IDENTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT OF BEE ENEMIES

INFORMATION ABOUT BEE ENEMIES AND MANAGEMENT

1. Identification & Management of Insect & Bird Enemies & Mite Pests of Honey Bees A.Murugan Bsc .Agriculture 2014004055

2. HONEY BEE MITES

3. Bird Enemies

4. Greater wax moth ( Galleria mellonella ) Major pest of Apis cerana Occurrence severe during July to October and November to December. Empty combs , rendered wax , comb foundation and bee collected pollen, if not properly stored and left unattended, almost always suffer considerable damage from wax moth infestation When weak colonies are infected – gallerias is observed

5. ( i ) Egg. ( ii) Larva (iii) Cocoon ( IV) Pupa ( V) Adult on Comb.

6. Management Frequent examination of the hive Cleaning all the crevices and removing all the debris The excess combs in the hive not covered by the bees are removed and stored after the fumigation with methyl bromide In the stored rooms the spare combs should be stored in tightly closed containers . Store the empty combs at low temperature (0-10°C) either permanently or for 5 hours. All the stages of wax moth are destroyed at low temperature.

7. Lesser wax moth ( Achroia grisella ) Seen in high altitudes Caterpillar feeds on the debris of the comb The larvae of the another wax moth Achroia lankella occur both inside the combs and on the floor boards of working colonies These wax moth decap the sealed cells exposing the pupae inside s=and this diseased condition called Bald brood

8. ( i ) Egg. ( ii) Larva (iii) Adult ( iv) Adult on Comb

9. Management Remove the infested comb and destroy either by burning or digging inside the soil Unite the weaker colonies Clean the bottom board at fortnight interval Adequate food supply to maintain a strong colony (sugar feeding) Always maintain healthy comb While staking the super chamber place 1/3 rd Tablet of Aluminium phosphide for every cubic ft

10. Ants Black ant – Camponotus compressus Red ant – Dorylus labiatus Provide ant pans around the base of the stand or oil bands around the stands Underground ant nests are eliminated by pouring cypermethrin 0.1% emulsion into them.

11. Wasp and hornets It waits near the hive entrance and catches the bees as they come out, macerates them for feeding the juice to its young Captures the bees in the field also A wasp can collect 20 bees a day Management : By reducing the width of the alighting board of the hive, the wasps can be prevented from sitting near the entrance.

12. (i) Vespa orientalis (ii)Nest of Vespa orientalis (iii) Vespa tropica (ii)Nest of Vespa tropica

13. Varroa mite ( varroa jacobsoni ) It infects A.mellifera It is a tracheal mite which sucks the haemolymph from the trachea of the bees causing reduction in oxygen supply leading to weak bees and death. The mites found in the sealed brood cells of honey bees where they feed on the haemolymph of bee pupae Also feeds externally on the immature stages of workers and drones.

14. Fig: Varroa mite showing Nymph stages and male

15. Transfer between colonies is possible due to contact between bees within the hive , attachment to the bee in flight, transport of hives , bees being moved between colonies, swarming etc., Management : keeping the apiary clean Use of approved products such as Apistan or Apigaurd Citric oil contain D-limonene appears to be potential one to control the mites

16. Lactic acid treatment Lactic acid is clearly better tolerated by bees and does not cause problems in warmer climatic zones. The disadvantage is that every single combo must be extracted to spray the bees with the acid The dosage applied per comb side is 8 ml of 15 % acid. This treatment can be repeated two times at intervals of seven days

17. Tropilaelaps mite Similar to varroa and the injuries inflicted on bee brood are same. The abdomen of bees surviving mite attacks is reduced in size and have a shorter life span than healthy bees In heavily infested colonies , bees with deformed wings can be observed crawling about the vicinity of the hive entrance . Management : F ormic acid is effective.(A solution of 50 ml of 60% formic acid is applied on to the sponge tissue per comb) The formic acid should be applied into the colony only in the late afternoon to avoid damage to bees and brood.

18. Tracheal mite ( A.woodi ) Very small mite (0.1mm) that lives and breeds within the thoracic tracheae of adult bees The mite penetrates through the spiracles into the first tracheal pair of the thorax of 10 day old honey bees Typical visible symptom is crawling of bees around the hive and K type wing condition Management : Formic acid produces good results by applying by the method as described in varroa control

19. Microscopic picture of tracheal mites

20. Bird enemies Once airborne the bees are virtually defenseless against birds, several species can tolerate their venomous stings. An attack by a single bird or by a few together rarely constitutes a serious problem , but when a large flock descends upon a few colonies or apiary, a substantial decline in the worker population in some or all the hives may be observed.

21. Different species of birds Blue bearded Blue cheeked Green bee eater Blue tailed Chestnut headed Ashy drongo Brown shike

22. Different species of birds Lesser yellow nape Greater yellow nape Streak throated Yellow rumped Common swift Spangled drongo Red blacked shrike

23. -+ -- Green bee eater Blue cheeked Chestnut headed Ashy drongo Brown shrike Lesser yellow nape Streak throated Common swift

24. Blue bearded Blue tailed Spangled drongo Red blacked shrike Greater yellow nape Yellow rumped

25. Management By using red reflective ribbons around the apiary Management should also taken to chose the apiary site away from the bird perching object such as telephone wires, electric poles and other wires, buildings, trees etc.,

26. Reference ELEMENTS OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY (8 th edition ) - B.Vasantharaj David & V.V.Ramamurthy ( p.no : 39-43) https: //www.slide share.net https: //agropedia/bee enemies.com