Varroa

National Bee Unit’s Disease and Comb Workshop

apiarymanager Bee Health, Foul Brood Diseases, Nosema, Varroa

Carmarthenshire Beekeepers’ Association (CBKA) is one of the associations hosting the National Bee Unit’s Disease and Comb workshops this season. We have received an invitation from the CBKA for PBKA members to come along to their venue and take part in the workshop.

The workshops will give detailed insights on the notifiable diseases, American Foul Brood and European Foul Brood, as well as looking at the overall disease situation in Wales and updated approaches to its control. Beekeepers will learn about other pests and diseases, in particular Varroa and its associated viruses, that can pose a risk to their colonies.

The Inspectors are licensed to bring with them examples of diseased comb. Participants will have the chance to examine these live examples of disease and put their learning into practice, on the day.

Date: Saturday 27th June

Venue: Newchurch Community Hall, SA33 6AF

Time: 2 to 5 pm

There is plenty of parking, no charge for the workshop and refreshments will be provided.

Please advise the PBKA secretary, Lesley Williams asap, if you wish to attend in order that we can advise the CBKA of numbers.

Varroa Alert and Group Purchase of MAQS

apiarymanager Bee Health, PBKA, Varroa

Please read to the bottom of this email to find out how you can get MAQS to treat your hive.

This email arrived in my inbox this morning from the NBU.

“We have received reports from our Appointed Bee Inspectors that many colonies are showing signs of high Varroa infestations and consequently bee deformities.

If you have not already done so, it may be worthwhile to treat your colony with a registered varroacide. When administering a treatment, please use a registered veterinary product and ensure that the label is followed and not deviated from. Beekeepers may find a list of registered products in our advisory leaflet, ‘Managing Varroa‘

After colonies have been treated, beekeepers should then reduce colony entrances and assess whether feeding needs to be carried out. Lift the roof off of the colony and heft the hive from each side of the brood box. If the colony has sufficient stores, then it should be difficult to lift. Each colony should have between 20-25 kg of stores for the winter.

If feeding needs to be carried out use either inverted sugar syrup or a 2:1 solution, i.e. 1 kg of granulated white sugar: 650 ml water, or 2 lb of sugar to 1 pint of water.

Please note that if any of your colonies are showing signs of both Varroa damage and lack of food, it may be useful to feed and treat simultaneously. This should not be done if there is a honey flow on, only in emergency cases.”

Pembrokeshire BKA members wishing to take prat in a group purchase of MAQS should follow this link.  Password required, if you have forgotton the password you can find it on your 2014 printed programme, if you cannot find that then follow this link.

Varroa Research – Can You Help?

apiarymanager Bee Health, Varroa

The following has been received from Peter Kennedy at Exeter University.

“Varroa are needed as part of a collaboration between Rothamsted Research (where I was previously based) and myself. It links to a paper that will hopefully be published soon (already accepted): González-Cabrera , J., Davies, T.G.E.,, Field, L.M., Kennedy, P.J. and Williamson, M.S. An amino acid substitution (L925V) associated with resistance to pyrethroids in Varroa destructor. PLOS ONE. The paper describes how molecular biology / chemist colleagues at Rothamsted have identified a mutated gene that is likely to be involved in the mutation that has conferred varroa resistance to the pyrethroid-based varroacide products, Apistan and Bayverol. This was based on samples collected from hives in Bedfordshire & Hampshire.

We are now keen to confirm how common this single mutation is over a broader range of counties, hence the request for varroa. For the genetic analysis, it is important that the mites have not been dead for too long to avoid deterioration of DNA. Live would be even better, that is harder to achieve; we’ll take them dead or alive. Hence the request for varroa mites or board scrapings within a few days of clean boards being added under mesh floors (or trays inserted onto solid floors). To avoid the additional delay in transit of samples coming to me and having to forward them on, I am asking people to send samples directly to my colleague, Joel Gonzalez Cabrera, at Rothamsted (see address below). To make sense of the samples, we also need some additional information (as described below) and are particularly keen to receive samples from colonies that have received either Apistan or Bayvarol within the last 5 years (but are equally keen to receive varroa samples that haven’t).”

How to collect and supply samples

Collecting Mites Using Bottom Board

  • slide in your clean board (if in already, just slide out to clean first and return).
  • leave in for 24 – 48 hrs.
  • collect all mites as you count them (place in small container), or … just brush everything into a sealable bag.
  • mites from each hive in a different container/bag.

Mites need to arrive within 7 days of boards going in; e.g. set up Sunday, collect Tuesday, & post Tuesday/Wednesday.

Sending Mites

Include the following details:

  • your name.
  • your address (approximate if you prefer; postal address if you’d like to receive results).
  • colony ID.
  • dates & details of previous treatments.

Send mites & details 1st class to:

Joel Gonzalez Cabrera,Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ.

Mites need to arrive within 7 days of boards going in; e.g. set up Sunday, collect Tuesday, & post Tuesday/Wednesday.

This is interesting research towards understanding and perhaps control the process of resistance to treatments.