supected cbpv - what to expect?

DaveG23 · Sep 15, 2020

I was putting 2nd Apiguard treatment on 2 hives today. At 1 hive I saw 3 completely black bees outside the hive on a block at the base of the entrance which concerned me. So inspected the hive, I saw several bees inside that looked the same but seemed to be behaving normally, if a bit slow. I saw a few that looked to be turning black. I saw a few more black ones on the landing board, some of which took off and flew away as though to forage. I saw x 2 bees being removed from the hive, but these 2 bees looked normal.

No pile of dead bees outside, no pile of dead bees on the open mesh floor.

I also saw x 3 recently emerged bees with completely deformed wings. The hive has plenty of stores and has nectar coming in, 6 frames with some capped brood (not massive patches), some larvae and a few eggs. In terms of numbers of bees it seems strong enough compared to my other hives.

Hive is a single national brood

So what should I expect & what should I do if this is cbpv?

I dont have anywhere I can take them to isolate them, they are a bit removed (20 metres) from the other hive and x 3 nucs I have at this site. Their flight path also takes them away from the other hives.

Should I just keep an eye on them and if things start to get worse, take a decision on whether to euthanise?

Erichalfbee · Sep 15, 2020

Old bees look like that. Affected bees can’t fly either. Relax for now. You rarely get CBPV with just black greasy bees. You also get shivering shaking ataxic bees too. Good place to look for those is on the top bars as they don’t go down readily.

Swarm · Sep 15, 2020

No dead bees on the floor or outside, reckon those are old foragers.

DaveG23 · Sep 15, 2020

Thanks, good to hear.

Initially I just thought they were old but when I have seen old foragers before they still have some hair, so I was worried to see these.

The bees in the photo didnt look like they were able to do much flying, very lethargic and a few seemed to have their wings in a strange position.

Didnt see any bees shaking on the top bars, all bees went down with a puff of smoke.

Will keep an eye on them and hope I am being a hive hypochondriac

DaveG23 · Sep 15, 2020

Sent the pic to our WhatsApp group and a nearby beekeeper suggested that it looked like a forager that had fallen in syrup (had crossed my mind as they go very black very quickly when that happens).

He also said that he is open feeding, his closest hives are half a mile as the bee flies.

user 819 · Sep 15, 2020

DaveG23 said:
Sent the pic to our WhatsApp group and a nearby beekeeper suggested that it looked like a forager that had fallen in syrup (had crossed my mind as they go very black very quickly when that happens).

He also said that he is open feeding, his closest hives are half a mile as the bee flies.

He will be feeding along time if open feeding as any other colony around will radar in on the source, problem is he will be creating a high risk for brood disease spores to spread.