Honey bees are susceptible to mite infestation. Acarapidosis is a bee disease caused by the acarapis mite. The bee's body is not able to overcome the infection on its own. Ticks inhabit her windpipe, the base of her wings, and feed on the hemolymph. Crawling from bee to bee, mites infect the entire bee family and then the apiary. Apiaries within a radius of 5 km are at risk of infection from sick bees.
What is bee acarapidosis?
The name of the disease comes from the name of the insect that infects the bee.Acarapis is a tracheal mite of microscopic size, less than 0.2 mm in length. It can only be seen through a magnifying glass/microscope. A dangerous quarantine parasite whose habitat is the respiratory system of honey bees.
Female mites penetrate the trachea of young insects (no older than 12 days), where they lay 5-7 eggs. After 12 days, larvae emerge from them, and it takes another 10-12 days to reach the adult stage. After mating, the mites come out and settle under the bases of the wings, from where they crawl onto other young bees or the queen bee. Insects older than 2 weeks are not subject to tick attack due to the structural features of their trachea.
In the body of the honey plant, parasites infect the epithelium of the trachea. Absorbing hemolymph, they clog the windpipe with waste products and their bodies. The toxic effect of acarapis on the body is expressed in hypoxia (lack of oxygen), as well as poisoning by ticks and larvae. As a result of metabolic disorders, the insect weakens, paralysis and deformation of the wings occur, and the chitinous cover is destroyed. After the “host” dies, the tick moves on to another.
Symptoms
For the first year or two, mite damage is not noticeable. Clear signs appear when half of the bee colonies are infected, which means the presence of the mite in the apiary for a long period.
Signs of bee acarapidosis:
- They consume more food and at the same time vilify.
- Near the hive there are many bees crawling and trying to fly.
- Upon close examination of a sick bee, it is noticeable that its wings are twisted and its abdomen is swollen.
- Dead insects are found in groups on the grass or ground.
The beekeeper should be alerted by the general mood in the hive: irritated buzzing for no apparent reason.
How to determine?
An accurate diagnosis can be made using laboratory tests at a veterinary service. Live and dead insects are caught in the amount of 40-50 individuals from each hive and sent for research. Their windpipe is examined under a microscope.
The stage of tick-borne infestation is judged by its appearance:
- yellow spots – 1-6 days of damage;
- black spots and fragility – from 6 to 23 days;
- black color, eggs and mites are visible - from 23 to 30 days.
When the diagnosis is confirmed, a quarantine is declared within a radius of 5 km from the diseased apiary. All bee families in this territory, without exception, are subject to treatment.
Methods of treating the disease
Acarapidosis cannot be cured without destroying the infected bees. The tick parasitizes inside the “host”. For treatment, poisonous fertilizers, sprays, and fumigations are used to kill parasites. Dead ticks block the trachea, which leads to the death of the “carrier”.
The most effective way is to fumigate the hives. Fumigation is carried out in the morning or evening hours, when all the bees are in the hive.The air temperature must be at least 16 degrees. Otherwise, the air will concentrate at the bottom of the hive and will not affect all the bees. The hives are first inspected for cracks and defects are eliminated.
The internal space should be as free as possible; there should be enough food and water for the bees. The bees that died after the procedure are removed from the hive and burned. Treatment is carried out daily throughout the entire apiary for 2 months.
Pharmacy products
Chemical acaricides used for acarapidosis:
- "Bjolius" (in the form of fertilizing, spraying);
- "Ecoflu" (strips);
- “Ant”, gel (gel-like mass with the smell of formic acid, for fumigation);
- "Teda" (stripes);
- "Akarasan" (plates);
- “Bipin” (fumigation, spraying).
The effect of using anti-acarapidosis drugs is achieved by following the rules specified in the instructions: the concentration of the composition, the duration and frequency of treatments.
Traditional methods
Essential oils of pine, fir, and spruce have an inhibitory effect on ticks. A cotton swab dipped in oil is placed inside the hive for 1 hour for 3-5 days. Beekeepers use toxic chemical compounds based on nitrobenzene and methyl salicylate in their practice.
Prevention measures
To prevent an outbreak of acarapidosis, apiaries should be placed in dry, sunny places. Livestock should be purchased from trusted nurseries. If this is a new seller, then it is necessary to conduct clinical tests of insects. After infected colonies, hives and honeycombs are disinfected and kept for a week.If there have been cases of acarapidosis in the area, the hives should be treated every spring before honey collection begins.
