 Commentary
The honey bee year has no beginning or end. Colonies have bees in them all year round. But the beekeeping year has what can be considered a natural beginning in early spring, when a beekeeper makes his or her first hive inspection and the colonies are building up. We look at the first spring inspection and checking honey stores & queen status.
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 Commentary
Hygienic behaviour is a collective defence against brood diseases. Hygienic workers uncap sealed brood cells containing dead and diseased larvae and remove the contents. In this way they reduce the spread of pests and diseases within the colony. For example, if a diseased larva or pupa is removed quickly the disease may not yet be infective. In the case of varroa mites, female offspring will not yet be mature and so will die, thereby reducing varroa increase in the colony.  Commentary
In 1976, as an undergraduate taking a BSc degree in Ecology at the University of Ulster, I was shown a tape of a BBC science program on evolution. Appearing in the program was the late Professor John Maynard Smith of Sussex University. He was commenting, among other things, on honey bee hygienic behaviour, for which there was a short clip showing brood infected with American foulbrood. (I am not sure why I can remember this, as at the time I had no particular interest in honey bees.) Hygienic Behaviour: An Alternative to Synthetic Chemicals in the Control of Honey Bee Brood Diseases31/5/2016 Commentary
Beekeepers use various methods to control honey bee brood diseases. These include antibiotics, for example tetracycline in the control of American foulbrood (AFB), and acaricides, such as fluvalinate (the active ingredient in Apistan strips) to control varroa mites. Commentary
If you have a particular problem with your health, your doctor will likely prescribe a specific remedy. For example, if you have a particular infection you will be prescribed a particular chemical against it. But there are also general remedies or defences against infectious diseases. |
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