Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus

Tom Bick · Jun 7, 2014

Yes it goes two ways Geoff some bees go black and these bees can apparently fly although I have not seen it and the bees that don't go black are unable to fly and it's these bees you see walking around on the ground close to the hive.

user 7889 · Jun 11, 2014

I am glad I found this topic - I have one colony with exactly these symptoms, and I have puzzled over the problem for several weeks. I performed a Snelgrove split in mid May, and the two nucs created are not showing signs of the problem. At the moment all three hives are isolated in an apiary away from my other colonies, and bearing in my the risk of spread, that's where they will remain until the problem is solved.

Tom Bick · Jun 11, 2014

Checked my hive last week Paul following the combining of a spare queen and a bit of comb change. It's obviously to early to say the new queen is making any difference but for the first time in a few weeks never noticed any bees with the virus so perhaps they were on the mend and time will tell. I finally cleared away the pile of dead bees from under the entrance and it was bad of me not to do it sooner as the pile of dead bees would have contributed to the spread as bees will inevitably fall short and land in a pile of infected bees and possibly pick up the virus. Lessen learnt. It will be good to see the hive pick up and be as strong as it's neighbours over the coming weeks and hope your bees do the same.

masterBK · Jun 11, 2014

Requeening changes the genetic susceptibility of the colony to the virus. I used to see it in some of my colonies but I positively bred it out by careful selection of my breeder queens and haven't had a problem with it for at least 15 yrs. It is spread within the hive via broken Setae = bristles (see Bailey and Ball) so more likely to be a problem when bees are congested either because you haven't given them enough room or because during long periods of bad weather the foragers are at home all day and night and the bees cluster tighter together.

user 7889 · Jun 12, 2014

I have just had the bee inspector around to see my colony. He was not overly concerned, and felt they were on their way to overcoming the virus. On that basis, he didn't recommend any significant course of action.

That's a relief!

For want of a better word · Apr 15, 2019

Tom Bick said:
Not a pretty sight The grass and weeds have been building up in front of the hives and when I cleared away in front of this hive I was faced with this pile of dead and dying bees that given their state had been building up for some time. They are approx an inch deep’ so quite a few thousand bees. I have identified the problem as Cronic Bee Paralysis Virus or CBPV. I have in the past seen the odd bee with this virus and from what I have read it’s one of the things healthy colonies can deal with but this looks a bit more serious. The colony is reasonable in strength given the time of year and will get a 2nd super next week, it’s not as strong as my other colonies and perhaps this virus is the reason why? The colony came to me last year as a swarm and they looked wonderful bees and I was expecting great things, but as yet they have just been ok, so perhaps more indication all is not right

From what I have read there is no treatment, although it is mentioned that it could be genetic as some colonies are more prone to the condition so requeening is an option. Also it is said that strong colonies often clear the bees from the hive fast so reducing the chance of cross infection and it just so happens I have a swarm on site that the bees are thinking of superseding the queen so could risk combining to create a stronger hive but with the worry of sacrificing a good colony to try and save another.

If anyone has any suggestions it will be of help.