Cbpv

[Newbeeneil]

Just returned from holiday to find a pile of dead and dying bees below one of my nucs. I assume it's CBPV as there are a significant number of black hairless bees in the pile but what should I do with the the nuc?
Any help gratefully received.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I called in the SBI to look at one of my colonies because they weren't doing well and I suspected CBPV. The diagnostic tool he used was the smoker - he smoked the top of the top bars and most of the bees disappeared below but some of them stayed "up top" and sort of shivered - these were the bees with CBPV (quite a number in my case). He also diagnosed a drone laying queen so there's not much future for that colony.

CVB

 

[fatshark]

CBPV is characteristic of very strong colonies, mid-season. The pic doesn't look like typical CBPV to me - too many clearly banded bees. However, as CVB says, check the box or shivering, shaking or quivering bees tottering around on the top bars of the hive. Sometimes on the stand and landing boards as well.

No current treatment. It tends not to kill the colony, but at this time of year the prospects are obviously pretty poor I'm afraid.

 

[beeno]

I have found that bees that get covered in sugar syrup and are then cleaned up by their peers look like they have got CBPV. Poisoning will end up with a pile of dead bees outside the hive as they will not be let into the hive. I guess if it was starvation the bees would end up inside or not perhaps in warm weather?

 

[SDM]

CBPV is characteristic of very strong colonies, mid-season. The pic doesn't look like typical CBPV to me - too many clearly banded bees. However, as CVB says, check the box or shivering, shaking or quivering bees tottering around on the top bars of the hive. Sometimes on the stand and landing boards as well.

No current treatment. It tends not to kill the colony, but at this time of year the prospects are obviously pretty poor I'm afraid.

A crowded nuc is just as likely to suffer with it. Hairless bees are not always seen. But the many bees with k wings and what seem to be swollen abdomens , look like the CBPV I've seen.
I had it spread to the next nearest hive, probably by crawlers. In a nuc who's chances of making it through winter are probably slim now I'd be inclined to cull them and prevent spread. Clean up the ground around the nuc as nobody knows how long the virus persists.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I had it spread to the next nearest hive, probably by crawlers.

Had it start in one hive and spread to every hive in the apiary, 19 others, start quite suddenly and large piles of dead bees dropping for three months or more, then suddenly clear up as quickly as it started and the colonies rebuild... with no further recurrence, had it in one hive in an apiary of 35 hives, no other hives infected, not even the hive on the same stand with its entrance six inches away.
The stink of dead bees in an infected apiary is awful.

 

[foghornleghorn]

Had it start in one hive and spread to every hive in the apiary, 19 others, start quite suddenly and large piles of dead bees dropping for three months or more, then suddenly clear up as quickly as it started and the colonies rebuild... with no further recurrence, had it in one hive in an apiary of 35 hives, no other hives infected, not even the hive on the same stand with its entrance six inches away.
The stink of dead bees in an infected apiary is awful.

Do you see much difference between different lines with it or is it fairly random?

 

[Erichalfbee]

One really strong hive got it last year.
It was at the end of a line of hives
I shook them out twice but they died over two months anyway
I didn’t move them out if the apiary though I did move them away from the others.
The rest were fine

 

[Hivemaker.]

Do you see much difference between different lines with it or is it fairly random?

No difference regards different lines or sub species, this spring two went down with it, one Amm of French decent one Buckfast, both towards the end of April, Amm recovered after a month and went on to do well, the other colony started to recover two weeks ago. These are the only two this year thankfully.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I'm sure mine is a case of CBVP as I noticed this morning that black hairless bees were being ejected by guards and they were showing typical "shaking" movement.
I'll just leave them to get on with it... they still seem strong - repelling wasps and bringing in loads of pollen but I doubt they will recover before it gets too cold.
Thanks for the replays guys.

 

[foghornleghorn]

No difference regards different lines or sub species, this spring two went down with it, one Amm of French decent one Buckfast, both towards the end of April, Amm recovered after a month and went on to do well, the other colony started to recover two weeks ago. These are the only two this year thankfully.

Interesting. Saw it here for the first time this year, very bad in one hive and didn't really seem to effect the other only for the pile of dead bees. 35 others with the first and 40 with the second remain unaffected so far

 

[SDM]

Had it start in one hive and spread to every hive in the apiary, 19 others, start quite suddenly and large piles of dead bees dropping for three months or more, then suddenly clear up as quickly as it started and the colonies rebuild... with no further recurrence, had it in one hive in an apiary of 35 hives, no other hives infected, not even the hive on the same stand with its entrance six inches away.
The stink of dead bees in an infected apiary is awful.

Did it spread down the line or all at once ? Just wondering if robbing or walking flightless bees were the cause .

 

[Hivemaker.]

Did it spread down the line or all at once ? Just wondering if robbing or walking flightless bees were the cause .

There is no logical sense to how it spreads or why it doesn't in some cases, just random, not following a line, not even infecting a hive on the same stand with entrances right next to each other, yet in others infecting every single hive, hives not even in a line or even that close to each other.
Even taking a comb of brood from an infected hive and adding to an unaffected one does not guarantee transmission of the virus to that hive, making up nucs just a few days before the infection is visible, nucs are okay,does not make any sense at all, I wish it did.
Perhaps the research being done up north will find out a lot more about this virus, both types.

 

[wightbees]

I agree, I can't work out the reason other than genetics? I had bad case of it last year even had signs of it in some colonies that made it through winter and now free of it?
Best advice I was given was to move hive 20 or so ft away and put empty hive in its place, then start shaking bees off frames, but trying to shake them into the air rather than the floor. Reason given was flying bees would find there way back to there original hive stand but with new hive ready for them.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Best advice I was given was to move hive 20 or so ft away and put empty hive in its place, then start shaking bees off frames, but trying to shake them into the air rather than the floor. Reason given was flying bees would find there way back to there original hive stand but with new hive ready for them.

That was the advice I took
I did it twice
It was heartbreaking to see young bees that had never flown take days to die huddled together in the grass.
I lost the colony anyway.

If it happens again I will put an extra clean drawn brood box on top, move the bees away and leave them to it, making sure they don’t starve of course

 

[beeno]

I think it is more common than people realise, but beeks only notice it when it is acute.

 

[SDM]

That was the advice I took
I did it twice
It was heartbreaking to see young bees that had never flown take days to die huddled together in the grass.
I lost the colony anyway.

If it happens again I will put an extra clean drawn brood box on top, move the bees away and leave them to it, making sure they don’t starve of course

Same as mine.
Having seen it i hope it would not get as far.before i spotted it.
I'll go straight to culling when i see it next. With the time it takes to recover and the risk of further infection. Id get better use from the kit by putting a new colony in there aftrr sterilizing.

 

[Hivemaker.]

The best thing Ive found is to make sure they have enough food and let them get over it, or not, the vast majority do, 99.9% here anyway, and it does not appear to return again in that colony.

 

[Fritillary]

The best thing Ive found is to make sure they have enough food and let them get over it, or not, the vast majority do, 99.9% here anyway, and it does not appear to return again in that colony.

That's very encouraging. It was just miserable when it happened here, to my strongest colony. The colony did die in this case, and I cleaned all kit as well as I could. it didn't spread though and hasn't reappeared since.

 

[SteveG]

The Norfolk Honey company had three Youtube post on subject last few months
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpXjo1sDWxAR0_PpF4Y1ymA