CBPV or something else

[hive8]

New to beekeeping and in need of advice as I think I may have CBPV or suffering losses to pesticides?

Quick overview
started with 2 hives.. Hive 1 swarmed but manage to retrieve them. This then ended up as a split and placed in a payns Polly nuc now on brood box extension. I re queened and the original hive seems to be going good.
Hive 2 then ended up queenless didn't swarm but lost the queen think she may have died!! I then re Queend this hive also hive is growing now as they took time to draw frames.

Hive 2 is the hive I think the dying bees are coming from. This hive has always seemed weak and has had dead bees outside from day one. Bought as a 5 frame nuc and as Iv had no experience with beekeeping I didn't know anything was wrong at first. I have bees scattered Infront of the hive say up to 3 meters dead and dying. Shaking, can't fly, loosing their balance. I'm thinking type 1 CBPV from what I'm reading. I'm concerned about this and it possibly be spreading to my other colony's if it is. Any advice would be welcome.
Plan was to keep making splits and have some super strong healthy colony’s going in to next year as this years weather has been terrible for honey.

All hives and nucs have plenty of stores and I have fed them hive alive over short periods of bad weather.

 

[Murox]

You might find THIS LINK useful.

 

[hive8]

You might find THIS LINK useful.

Thanks, it was useful. Next thing may be to take the floor off. I'm just really unsure if it's poisoning or virus.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

what makes you think it's poisoning? any crop spraying insecticide in your area? someone got a grudge?

 

[hive8]

what makes you think it's poisoning? any crop spraying insecticide in your area? someone got a grudge?

Form what iv been reading the type 1 CBPV can show the similar symptoms as poisoning. As I have no experience I can only compare with what I'm reading, I was hoping someone may have come across this. I'm in a built up area no farming around. I'm just assuming at the minute. But it does only seem to be the one hive affected.

 

[Erichalfbee]

does only seem to be the one hive affected.

Then it's CBPV. You would expect all colonies to be affected by poisoning.
Many colonies recover. Take the floor away for three weeks then re queen....though sometimes you get away without changing the queen
I've had it three times and always in just the one hive.

 

[rolande]

@hive8 you're on the right track, I think that poisoning has now become a very rare occurrence in the UK, assumption (I know we shouldn't assume, but we do) these days is probably best laid at the door of CBPV.


-----------------------------

There was a local beekeeper who plastered photos of his 'poisoned' bees all over Facebook a couple of months ago. A couple simple questions soon unveiled the truth that it was easier to blame someone else than to accept disease in his hive ...

 

[hive8]

Then it's CBPV. You would expect all colonies to be affected by poisoning.
Many colonies recover. Take the floor away for three weeks then re queen....though sometimes you get away without changing the queen
I've had it three times and always in just the one hive.

Thanks
Iv just replaced the queen a week ago as something happened to the original.
I assume she died and may be iv swept her away when cleaning up the dead bees outside the hive. I'll take the floor off today and see how I go. Many Thanks

 

[hive8]

@hive8 you're on the right track, I think that poisoning has now become a very rare occurrence in the UK, assumption (I know we shouldn't assume, but we do) these days is probably best laid at the door of CBPV.


-----------------------------

There was a local beekeeper who plastered photos of his 'poisoned' bees all over Facebook a couple of months ago. A couple simple questions soon unveiled the truth that it was easier to blame someone else than to accept disease in his hive ...

Ye I'll gow down the CBPV route. Best safe than sorry.. I don't know why people are so quick to blame it on something other than beekeeping error. At the end of the day it's a learning curve, sad to lose bees or a colony form human error but is that not how we learn. Take it on the chin learn and move on.
Thanks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Iv just replaced the queen a week ago as something happened to the original.
I assume she died and may be iv swept her away when cleaning up the dead bees

are you certain they were queenless?

 

[ericbeaumont]

lost the queen think she may have died!!

replaced the queen a week ago as something happened to the original.
I assume she died

are you certain they were queenless?

Yes, something doesn't add up: queens don't just die, and even if she had, one would expect to see EQCs or supersedure QCs; in other words, an orderly replacement.

How often did you inspect your colonies this season, and are you confident that on each occasion you identified BIAS?

 

[rolande]

Ye I'll gow down the CBPV route. Best safe than sorry.. I don't know why people are so quick to blame it on something other than beekeeping error. At the end of the day it's a learning curve, sad to lose bees or a colony form human error but is that not how we learn. Take it on the chin learn and move on.
Thanks

Not beekeeping error, just biology in action. Which makes head-in-sand syndrome even worse.

 

[hive8]

Yes, something doesn't add up: queens don't just die, and even if she had, one would expect to see EQCs or supersedure QCs; in other words, an orderly replacement.

How often did you inspect your colonies this season, and are you confident that on each occasion you identified BIAS?

are you certain they were queenless?

 

[hive8]

Ye I run my inspections every Friday this colony never sat right with me from purchasing the nuc as I had purchased another nuc from a well known supplier alongside this one. The difference between the two was huge with the colony from the well known supplier appearing so much bigger and stronger.
This colony took weeks to start drawing frames and were much smaller and slower just in appearance, once it got going they grew quickly. Yes, there was BIAS before the queen disappeared. I only re queened when I couldn't see any new eggs. It was definately queenless when re queened. And the new queen is laying. Iv done everything that's been mentioned only thing to do is take the floor off and then keep an eye on them I think.

 

[ericbeaumont]

only re queened when I couldn't see any new eggs. It was definately queenless when re queened.

Did you find QCs of any sort?
Did you put in a test frame?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Form what iv been reading the type 1 CBPV can show the similar symptoms as poisoning. As I have no experience I can only compare with what I'm reading, I was hoping someone may have come across this. I'm in a built up area no farming around. I'm just assuming at the minute. But it does only seem to be the one hive affected.

It's a personal observation with a sample of one beekeeper but for almost all my beekeeping time I've thought many of the problems blamed on poisoning have actually been CBPV before it became widely known.

 

[hive8]

Did you find QCs of any sort?
Did you put in a test frame?

Yes there was qc. I just took them all down. Didn't do a test frame as they where definitely Queen less. And bought a new queen. What do the queen cells have to do with CBPV?

 

[ericbeaumont]

Hive 2 is the hive I think the dying bees are coming from. This hive has always seemed weak and has had dead bees outside from day one.

What do the queen cells have to do with CBPV?

Maybe nothing, but conversation meanders in productive ways.

Yes there was qc

Can you be more precise? How many, were they yet to be sealed, sealed, or opened by an emerging virgin/s?

 

[hive8]

Maybe nothing, but conversation meanders in productive ways.


Can you be more precise? How many, were they yet to be sealed, sealed, or opened by an emerging virgin/s?

I'm sorry I didn't want to be too pedantic! Qc , cups, EC all presents. Nothing capped over. Dose this help diagnose CBPV.

 

[hive8]

That was taken this afternoon after sweeping up dead bees this morning. This are was about to be graveled. But thought I'd wait to see if they perk up first.