Acarine and Nosema Diseases of Honeybees in Britain, 1925–47

Abstract

Between 1925 and 1947, 9,929 samples of bees from Great Britain were examined for acarine and Nosema diseases. There was a significantly lower incidence of acarine disease in English samples than in Scottish ones, but a somewhat higher incidence of Nosema disease in England than in Scotland was not significant. A decrease in the incidence of acarine disease over the 22 years was highly significant in both England and Scotland, although the rate of decrease was not significantly different between the two countries.The average incidence of acarine disease during each month of the year was at its lowest in April, May and June, while Nosema disease reached its maximum in these three months and fell to a minimum in the autumn. Data on the seasonal incidence of Nosema disease in an apiary in Scotland between 1948 and 1953 show a similar distribution to that for Great Britain. Eesults on the incidence of both diseases throughout the year are compared with those of other authors, and possible reasons for the seasonal fluctuations are discussed.

Overwintering Performance of Honey Bee Colonies Heavily Infested With Acarapis Woodi (Rennie)

“…The increased prevalence (w) of A. woodi in overwintering unmedicated colonies has been observed previously (M ORGENTHALER , 1929(M ORGENTHALER , , 1930M ORISON et al, 1956). The cause is thought to be linked to the decreasing bee populations concurrent with reduced brood production, both of which tend to increase the density of infested hosts (BAILEY and L EE , 1959 (Mo R ISON et al, 1956 ;BAILEY and PERRY, 1982 ;BAILEY, 1985).…”

Comparison of within hive sampling and seasonal activity of Nosema ceranae in honey bee colonies

“…apis infections have been shown to have a seasonal cycle, with levels peaking in the spring, decreasing though the summer, followed by a secondary smaller peak in the fall before levels decrease in the winter and then build up in the spring (Bailey, 1959;Doull and Cellier, 1961;Dyess, 1978;Morison et al, 1956;Mussen et al, 1975;Oertel, 1964;Pickard and El-Shemy, 1989). Studies in Spain have shown a lack of seasonality for N. ceranae infections (Martin-Hernandez et al, 2007); however, previous findings based on a statewide survey of Virginia honey bee colonies led us to speculate that there was a seasonality for N. ceranae infections.…”

Tracheal mites, Acarapis woodi, greatly increase overwinter mortality in colonies of the Japanese honeybee, Apis cerana japonica

“…Following the initial epidemic, however, the mite prevalence has been shown to decrease in England (Bailey 1985;Morison et al 1956), Greece (Bacandritsos and Saitanis 2004), and Spain (Orantes and García-Fernández 1997). A study on the relationship between mite prevalence and overwinter mortality (Otis and Scott-dupree 1992) was conducted 10 years after the first report of A. woodi in America (Delfinado-Baker 1984).…”