernels (“mummies”). The house bees dispose of
the kernels by removing them from the brood cells and leaving them at the front en-
trance of the hive. Replacing your queen, keeping the hive well ventilated and dry, and
removing chalkbrood-covered frames will help clear up this problem.
EUROPEANFOULBROOD(EFB) :EFBisastress-relatedbacterialdiseasecausedbythe
bacterium Melissococcus pluton and spreads through the brood nest when young larvae
eat infected food. Young larvae turn brown and die inside the cells, becoming twisted,
slimy, and rubbery. This final stage is called scale . Once spores spread, you will see a
spottybroodpatternwithmanyconcavecappingsandsunkenorpartiallycappedbrood.
Antibiotics are a necessary treatment. Follow directions carefully when treating EFB.
AMERICAN FOULBROOD (AFB) : AFB is also a bacteria, and it is caused by Paeniba-
cillus larvae spores infecting young honeybee larvae through their intestines and, ul-
timately, their blood. This devastating disease is spread by adult bees and on infected
beekeeping equipment, including hive tools and woodenware. The spores turn white
larvae black, and the larvae die soon after being capped. Sticking a toothpick inside the
cell, called the rope test, is a good way to test the cell. On a sunken cell, the toothpick
will pull out a stringy brood that will stretch for a few inches, then pull back. If AFB
becomes severe, you'll need to destroy the colony and your equipment, including the
wooden hive. AFB spores have been known to survive antibiotics and can germinate
after eighty years.
C HEMICALS AND Y OUR H ONEYBEES
Many medications have been approved for honeybee treatments and should be used
only as directed on the labels to prevent them from becoming hazards to the health and
livelihood of both honeybees and humans. Over the years, honeybees have become res-
istant to some of these approved medications, so these treatments are constantly chan-
ging. Many of the approved treatments available here in the United States might not be