Lime brood in bees: how to treat and characteristic signs of ascospherosis

Lime brood, or ascospherosis, is a rather dangerous infectious pathology that provokes the death of bee larvae and pupae. The disease is characterized by fairly pronounced symptoms that even a novice beekeeper can recognize. Most often they appear in the spring. At the same time, many people are interested in how to treat calcareous brood in bees. To cope with this pathology, you can use medicinal and folk remedies.

Description of calcareous brood

This term is understood as mycosis, which provokes the death of young representatives of Hymenoptera.When infected with fungi, the larvae and pupae of all types of bees - foragers, workers, drones, queens - suffer. According to studies, pupae die most massively at the age of 3 days.

The fungi Ascosphaera apis lead to the development of the disease. A feature of the infection is that it develops exclusively in living organisms. When it enters the larva, egg or pupa, the fungus immediately finds the intestines. There it settles and immediately begins to grow.

Mycelium quickly affects the body of the future bee. At the same time, thin filamentous processes affect the internal organs and grow outward. As a result, the pupa grows to an incredible size and acquires a yellow tint.

After some time, the mycelium dries up. At this stage, the body of the larva and pupa becomes a dry chip. Dead individuals look like particles of chalk or lime. That is why the disease began to be called calcareous brood.

It is important to consider that after the death of one chrysalis, fungal fibers infect neighboring combs. As a result, the pathology covers the entire part of the hive in which the brood is grown.

Stages of the course of the disease

Ascospherosis has several stages of development:

light;
medium;
heavy.

The easy stage is also called the latent stage, since the number of dead larvae does not exceed 5 pieces. This number is hard to see. However, the fungus can grow rapidly, moving on to the next stage.

At the middle stage, the number of dead larvae increases to 5-10. The severe stage is accompanied by larger losses. This kills 100-150 larvae.

It is believed that mild and moderate ascospherosis can be left untreated, since it does not lead to significant losses. However, experienced specialists advise to fight the disease immediately after the outbreak is detected. Otherwise, the fungus can lead to larger losses.

Causes and symptoms of ascospherosis

The marsupial fungus from the family Ascosphaera apis leads to the development of pathology. It provokes the defeat of the queen bee, drone bee open and sealed brood at the stage of pupae and larvae.

Most often the disease develops in spring and summer. At the same time, May is considered the most dangerous month, which is characterized by unstable weather. First of all, ascospherosis affects weak bee colonies.

The risk of infection is increased by the following factors:

cool weather with high humidity;
increased dampness in nests;
poor air circulation in the hives - it is very important that the bee houses have good ventilation;
uncontrolled use of antibiotics causing the development of spore colonies;
use of bee families in greenhouses - high humidity creates favorable conditions for the development of fungi.

It is possible to identify ascospherosis in the hive by characteristic features. The main one is the presence of dead larvae. They can wallow in front of the hive, on the landing area or on the bottom under the combs. If you check the hive, you can see a white coating on the larvae. In unsealed cells, mold covers the head end of the larva. In sealed cells, the fungus grows through the lid and infects the larvae from the inside.In this case, the honeycomb is covered with a white coating.

: Ascospherosis

In the opened cells there are hard lumps that are fixed on the walls of the cells or lie freely at the bottom of the cells. They are larvae that died from ascospherosis. These lumps occupy 2/3 cells. They are easily extracted from cells.

Diagnosis

To make an accurate diagnosis, you need to compare the symptoms of pathology and conduct microscopic laboratory studies. For research, you need to pull out small fragments of honeycombs from the hives - up to 15 centimeters. Up to 15 affected larvae can also be used.

Since ascospherosis is a quarantine pathology, when the diagnosis is confirmed, the apiary is declared unfavorable for calcareous brood. In this case, she is quarantined and treated.

How to treat the disease?

The acute form of ascospherosis requires the removal of frames with symptoms of mycosis. However, the house needs to be updated. Inside it is recommended to place new sushi, wax sheets. The uterus also needs to be replaced. In addition, it is permissible to move the bee colony to a new disinfected hive.

Medicines

To deal with lime brood, a veterinarian is recommended. The doctor must examine the hives, assess the condition of the families and prescribe treatment depending on the form of mycosis. In difficult cases, it is required to use special drugs to fight fungi.

These include:

Unisan;
"Nystatin";
Apiask;
Ascocin;
Askosan.

Each of the funds is characterized by certain features. So, Apiask is produced in the form of strips, the active ingredient of which is clotrimazole. Cardboards are required to be placed in the houses. 1 strip is enough for 5 frames. In this case, the drug can not be used during honey collection. It is allowed to use Apiask only in spring or after the end of honey extraction.

"Unisan" will suit economical beekeepers. To prepare the solution, you need to take 1 milliliter of the drug and mix with 500 milliliters of warm water. Pour the finished composition into a spray bottle and process the frames with honeycombs.

Nystatin is produced in tablet form. It needs to be mixed with sweet powder. The finished composition is used for dusting honeycombs. In a similar way, it is recommended to use Askosan.

"Ascocin" is available as a liquid. It needs to be mixed with sweet water. It is recommended to spray the frames with the resulting solution.

Folk remedies

In simple cases, herbal remedies can be used to treat ascospherosis. A great option would be garlic porridge. To do this, you need to take a few heads of garlic, wrap in cheesecloth and crush. Place the finished composition in the hive. It needs to be changed at intervals of 5-8 days.

Prevention

To avoid the development of lime brood, it is recommended to do the following:

keep only strong families in the apiary;
insulate the hives;
ensure good ventilation;
choosing the right hives based on family size.

Lime brood is a dangerous pathology that leads to the death of pupae and bee larvae. Medicines and homemade recipes can be used to cope with the disease.