Deformed Wing Virus question

aphotographofme said:

I'm seeing a fair number of bees with deformed/missing wings on the grass outside the hive. Any thoughts on what constitutes a normal amount for a healthy hive?

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Zero.


First off, to fully explain. Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a naturally occuring virus of honeybees. They have probably had it for thousands of years, but it used to be very rare and kept under control by the bees. Then, varroa mites jumped species from a different type of bee, and began infecting our bees. While using their proboscus to inject and feed on honeybees, varroa mites began spreading the DWV from bee to bee, to such an extent that hives with a lot of varroa mites can actually die from the virus.

The solution is to kill the varroa mites. The hive then will over time, purge itself of the virus.

So, how many bees can you see with DWV and it is still at a safe level? There is no one answer. Where i am, if a hive has just one bee that can be seen with DWV, it is a sign of a large varroa mite infestation, and the hive will gradually worsen and die, unless a treatment is done to kill the varroa mites.


In other areas, climates, and different bee strains and possibly different varroa mite strains and virus variants, hives with visible DWV infected bees can sometimes throw the infection off without beekeeper help.

So for you, find out what is the experience is of other beekeepers near and around you.

But most likely, if the hive has actually got to the stage where you are seeing a lot of "crawlers", it means the bees are not coping with both the mites and the viruses spread by the mites, and will die if the mites are not killed by the beekeper. If you look inside the hive and also notice dead brood, it may already be past the point of no return, and too late for the hive even if mites are removed.

Jack Grimshaw said:

Smaller,lighter colored bees ,called callow bees,are newly emerged.

https://images.app.goo.gl/ADEQZbLmK1tpk6ov9

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Ah. That may be it. Hope so. Thanks! That is indeed what they look like. But I did see two with wrinkled wings and some puny drones.

I did an alcohol wash on that hive and another. Not one mite! I was shocked. I poured those bees back and re-shook them several times and even checked the strainer carefully in full sunlight to make sure they were not there. Now I am drying the bees on a paper towel and will look them over with a magnifying glass. These bees were a May swarm that got split into 4 hives in July, so I wasn't expecting large numbers of mites, but I was expecting at least a few.

In any event I segregated the queen into a nuc with hardly any brood, just the little bit that was on the frame she was riding when I found her. I left her in the original hive position with some stores and empty frames as with a fly-back split. If they turn out to be healthy after a few weeks I'll recombine them. It's getting very late to make new queens here, though there are lots of drones still in the hives.

AR1 said:

...

I did an alcohol wash on that hive and another. Not one mite! I was shocked. ....

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Nothing to be shocked about.

Per my readings, DWV virus is a normal event regardless of the mites.
It always exists and is always few infected bees are there.
I find 1-2 DWV bees in my "TF" hives - so what?
I do nothing and not worried.

Mites <> DWV.

It just the mites increase the re-infection and transmission by a factor of X (same as mosquitoes and ticks do for humans).
Then the # of DWV infected bees increases by X factor.
For example, then you may see tens and hundreds of DWV infected bees crawling in front of the hives - that's the so-called "bomb" and best be terminated/closed in at that point.

I am sure DWV bee cases have been around for long time and no one paid attention.
DWV virus is not a brand new, just now introduced virus and been around for eons (just like flu virus and cold virus).
Sure, it also mutates maybe annually.
All the normal stuff.