dead bees

[Swarm]

Requeen next year from a different source.
Not sure I would destroy all that comb, when I spoke to Peter Little he went into great detail about CBPV and he had tried all manner of combinations. Old combs and new queens with no re occurrence of the virus was one.
He had moved queens and destroyed combs with no apparent pattern and similarly hives next door with no signs. All very arbitrary but like most viruses, some colonies are more susceptible.

 

[Erichalfbee]

ok...shame to lose all that comb and frames

Yes but you don’t want to be losing all the bees that use them in the future. You could boil the frames and rewax
I’ve spoken to Prof Evans about this a few times and he told me he wouldn’t chance reusing the comb. Your choice.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes but you don’t want to be losing all the bees that use them in the future. You could boil the frames and rewax
I’ve spoken to Prof Evans about this a few times and he told me he wouldn’t chance reusing the comb. Your choice.

for the sake of less than a dozen frames, is it worth the risk?

 

[Ian123]

It's just that there was talk of Danish lineage being more susceptible.
I've spoken to others and it seems even black bees get it so I'm on the wrong track.

I’ve had a couple of cases the last few years 1 was a cut out at my school site that showed symptoms 1 year and the following. These bees were residents before I moved in. This year a swarm that arrived the previous season into a bait hive at home also suffered. They sit in a row of danish derived bucks with hives 2foot each side. None of the neighbours are showing issues.
As to re using combs just don’t bother why take any risk it’s minor money really. The hive showing signs at the school sat in a row of all danish bucks inc a couple of breeders. No sign of transfer to these! I did have suspicions about a f1 danish in second school apiary but it didn’t amount to much in the end.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's just that there was talk of Danish lineage being more susceptible.

Well those were the initial findings from the BFA sponsored study headed by David Evans, they're still working on it though I believe

 

[Cuckmere couple]

mine are all local mongrels pretty much....tho....the hive and the nuc that it started in had a FOE from a friend in the village colony whihc came from a double nuc colony he bought in may from paynes and these certainly seemed alright may-august but the colony i took the FOE from at his also has it....so im suspecting that it came from there

 

[holmbee]

My probable CBPV problem earlier this year appeared to come from a recently arrived black queen from Cornwall/ Devon area.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Not sure I would destroy all that comb

True to say that unlike other pathogens, some virus cannot survive long outside a host, but as BeeBase points out, we still do not know how long CBPV can exist outside of its’ bee host, on combs or equipment, and still be infective.

Burn the combs!

 

[North End Bees]

True to say that unlike other pathogens, some virus cannot survive long outside a host, but as BeeBase points out, we still do not know how long CBPV can exist outside of its’ bee host, on combs or equipment, and still be infective.

Burn the combs!

Or melt them down for candles, and burn them instead!

 

[ericbeaumont]

Or melt them down for candles, and burn them instead!

Wax from brood comb? You''ll be lucky!
How about dipping rope into the melted muck and selling pieces as firelighters?

 

[North End Bees]

Wax from brood comb? You''ll be lucky!
How about dipping rope into the melted muck and selling pieces as firelighters?

Lol you're right. Sorry, wasn't thinking!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Wax from brood comb? You''ll be lucky!

Actually you can.....just not much. Definitely worth it in the summer if you have a solar melter but a failed colony this time of year will have lots of stores in those frames....a pain to remove first

 

[Swarm]

True to say that unlike other pathogens, some virus cannot survive long outside a host, but as BeeBase points out, we still do not know how long CBPV can exist outside of its’ bee host, on combs or equipment, and still be infective.

Burn the combs!

I found requeening sorted the problem without it recurring. Burning the combs is always an option, of course but I would just requeen them.

 

[Erichalfbee]

The science disagrees.
The epidemiology of the disease - sporadic outbreaks with no apparent links between many of them, although there are some bee farmers reporting outbreaks in sequential years - suggests either a) an agent present all the time that "re-emerged" under certain conditions (such as loads of rain) or b) one introduced from another source. The latter has not been identified though there are reports of non-Apis infection

Sloppy apiary hygiene ... for the sake of a few frames of drawn comb. Why risk your bees the following year, and those of others in the environment? It's selfish and stupid.

 

[Swarm]

Wow!!!
Sloppy, selfish and stupid in one reply?
I think you should leave it there because you've obviously forgotten something.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Not you in particular.
This is scientific advice from a team actively involved in trying to get to the bottom of this. We should ignore it at our peril

 

[Cuckmere couple]

one of the colonies (worst affected and smaller post deaths than others) has a lot of activity underneath it

am i just encouraging robbing with no floor and potentially spreading?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The science disagrees.
The epidemiology of the disease - sporadic outbreaks with no apparent links between many of them, although there are some bee farmers reporting outbreaks in sequential years - suggests either a) an agent present all the time that "re-emerged" under certain conditions (such as loads of rain) or b) one introduced from another source. The latter has not been identified though there are reports of non-Apis infection

Sloppy apiary hygiene ... for the sake of a few frames of drawn comb. Why risk your bees the following year, and those of others in the environment? It's selfish and stupid.

basically the crux of the discussion we had with the NBU officers when we did our DASH training.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

one of the colonies (worst affected and smaller post deaths than others) has a lot of activity underneath it

am i just encouraging robbing with no floor and potentially spreading?

I think you may be obsessing a little about robbing. Basically you should look upon these colonies as writeoffs, any moves you make to try and save them, if successful, is a bonus, less chance of robbing now than at the height of the season when quite a few beekeepers spread across the country were trying this experimental method, and all reporting positive results.

 

[Erichalfbee]

one of the colonies (worst affected and smaller post deaths than others) has a lot of activity underneath it

am i just encouraging robbing with no floor and potentially spreading?

If you think they are getting robbed then it’s time to euthanase the colony.