Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus

[Tom Bick]

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.

 

[MuswellMetro]

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.

you and me Tom, i have it in my best hive as well,

I did a forced bailey change (4frames of emerging brood only below ,no stores , upper entrance then four foundation frames in the top fed,fed fed with 4" insualtion to alllowed them to draw comb

And requeened with a new queen once they had brood, FingersX all is ok

I think it is endenmic in london

 

[Midland Beek]

Apart from that ... Do you not think it is quite difficult for a laden bee to land vertically on what is quite smooth timber? But crash landing bees will not account for all those dead bodies of course.

 

[Tom Bick]

you and me Tom, i have it in my best hive as well,

I did a forced bailey change (4frames of emerging brood only below ,no stores , upper entrance then four foundation frames in the top fed,fed fed with 4" insualtion to alllowed them to draw comb

And requeened with a new queen once they had brood, FingersX all is ok

I think it is endenmic in london

Thanks Geoff, I wonder if in time it is going to become a big problem in and around London? Last year during a random inspection the SBI mentioned it was something they were concerned about as she pointed out one bee to me, since then I have spotted the odd bee in a number of hives.

I recon I have a number of options and will decide on a course of action soon. Its a pity the new swarm on site has a damaged queen, back leg missing as this would have been ideal, but have a spare queen elsewhere. Thankfully all the other hives on site are doing great. It was Nosema last year on this site now this, although this hive arrived after the nosema was sorted.

I have a video of a couple of the bees and will post it later once I have uploaded it from my phone.

 

[Tom Bick]

Apart from that ... Do you not think it is quite difficult for a laden bee to land vertically on what is quite smooth timber? But crash landing bees will not account for all those dead bodies of course.

Perhaps and I do like landing boards, but for some reason don’t have any on this site. I have considered them and it would be easy for me to screw something to the hive stand or the floors come to that, but when I watch the bees I somehow think they are perhaps ok, some do hit the ground but the majority land ok or just fly straight into the hive. The bees that hit the ground easily take off again with perhaps the exception of early in the year when the ground is cold.

 

[Eyeman]

. It was Nosema last year on this site now this, although this hive arrived after the nosema was sorted.

If you read Randy Oliver on Scientific beekeeping, the viruses take hold when the bees are stressed by a combination of the 4 dark horsemen:
Parasites (chiefly varroa & nosema) , toxins (think miticides), poor nutrition and weather condition.
It's worth a read if you haven't taken a look through his articles.
Alec

 

[alanf]

I saw CBPV in one of mine a couple of years ago. Weak going into autumn, didn't make it through the winter. That's not to say yours will go the same way, but spotting it late in season left few options. What I looked up at the time suggested no treatments, when the colony died out I burnt the frames, flamed boxes. I did hear of someone who culled their colony, and that might have been at suggestion of an inspector. That colony may have been dying out anyway.

Could be right that it's endemic, maybe emerged because queen was below par anyway. Fortunately not seen it since, so fingers crossed.

 

[fiftyjon]

I had one colony last year that showed signs of CBPV; dead bees piled at the front (there was a landing board) and on the floor, so happened the SBI was inspecting the colonies that day, it had been wet and cold for a few weeks. This was a double brood colony that had a good number of bees plenty of brood over 12-14 frames. It showed signs around the end of April, advised to requeen after monitoring it for a few weeks. The colony had a few very shiny black bees but the bees were not shivering on the top bars and not many crawling at the front. The colony overcame it and was quite productive, over wintered well and is currently with three supers.

It is a little concerning to suddenly see a pile of dead bees at the front of any hive, though.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Mine hive was one of those freebies it would have been better not to accept

The hive was given to me last year too late to change the very dark comb. It was a bit nosemtic but very large going into winter. The spring build up was to five frames but other on the site at the time had eight , I tested for nosema and it had it but light them wham dead bees and shinny bees everywhere. Varroa was low so I recon it was a direct transmission from the queen which some of the recent research suggests


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[Tom Bick]

If you read Randy Oliver on Scientific beekeeping, the viruses take hold when the bees are stressed by a combination of the 4 dark horsemen:
Parasites (chiefly varroa & nosema) , toxins (think miticides), poor nutrition and weather condition.
It's worth a read if you haven't taken a look through his articles.
Alec

Yes he has some good information on his site. This was a late-ish swarm swarm that arrived at the apiary after I had sorted out the nosema, it had little varroa and had come from a very healthy colony. It built up really fast produced a super of honey and overwintered in great shape and since has increased at a steady pace and now seems to be holding steady but may start to go backwards, so this is perhaps something that has happened or started to build up this year. I think some sort of comb change and re queen may be the way to go.

 

[sipa]

Bees succumb to all sorts of low level stressors if poorly nourished.
Just like people or other animals.

Think back a couple of months, what you see today is a reflection of their condition back then.

 

[Tom Bick]

Nothing to suggest anything was wrong two months ago the bees were expanding fast and filling the brood box with plenty of pollen and early nectar. They were smaller than my other hives but no way under size.

 

[Tom Bick]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUM6SzKLRqU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMmYz5FOaig

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt2ckbasQyw

Three videos showing bees with Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus or CBPV

 

[BeeJayBee]

That's really sad to see. Thanks for taking the time to do the videos, they're useful reference.

What's the situation now though, what are you going to do?

 

[Coldwater]

I had a pretty bad case in a package of bees i bought last year (last time I buy a package rather than nuc). They nevery really took off after installation and for a few weks the numbers just dwindled despite the queen laying reasonably well. I spoke to the SBI about it and she said that there was pretty much nothing I could do, but that, as she knew I would want to do something, I should shake the whole hive out 10ft away and the healthy flying bees shold make it back. I found the queen and popped her back in the hive after the shake out and it seems to sort the problem. They needed a bit fof a feed to get them back up on their feet but this year have done very well.....

Not sure if that solution will work for everyone, but i'm pretty sure it saved mine. No recurrence of the problem this year.

 

[drobcek24]

I have discovered this in 2 out of 3 of my hives today and am gutted, one hive was very strong but suspected queenless after artificial swarm with very little brood but a full super of honey. They are in a bad way and without a queen I am not sure what to do and I don't want to combine them with my remaining hive. Do you have any suggestions?
Also if they do die out can I do anything with the honey?

 

[Tom Bick]

I have discovered this in 2 out of 3 of my hives today and am gutted, one hive was very strong but suspected queenless after artificial swarm with very little brood but a full super of honey. They are in a bad way and without a queen I am not sure what to do and I don't want to combine them with my remaining hive. Do you have any suggestions?
Also if they do die out can I do anything with the honey?

Without a queen they are definitely doomed. One of the suggested treatments is to requeen. I have combined with a spare queen and will look for an improvement over the coming weeks. The honey should not be affected.

I have recognised this in a few colonies now, perhaps low level but never the less there and wonder if it will become a bit of a problem in Greater London in the future??

 

[drobcek24]

Thanks for your reply, the small hive has a young queen who has just started to lay in the last few days but I fear she may have the virus as well.
I placed a spare capped queen cell in the large hive last weekend but think it may be too late. I am wondering if it would be worth combining the two hives and seeing if the young queen is able to carry on. I have contacted the bee inspector as well so will see what he advises before I do anything drastic.

 

[Tom Bick]

Everything I have read and it’s not a great amount, but what’s available is its a Virus passed from bee to bee and although I guess possibly the queen can catch it it is not mentioned. What I understand is and why it is suggested you requeen they think some queens, perhaps produces bees that are more prone to the virus and why some colonies can become more infected over others. It is also possible that once the virus gets to a certain level, there may be little chance of turning back the clock and the colony going to fail. I think the best the beekeeper can do if the situation is bad is, requeen, perhaps get the bees onto clean comb and remove the dead bees from the front of the hive and failing that and its desperate the colony will have to go. Also stress in the bees won’t help and if Q- will definitely be stressful. Stress will only increase the chances of other problems Nosema been one.
A queen cell is better than nothing in a Q- hive if they accept the cell they will be happy they are raising a queen. To me your young just started to lay queen needs to settle in a bit before any major upheavals in the hive. Good look it will come right, it always does.

 

[MuswellMetro]

I just culled one hive that was heavily infected as it was failing even after a shake onto cleaner comb into a nuc

The videos in the thread are also nice as they show that unlike all the books that say BLACK shiny bees that with mixed race bees ,Italian and buckfasts then the infected bees are shiny orange and black as that is their base coloration


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