Platform for beekeeping practice and know-how

The European honey bee, also known as the honey fly (Apis mellifera), is a domesticated honey bee species native to Europe. It is considered semi-domesticated. It is one of the bee species bred on a large scale for honey production.

Targeted measures can be used to prevent or stop robbing. This helps to avoid the weakening or loss of the robbed colony. In addition, appropriate measures protect affected colonies against the possible introduction of pathogens and varroa mites.

We recommend marking the monitoring board with a grid using a permanent marker to facilitate subsequent counts. In order to count varroa mites reliably, it is very important to protect the board with a mesh and to ensure that ants do not have access to it, as they feed on the fallen mites.

Waste control makes it possible to draw numerous conclusions about the health status of a colony. Frequent checks do not disturb the colony. By examining the bottom boards, anomalies and irregularities can be identified, providing indications for future interventions to be carried out on the colony.

Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) is a contagious disease that is transmitted mainly through direct contact and the exchange of food. Bees crowded tightly in the hive, prolonged periods of poor weather, long transports during migratory beekeeping, heavy forest nectar flows, and a high density of colonies in an environment with limited food supply appear to favour the occurrence of the disease. The virus can be fatal for infected adult bees. In general, only a few colonies are affected.

Observation at the hive entrance makes it possible to draw numerous conclusions about the health status of a bee colony. Especially in spring, it is important to assess colonies in this way. Anomalies indicate the aspects that require particular attention during the next colony inspection or when an additional examination becomes necessary. Observation at the hive entrance also helps to avoid interventions within the colony under unfavorable weather conditions.

Bees and brood tolerate elevated temperatures better than the Varroa mite. Hyperthermia exploits this fact and reduces the number of mites through thermal treatment. However, damage to the brood cannot be completely avoided. Based on current research findings, negative effects of hyperthermia on bees emerging after treatment also cannot be ruled out.

Our bee populations are not always able to defend themselves against diseases and pests on their own. They therefore rely on you, beekeepers, to support them. In this regard, the fact sheets developed by the Bee Health Service (BHS) can be a valuable resource.

The production of F1 hybrid lines requires substantial prior selection work on pure lines from different populations, followed by crossbreeding tests of these pure lines. To achieve a maximal heterosis effect (see below), these lines must be highly distinct (by crossing different genetic pools, such as formerly geographically isolated origins). In addition, the desired traits must be introducible, which presupposes the availability of what geneticists refer to as a “reservoir of variability.”

Recognising bee diseases and knowing effective control and prevention methods are sine qua non conditions for ensuring bee health and for good beekeeping practice. Diseases spread not only very rapidly within hives because of physical contact between worker bees and trophallaxis (the exchange of food between bees), but also between hives. Because bees can fly over long distances, rob neighbouring colonies, or drift into them, the risk that a large number of colonies and apiaries will be affected by a disease or an epizootic is significant. When one also considers the movement of hives by beekeepers and the high density of apiaries in Switzerland, the prevention of epizootics and diseases becomes even more important in bees than in other livestock animals, which can be quarantined more easily.

Although they are few in number, wild or feral colonies of A. mellifera mellifera do indeed exist in nature and are resistant to Varroa due to their small size, their tendency to swarm, the low density of the habitat, and probably through natural selection. Studies also show that these strains of black bees are pure, without hybridization. Consequently, researchers argue for the development of a conservation policy for these bee populations, because they constitute a wild taxon that is probably in decline, but also an interesting genetic reservoir from a beekeeping perspective.