Ascospherosis of bees: prevention and treatment

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Ascospherosis of bees is a serious problem for the beekeeper. People call this disease calcareous brood, because adult insects carry pathogens, but do not get sick themselves, and only larvae become infected and die.

Mold fungus

The cause of ascospherosis is the entry of the mold fungus Ascospaera apis into the hive. Its spores are highly durable. They remain in the external environment for a long time and, getting into the hive, can be in an inactive state for years. Mold fungus belongs to the category of marsupials. It has male and female mycelium, upon contact of which fruiting bodies are formed. Special cysts contain spore bags with a huge amount of material.

Causes of disease

Ascospherosis of bees develops in a damp, cool environment. Adult insects bring spores of the fungus into the hive, collecting nectar or sitting on common feeders and drinkers. It is worth the infection to hit at least one cell with a larva, it will die. The bees will start clearing out the dead brood comb and spread the spores throughout the hive.

Sometimes the cause of infection is theft. If ahives are close, bees can fly into someone else's territory and become infected with fungal infections.

Another provocateur of ascospherosis are varroa mites. When they appear, bee colonies noticeably weaken.

Sometimes insufficient care of the apiary provokes various diseases of bees. Ascospherosis, for example, can develop with poor insulation of the hive in winter. Contaminated equipment can also be the cause of an outbreak of a fungal disease. An important role is played by the quality control of the feed and the careful processing of the frames and internal surfaces of the hives where the bee colonies are relocated.

Infection symptoms

Infection of larvae occurs on the 3-4th day of their life. Ascospherosis of bees can occur in a latent and acute form. In the first case, the spores are inactive, although they are found on almost all surfaces of the hive, including the bodies of the larvae. The disease does not spread and causes no damage.

If the disease under the influence of external factors becomes acute, then the productivity of the hive is reduced by half. In this case, more than a third of the brood dies.

Fungal infection is determined visually, by the presence of affected larvae and cells in the hive. Basically, they are located along the edges of the frames, closer to the bottom. The bees open the cells with dead larvae, chewing through the lids, and carefully clean the place.

However, despite external factors, the final diagnosis is made in the veterinary laboratory.

How the disease progresses

Ascospherosis of bees proceeds as follows: at the age of 3-4days, the larvae, in contact with the carrier bees, become infected with spores of Ascospaera apis. The drone brood is the first to be affected. The spores germinate, forming mycelium, which destroys the midgut. Gradually, all organs are affected by mycelium, and it grows outward, forming a white felt coating around the head end of the larva.

At first, the larva becomes whiter than he althy individuals. Then the ascospherosis of the bees makes the brood light yellow. The body of the larvae becomes pasty. At the next stage, the mycelium fills the entire space between the larva and the walls of the honeycomb. Further, the larvae harden, like mummies, and greatly decrease in size. Dead larvae look like limestone pebbles. They fall to the bottom of the hive or knock in sealed combs. Similar sounds when shaking the combs are observed if ascospherosis and aspergillosis of bees have developed in the hive. These are two infectious fungal diseases in which the "petrification" of the larvae occurs.

How to save a bee colony. Drive

Elimination of ascospherosis includes a whole range of measures aimed at treating and stopping the spread of fungal spores to other families. If the disease has developed strongly, then the uterus and brood are destroyed, and the frames are remelted. A he althy uterus or mother liquor is planted in the family. In this case, the barren period is a he alth measure for the family.

But if the defeat is insignificant, then the bees are distilled to another hive. It is filled with honeycombs from he althy hives and new dry land is put in.

If the brood frames are damagedslightly, then they are also transferred to a new hive, but isolated with a special lattice from the uterus. When the brood is out of the frame, it is taken out and disinfected.

Disinfection

If a beekeeper has found ascospherosis of bees, treatment will not do without disinfection of the entire farm. It is necessary to process not only hives and frames, but also all inventory and all textile products that are used in the apiary.

Hives are burned with a blowtorch or soaked in a solution of lye for 6 hours. The honey extractor is washed with laundry soap or soaked in lye for the same period. All textiles are boiled.

If there are more than 50 sick cells in the frame, they are reheated. To use the wax in the future, it is kept in an autoclave for 2 hours.

Since it is possible to cure ascospherosis of bees with a slight damage to the family, after disinfection, herbal or medical remedies are actively used to combat the problem. But you should always remember that uncontrolled use of antibiotics is more likely to harm than help. Therefore, any medications are used as directed by a veterinarian and under constant supervision.

Medicinal methods

There may be several treatment options. It is the veterinarian who determines how to treat ascospherosis of bees in each case. The pharmaceutical industry provides the following drugs to fight fungal infections: Nystatin, Apiask, Ascocin and others.

For processingbrood, there are several ways:

1. The medicine is added to a bowl of syrup and given to the bees.
2. The preparation is mixed with powdered sugar and pollinated with a mixture of the frame with brood.
3. The medicine is added to cakes (candi), which are laid out in hives on frames.

Processing is carried out in accordance with the instructions. So, for example, in the treatment of "Nystatin" use 2 tablets per 100 g of powdered sugar. 2-3 treatments are carried out every 3 days.

Herbal remedies

It is best to use herbal remedies as an adjunct to your veterinarian's prescription.

Ascospherosis is afraid of contact with horsetail, yarrow, celandine and garlic. The hives use either crushed dry plant material or bundles of herbs wrapped in gauze, which are left under the frames until completely dry.

When using garlic, you can place green arrows or a mass passed through a meat grinder. The product is wrapped in perforated polyethylene or gauze and placed over the frames. After 2 days, the bag is replaced with a new one. During the main honey collection, this method is not used.

Prevention

The main prevention of fungal infections is the proper care of the hives and their timely warming. For an apiary, you should choose a dry, sunny place.

To prevent ascospherosis, hives are regularly sanitized and work equipment is disinfected. Podmor must be buried or burned.

So as not to distributefungal infection, he althy bees are not fed honey and pollen from diseased hives.

A good preventive measure is the laying of bactericidal plant materials. The main thing is not to forget to update it regularly.

Experienced beekeepers, taking precautions, are able to secure the apiary and reduce the risk of ascospherosis in their household.