Varroatosis is a disease of honey bees that is common throughout the world. Beekeeping suffers serious losses because of it. The disease can be detected by certain signs, it is quite difficult. Treatment should be comprehensive.
General characteristics of the disease
Varroatosis is a dangerous pathology. It affects any bees - both adults and larvae. The danger of the disease lies in the fact that at the initial stage it is rarely able to be detected due to the lack of obvious clinical signs.
Varroatosis is a quarantine disease, since the degree of its infectivity is very high.
Insects affected by varroatosis in the fall do not form a club. The winter period is poorly tolerated by them. Awakening is possible in the first half of winter. Individuals often behave uneasily, may pounce on food. Overeating in the spring causes diarrhea.
Pathogens, ways of infection
Varroatosis causes the Varroa destructor tick. It was described more than a century ago, but at that time it was associated with the Indian bee Apis cerana indica. In the 60s of the XX century, parasitism of this pathogen affected honey bees.
You can consider the parasite without a microscope, although its length is just over a millimeter and its width is about 1.5 mm. A distinctive feature of the parasite is the presence of 4 pairs of limbs equipped with suction cups. They are necessary for ticks to attach to the body of the victim. Parasites prefer the area between the abdomen and chest or the lateral surface between body segments.
As a result, the bees become restless, weaken and may die. If there are several ticks on one insect, then its death is inevitable.
Reproduction of parasites occurs inside the sealed cells of cells. The tick development cycle usually coincides with the period of brood appearance, since for reproduction they choose dronel pupae or working bees. The development cycle lasts an average of 8 days if the temperature is kept at 35 degrees.
Female parasites lay 5 eggs each. To do this, they use 6-day bee larvae before waxing them.
When brooding in the early spring, parasite carriers are predominantly worker bees, and drones in the summer.
Since varroatosis is rarely detected at the initial stage, standard work is being done in the apiary, which contributes to the spread of the disease.
Tick larvae can enter a healthy bee family if you put a frame with infected bee brood there. The source of infection can also be a cut drone brood.
Symptoms of a tick of a varroa in a beehive
The main symptom of this disease is bees and drones that have developmental defects. They can be expressed:
- lack of wings;
- rudimentary, curved wings;
- lack of paws.
To detect the disease, sometimes it is enough to examine the lateral part of the abdomen and cephalothorax near the wing attachment. In these places you can see oval plaques of light or dark brown color. Their size is approximately 1.5 by 2 mm. These plaques are adult female ticks.
When varroatosis proceeds to the late stage, its sign is the variegation of brood. Near the hive, dead bees, larvae, pupae, and drones are found in large numbers. They are thrown alive by individuals during tidy. If you consider the larvae, then the disease can be detected by yellow color and rotting.
To confirm varroatosis, you need to place several live bees in a transparent plastic box so that they can fit in it in one layer. This allows a focused inspection.
A tick can be found not only on bees, but also in the hive. To do this, you need to inspect the removable pallets, or rather the hive litter in them. Among it there can be female ticks, both mobile and motionless.
You can open the cells of the cells where the brood is sealed. If the family is affected by varroatosis, then the female ticks will be on pupae - it is easy to notice characteristic plaques on white bodies.
The parasite affects the entire brood, but future drones are more affected than working bees. This factor allows you to diagnose the disease, to control the number of ticks and the growth rate of its family damage.
To assess the quantitative damage by a tick, you need to select several dozen live insects in the center of the nest, brew them with boiling water and add a spoonful of soda (you can replace it with washing powder). After this, the separation of dead parasites from insects. By counting the number of both those and others, you can assess the degree of damage in percentage terms.
To determine the degree of hardening, 100 bees and 100 brood cells are evaluated. They should be taken in the middle of the nest. If less than 2 parasites are found, then hardening is weak, 2-4 ticks are medium, more than 4 individuals are strong.
If the degree of damage is weak or medium, then the apiary is called conditionally safe.
Bee Varroatosis Treatment
Currently, all apiaries in Eurasia are a priori considered infected with varroatosis. Every year it is necessary to carry out therapeutic and preventive treatment.
There are no biological methods to combat varroatosis. The tick of warroa has no diseases and no natural enemies - at least so far they have not been identified. The only option for controlling the parasite's abundance is to remove the oil-clad drone brood.
Varroatosis can be fought with chemical, physical, zootechnical and folk methods.
Any treatment methods do not provide complete elimination of varroatosis in the apiary, but they can reduce the level of oiling of certain families in order to achieve a conditionally safe level.
Chemical methods
The chemical direction of treating bees from varroatosis is understood as the use of various chemicals that need to be treated with bee colonies. Under the influence of various substances, parasites either die or crumble.
The main disadvantage of chemical methods of treating varroatosis is that it is ineffective against parasites that have fallen into a sealed brood. Another drawback is the effect of chemicals on the uterine reproductive system. It is affected, so it gradually becomes impossible to lay fertilized eggs, which are the source of working insects and a new uterus.
Most of these products are based on amitraz and fluvalinate. These substances are systemic acaricides.
Among the listed drugs, it is most effective to resort to Bipin or Tactics. They are used for processing in late autumn. The advantage of these drugs is that they are not addictive.
Veterinary preparations for varroatosis are produced in various forms. This is an aqueous self-emulsifying solution or strip of wood or polymer with the corresponding impregnation.
When using aqueous solutions during the day, the concentration of the drug decreases and becomes less than the threshold of effectiveness. Processing with such drugs is carried out in 2-3 doses, observing an interval of 3-4 days between the procedures.
When using strips soaked with acaricides, shedding of parasites is observed for several days. The advantage of such drugs is that they can be left in the family for the winter. The disadvantage of this tool is that if you treat the ticks for a long time with a drug whose concentration is lower than effective, then resistance to it will increase.
Physical methods
The tick can be fought with some physical methods, but they are ineffective with respect to parasites caught in a sealed brood. In other cases, the following methods can be applied:
- Thermal. This treatment is short-term and involves exposure to temperatures in the range of 43-46 degrees. For this, a mesh cassette is used, into which the bees are driven from the frames. Under the influence of high temperature, ticks die and crumble. This method has a significant drawback - the uterus and worker bees can die, sometimes sometimes all individuals. Due to the complexity and insecurity of the method, they rarely resort to it.
- Magnetic. This method requires strong paired magnets. They need to be installed in the zone of movement of the bees, represented by the letok, the arrival board and the frame space. When the bees fall into the range of the magnets, the mites from them crumble due to disorientation. It is necessary to exclude the return of parasites to the hive, for which they resort to mechanical traps - mesh pallets above the trays, which must be covered with paper coated with petroleum jelly or oil.
Zootechnical methods
A popular way to get rid of varroatosis is to eliminate the drone brood. In the summer, approximately 85% of ticks can enter the drone cells. It is necessary to put a frame near the young bee brood, where there is a small strip of wax. Bees will build up it with drone cells, which the uterus then sows.
After sealing the cells, the frame should be removed and placed for 3 hours in hot water. The temperature should be 55 degrees. Such conditions are necessary for the death of parasites. After this procedure, you need to print the caps and return the frame to the hive. The larvae that died are protein-fed.
It is not necessary to return the frame back. In this case, its contents must be shaken out and destroyed. If the frame is needed, then it should be treated with acetic acid (prepare a 2% solution).
Another zootechnical way to treat varroatosis is to create layering. This approach limits the development of ticks.
In vivo, a barren period must be created. Layers are done on the infertile uterus or mother liquor. At the end of this period, all ticks will exit the cells and will be on adult bees. This allows you to process the entire number of parasites. It should be carried out after the start of reddening.
Another option is the creation of barren layering. To do this, you need to choose a hive and put there two honeycombs with honey and perga and one with sushi. All the bees of the infected family, except the uterus, should be shaken off on the gangplank, and in the hive put a frame with an open brood. There it is necessary to plant the fetal uterus, and remove the layering from the apiary. Bees need to be treated with appropriate preparations.
Folk remedies
To get rid of varroatosis, you can resort to various folk methods. The following options are effective:
- Lactic acid. You need to make a 10% solution and spray them with a frame with bees. You can do this in the spring, when the temperature has risen above 14 degrees. On average, 10 ml of solution is required per frame.
- Hot pepper. It needs to be added to top dressing. To do this, the product must be crushed, pour a liter of boiling water and leave for a day. The resulting product must be filtered and added to 50% sugar syrup. 0.12 L of pepper tincture is enough per liter of syrup. For effectiveness, you can also add 20 ml of propolis tincture (10%) to the product. Such a healing syrup to bee families should be given three times, maintaining an interval of a week. At one time 0.25-0.3 l of the product is enough.
- Thyme. You need to use fresh raw materials. It must be crushed, put in cheesecloth and placed on the frame, covered with polyethylene. Once every 3 days, replace the dried mass with fresh raw materials. This method can be used throughout the season. If the temperature is above 27 degrees, then this technique is ineffective.
- Lavender essential oil and alcohol (96%). Fill the evaporator with alcohol and add a few drops of lavender oil. Install the evaporator on the frame, but not more than 21 days. Raw materials need to be added periodically. This method involves the use of medical alcohol, a technical product for such purposes is not suitable.
- Oxalic acid. It can be used in any season except winter, but make sure that it does not get into honey. The optimal temperature for such a tool is 14-25 degrees. It is necessary to prepare a 2% solution of acid, heat it and spray on the frame. For each frame, 10 ml is enough. Up to 6 such treatments can be performed in one season.
- Formic acid. Processing with this agent can be carried out in the spring after a flyby or in the fall, when honey is pumped out. The optimum temperature for processing is 10-25 degrees. You can buy a special drug "Muravinka", one package of which is enough for a family with up to 12 streets. Just need two treatments, between which stand 7 days.
Additionally read the article: how and how to treat bee hives from a tick.
Effects
The danger of varroatosis is that it can affect absolutely all bees. The disease is fatal, therefore, without timely action, the apiary can cause serious damage. If hardening is high, then the bees simply die.
Prevention
Due to the widespread prevalence of varroatosis, it is necessary to resort to preventive measures. Prevention should begin from the moment the apiary is planned. You can reduce the likelihood of tick infection if you place it in the place of growth of certain plants. These include:
- rosemary;
- marigold;
- hawthorn;
- elderberry;
- Walnut;
- oregano;
- angelica
- coriander;
- nettles;
- lavender;
- juniper;
- peppermint;
- tansy;
- sagebrush;
- thyme;
- celandine.
In addition to placing apiaries in places with certain vegetation, beehives should be properly organized. They must meet the following requirements:
- The place to install the hives should be well lit by the sun.
- Height to the ground should be 0.25 m.
- In the hive itself, an anti-varroatous bottom should be organized, on which a special mesh is laid. All rubbish will fall on her. Periodically, the mesh must be cleaned.
In order to prevent varroatosis, it is necessary to combine weak bee colonies. Bees must be periodically loaded with honeycomb construction work. To do this, set a framework with a wax in the hive.
To exclude an avalanche-like increase in the number of parasites during a bribe, a drone brood is periodically partially withdrawn. It is necessary to get rid of the part that is located on the detuning frames, which are initially empty or shortened.
At different periods of biological development, bee colonies need to be strengthened to increase their resistance to parasites. For this purpose, the insects are fed, to which prophylactic agents are added. They are represented by cobalt salts, acaricides, dietary supplements.
For prevention, special strips soaked with acaricides are also used. They can be left in the family for the winter period to prevent a spring outbreak of ticking.
Varroatosis is an extremely unpleasant and dangerous phenomenon. It will not be possible to completely get rid of it. Treatment involves the use of various methods, but it is better to use them in combination. Preventive work is important to reduce the risk of spreading the disease.