Asian Scooter Asian Wasp arrived in Portugal and does not let the bees leave the hives After fungi, pesticides, climate change, habitat destruction, bees, now in a world decline, now have to deal with another threat: the Asian wasps. In Portugal, the region between Minho and Lima is most affected by these wasps. What would…
Varrose Definition Varroosis is a parasitic disease that attacks all individuals of the hive: larvae, nymphs and adults, both workers and drones. It is a very serious disease caused by the development and multiplication of the ectoparasite mite Varroa destructor, discovered in the bee Apis cerana, by Oudemans, Indonesia (1904, Java Island). Being a long…
European Loque Larvae with European foulbrood, showing yellow stripes that increase and become brown as soon as the larval tissue is destroyed. This appearance continues until the larva’s death. Definition Infectious-contagious disease affecting bees’ rearing in a few days, two or three days. It is characterized by producing morbid processes in the midgut, ventricle and…
American Loque Causer agent American foulbrood is a bacterial disease produced by the bacillus Paenibacillus larvae (White, 1906) a flagellate mobile microorganism, which is in the form of a rod about 2.5 to 5 microns wide by 0.4 to 0.8 micros . A key feature of P. larvae is the formation of endospores, extremely resistant…
Ascosferiosis Ascosferiosis is an invasive mycosis that affects exclusively the larvae at three, four days of life. Also known as “create chalk”, due to its characteristic appearance and consistency that resemble the plaster fragments. It is the most frequent mycosis of the bee producing honey and is produced by the fungus Ascosphaera apis, which causes…
Aethinosis Definition: The small beetle coleopteran, Aethina tumida (Murray), is a size larger than the head of a bee (5 to 7mm in length and 3 to 4.5mm in width). So it is much smaller than any beetle. Aethina tumidae, also known as the “small beehive of the hive”, belongs to the Arthropoda phylum, the…
Acarapisose Definition It is a contagious endoparasitosis, which invades the respiratory tract of adult bees, located in the first pair of trachea, which can cause death of the infested colony. Geographic distribution Acarapisose, discovered in Britain, was mistaken for the disease on the Isle of Wight until 1921, the year Rennie needed its etiology. The…
Fossil of Bee To the left the oldest fossil of the bees ancestor, the “Electrapis” found in amber (resin). To the right a fossil of bees where the parts of the bee’s body are clearly visible and the corbícula (basket where the pollen is deposited) is highlighted in the paw (Photos published in Ruttner, 1992).…
Roman Fountain The source “Api del Bernini” or “Fontana delle Api”, in the city of Rome, is well known by tourists and the numerous photographs taken there. Today, despite being vandalized and damaged by people with few or no concerns with its historical heritage, it continues to show us the bee’s importance in the traditions…
How would your supermarket look if all the bees died? The bees, clearly in decline, pollinate a number of foods that we simply love. The problem may not merit the attention and concern of most consumers, far removed from the real meaning of bee extinction in the world. That’s why Whole Foods in Texas decided…