Bees with Stunted wings

[joemess]

Hey Folks, I am generaly a lurker here but I have a problem I need to run past you folks. WHile working my bees with my father today, We ran across numorous bees with wings that are stunted. This was in all of our hives (5). Also, we could see what we thought to be brood that had died in the comb.

The bees with the stunted wings were still quite mobile and active but we are just curious as to what is going on. I took a photo and if I will give the link.

<img src="http://images.boatertalk.com/gallery/joemess/IMG_2567.JPG">


If the html doesn't work, the link is: http://boatertalk.com/gallery.php?imageid=337

If you can't see the wings in this one, I have others.


Andrew

[Michael Bush]

The stunted wings are caused by a virus. The virus is spread by the Varroa. Get rid of the Varroa mites and you'll fix the problem.

[Axtmann]

Hi Andrew
Juandefuca has the same problem like you and I send you the same info I gave him a few days ago.

If your bees have not the EFB or the AFB there is only one other possibility.
It must be the (APV) the Acute Paralyse Virus and the Deformed Wing Virus (DWV)
The APV symptoms are like the foul brood and it comes from Varroa mites. Since we have the Varroa this is the most common virus in Europe. The virus kills the brood and it looks like foul brood, even with the smell. You have to destroy the infected frames. If the colony is still strong enough remove all brood and give the bees empty combs and the queen will start again. After removing the brood you must treat your colony two times with oxalic acid vapour 5 days apart to make sure all mites on the bees are killed.
After 21 days the new bees are ok. Most of the time this virus appears with a second virus, called DWV deformed wing virus. The bee on your picture has the DWV.
As soon as you get rid of the mites the symptoms are gone.
Vaporize all your colonies and control the mites with a sticky board. You also can use formic acid but I think for this treatment it is too late in the year it can kill some bees and the queen.

Without a treatment your colony is dead in a few weeks!

[BWrangler]

Hi Andrew,

That's definately deformed wing virus and maybe milky wing virus also. The bees have a bad case of varroa mites.

Some bees are very susceptible to the viruses and will develop deformed wings with a relatively low infestion of varroa mites. These kinds of bees are almost impossible to save, especially this time of year.

Other bees will only develop these symptoms at very high levels of infestation. Treating for mites might save colonies with these kinds of bees. But the treatment will have to be applied immediately while there is still time for the bees to raise some healthy, young bees before winter.

The prognosis for the hives is not very good especially with the dead brood. Chances are the adult bee populations have already diminished to the extent that they can't properly care for the brood and won't be able to raise enough to overwinter very well.

I have some pictures of similar bees at: http://www.bee-l.com/biobeefiles/dennis/index.htm

Maybe living in SC will give them a chance. Try to treat them and let us know what happens.

Regards
Dennis



[This message has been edited by BWrangler (edited October 01, 2003).]