Honeybee diseases and enemies

Honeybee diseases and enemies

in Asia:

a practical guide

by

Pongthep Akratanakul , Department of Entomology

Kasetsart University Thailand

,

.'.--~

/5

. I \

FOOD AND

AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Ronu,. ^19'J

FOREWORD

This practical guide to honeybee ^di8e88~8 and enemies in Asia, by Dr Pongthep Akratanakul. of

Kasetsart Univerftity. Thailand, is a uscful supplement

•

to the same Author's Beekeeping in Asia, published by FAO as an Agricultural Serv{ces Bulletin earlier this year. While it also deals with matters of concern to apiculturists on a global basia, its primary emphasis

is on the importance of various pests and diseases to the beekeeper in Asia.

The publication is further evidence of the

continuing endeavours of

FAO

to promote beekeeping in developing countries ^{8S 3} low-cost means of Improving local diets, increasing rural industry and purchAsing power and diversifying sources of foreign exchange. It is hoped that sl~i18r publications of particular

relevance to Africa and Latin America will nppear Ihortly.

H.S.O.

Nichola Director

Agricultural Services Division, FAO

The desegnalaons emplo~ and lhe pr.wntat()ft of materi.alen this publICatIOn do nol.mP'y l~ e.prH~n 0' any opcn-on whatsoever on the pan ot Ihe FOOd and Agriculture OroanllallOn 0' the Untl~ NatIOns

conc~rni~ the lega' slatus ot any country. ~rllOry c~

or alea Of Or lIs aulhorlt-es. or concern"'g the deLm.tatoan of its fronh.rs or bOundal.es

.... 24

ISSN 12-5-1 025t a..3

All righls reHrwd No pan of ,h., PublcallOn may be ,eptodueed. "Ole<' ." a reI''''' •• ~rn ^0' tranlmitted In any Corm or by any means. eltettonlC. mechanca" P"OIOCOC>Y""O Of OIhe1WtM . .,oll\Owl

Ihe puor permilS)()n ot lhe COpyngh' owner Applcatton, fOf Jut" ~tnJU.IOn ^.•• t" a IlAlerNf'1 01 lhe pu'pose and extenl 01 lhe feotOduellOn. Ihovld be addrHMd 10 "'- OtteclOI Put>a-C~l~' OMsion. FOOd and Agllcullu,. Oroan"I'l()n 01 the Un4e<1 HaltOns. v •• cs. .. ^{T.,IM d.} Ca,ecal.l

00100 Rome tl.1y

©FAQ''''

TARLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Pagp

Foreword I f I

Tsble of Contents v

.. List of Illustrlltfons _vii

List of Tahles viii

1. Introcluct ion 1

2. Microbial DiseaRcs 3

A. Bacterial Diseases 3

1. American Foulbrood Disease (AFB) 3

(a) Cause 3

(b) Symptoms 3

(e) Control 6

2. European Foulbrood Disease (EFB) 7

(n) Cause

7

(b) Symptoms 7

(c) Control R

B. Fungs 1 Disease 9

1. Chalkbrood D1seasr 9

(a) Cau8c and SYMptoms 9

(b) Control 10

c.

Viral D!8c8sc 10

J.

Sacbrood Diseasc 10

(a) Symptoms 11

(b) Control 11

D. Protozoan Disease 12

1. Nosema Disease 12

(a) CaUBe and Symptoms 13

(b) Control 14

3. Parasitic Ree Hitea 16

A. Varroa Jacobsonl 16

1. Description 20

2. Symptoms and Injuries 20

3. Diagno8tic Procedures 21

4. Control 21

(a) Chemical Control 22

(b) Control by Itive Manipulation 24

- vii -

LIST

OF ILLUSTRATION~

Figure

2/1 Irregular pattern of sealed hrood with sunken nnd punctured capR, typifying American foul-brood infp.st8tlon

2/2 Stretch test for American foulbrood rliRcase 2/3 Larvae in coiled staRe, killed hy European

Pagt'

4

foul brood disease 8

2/4 Honeybee larva kl1lerl hy sachrood disease 12

2/5 Nosema spts spores 14

3/1 Adult female of Varroa Jacobson! 18

3/2 Varroa jacobsoni on a honeybee pupa 19 3/3 \'arroa Jacobson! on an adult hnneybec 19 3/4 Adult female of TropllaelapR clnrf'ae 25 3/5 Stages In the devt'lopment of TropilnelnpR

clnreae 26

3/6 Para81til~ by Varroa jacnbsonl or Tropl1aelaps clareae u8ually results

in deformation of thr ^be~8' wing8 27

'/1

Apia m~lllfera colony invnded by

V~8pa tropica 3~

'/2 Comparative borly sizes of Velpa troplca and

Apia flor~a, A. c~rana and A. doraata 36

4/3 Neat of the tropicAl hornet Vespa affln~ 37 5/1 Predation by toads on a honeybee colony 42 5/2 Predation on honeybee. by a lizard 43

Chapter

B.

c.

Trop11aelaps clareae 1. Description

2.

Symptoms and Injuries

3. Diagnostic Procedures

4. Control

(a)

Chemical

Control

(b)

Colony-Manipulation

Techniques

Acarapls

wood!

1. Symptoms and Diagnosis 2.

C,ontrol

4. Insects A. Ants

Control

B. Wasps and Hornets

Control

C. WAX Moths Rnd

Other

Lepidoptera 1. The Greater Wax Moth

(Galleria mellonella) Control

2. The Lesser Wax Moth (Achrola gr1selln)

Control

3. Other Lepidoptera

5.

Vertehrates

A.

Amphibians Control B. Reptiles

Control

c.

Birds

Control

D. Mammals

6. Honeybee Introduction and Quarantine 7.

General Hensures

for

Bee

Protection

... p

c

INTRODUCTION

All living organisms are subject to infestation or attack~y their natural enemies. and honeybees of

the genus Apia are no exception. Through their long 'history of evolution by natural selection. they have

achieved a high level of eusociality, many thousands of individual bees living together 1n a tightly knit aocial organization. Since individual bees have more than frequent contact among themselves. and since·

trophyllaxis (the sharing and orally passing of food among members of the nest) is one of the most important aspects of the bees' social behaviour - in that it

allows hormones and pheromones to be widely distributed throughout the colony - whenever a pathogenic organism Is present in the colony it will be spread with great ease. Moreover, the honeybee colony Is a rich reser- voir of food: the bees themselves ^8S well as their

brood constitute 8 good protein source, while pollen and honey form nutritious diets. Under these circum-

stances, it 1s hardly surprising that the hive attracts many predators.

Honeybee diseases, parasites and predators thus create seriou8 problems, which must be met not· only by

the beekeeper but also by the bees themselves.

For centuries, beekeepers allover the world have been faced with va8t arrays of enemies of the honey- bees, from viruses to large mammals. Whilo scientific and technological progress has furnished beekeepers and apiculturlyt8 with new knowledge enabling them to

identify the problema thus caused and with the tools needed to solve them, it has also led to advances in communication that have brought about ^a wider spread of honeybee peat8, e8pecially when honeybee colonies have been introduced into new areas without the cxercisu of due care. Furthermore. while migratory beekeeping, made

possible by modern hive dcalgn. hal enabled beekeepers to obtain higher yields, it haa a180 a.siated 1n

spreading bee diseases and parasites along mlgration routes.

LIST OF TABLES

Tahle

_Patt

~

3/1 Bee

Hites and Their Hosts

₁₇

4/1

Wasps and Hornets AttackIng

Bees

in Asia

^jl.

- 51 -

Rollt: FAO.

Beekerpfns In As!!·

lCUTA.UlLt. P. - 1 5

rvteel

Bulletin.

1956 AArieultura e

1 London: Ac.de.lc Pu'"

~~lln.L. ~nfIbee ^{patho 081·}

1;91

o."\!,

E. Ilblloguphr of tropical aplcultur!.

1978 London: IBRA.

tAD!.'"! A.\1) SOSS (Edl.) The hive and tht hOnf! he.

1975 (hv. e~.) RI~dlto", ^lL: Dadant , SonJ.

FOOD 1\] AClIOJLTt'U ORCA!UZATION OF

THE LTNlltD

,. ^t~TIO~~.

1986 Proceedings of

the

Exptrt ConlultAtion

on

Jtekeeplng with Apt.

-ell!ftr.

In Tropical

and

Sub-tropical Alia. ROlf: FAO.

rooo

^A)"D ACltCl'LTtrtl ORCA."IZATIOS OF ~

("'ITEO

UTIO~. ~ ,~;~

19M

Tropicil _{FM) AI}

I~ ~ub-Troptc.l

Api cu 1 ture. low-

• r1cultural SeNlct.

a,.ll.ttn. -

nSE. I.A. (Ed.) Roney ht

li7a

!!u •• u.

Itha •

KYP!ltl! pr.datora

^Iftd

1: rl. ar.d ~~

ely. Pre... • ~Of\:

Corn.ll

6 ) Hives should be kept on stands, and ap1arlt, should

be securely fenced,

whenever the d1t&u,

predators

renders

these precautions necea.ary.

7) Hives should be manipulated \11th great care;

,I,

pr8C t ices

likely

to induce robbing or cause \>tI

to drift should be avoided.