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Author Topic: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?  (Read 8137 times)

Offline Beeboy01

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Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« on: August 20, 2021, 07:52:46 pm »
Sometimes ignorance is bliss but this time a study has shown that I have a moderate BQCV infection in my bee yard. I don't know much about it and a quick internet search hasn't really helped. The recommendations are to swap out old frames, re-queen if needed and keep everything clean between hives. A heavy mite load will make the symptoms worst. Any information and suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks   

Online Ben Framed

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2021, 09:47:38 pm »
Beeboy, until now I hadn't heard of it. I did find the following...

What is Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV) and how do I treat it?
by Flow Hive August 20, 2020


Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV) is a devastating disease primarily affecting queen pupae and larvae. Caused by Cripavirus, the disease causes death in queen bee pupae and larvae with affected brood turning yellow to brown/black.

BQCV was first identified in dead queen pupae and larvae. Research studies have shown this disease to be one of the most common causes of queen larvae death throughout Australia and likely, in many other areas throughout the world. Studies also show that the disease may be linked to another parasitic infestation, Nosema apis. This disease is introduced to the colony through the gut of adult honeybees returning to the hive.

Symptoms
Symptoms of BQCV presence include:

PUPAE/LARVAE DYING AND TURNING YELLOW TO DARK BROWN OR BLACK
The virus process first kills queen larvae (or pupae) and turns it a distinctive yellow colour. From there, the colour slowly fades into a dark brown or black.

SAC-LIKE FORMATION OVER AFFECTED QUEEN LARVAE
In most cases, a sac-like formation appears on the affected larvae. Beekeepers can distinguish BQCV from Sacbrood (another infection) by the distinctive colouring already mentioned.

How it spreads
Most research indicates the disease is spread when nurse bees inadvertently feed the brood infected food. The virus itself remains in dead larvae, pollen and honey for up to four weeks which can lead to continued spread. Additionally, the related virus Nosema apis carried by worker bees may also introduce BQCV into the hive.

Some research suggests that honeybees drifting between hives may transmit the disease across multiple colonies. Water and related beekeeping equipment may also carry the virus and cause transmission between hives

Eradication
Beekeepers who suspect BQCV should immediately cease any breeding and sales/distribution of potentially infected queen brood. Additionally, they should isolate additional larvae and pupae and monitor them to see if they also become symptomatic. This is the first step toward removing continual infection risk from other pupae or larvae.

Once BQCV has infiltrated a hive, no medication or vaccination can eliminate the virus. Beekeepers should immediately sanitise all grafting tools and related beekeeping equipment. Additionally, standing water sources and containers should also be fully cleaned and sanitised as the virus can be spread through the water as well.

Beyond prevention and isolation methods, a few more strategies may be used to prevent full colony devastation. Anecdotal evidence from multiple beekeepers suggests that the use of antibiotics such as fumagillin or oxytetracycline hydrochloride may help reduce or eliminate the presence of BQCV in the hive. We don?t recommend this and suggest this method should only be used if other control/ elimination strategies are ineffective.

Prevention
Prevention of BQCV often comes down to appropriate hive hygiene and care-taking procedures. Beekeepers should adopt all the following strategies to help prevent introduction of this disease into their hives.

APPROPRIATE NUTRITION & STRONG HIVE POPULATION
Breeding a strong hive first comes through proper nutrition. A weak hive invites BQCV and other infectious diseases and parasites into a colony. By keeping the bees well-fed and maintained, they will carry a stronger resistance to BQCV and other viruses.

ROTATING COMBS EVERY 3-4 YEARS
Continued rotation of combs should be a standard operating procedure for proper hive maintenance and care. Rotation encourages healthy and robust bee activity. Additionally, it allows beekeepers direct opportunities to monitor the hives, bees and comb (and identify issues such as BQCV).

HIVE PLACEMENT IN WARM/SUNNY AREAS DURING COLDER MONTHS
BQCV tends to present during the cooler seasons ? particularly the fall, winter and spring. Beekeepers should place hives in areas that receive more sunlight during these colder months. The warmth acts as a preventative measure to the spread of BQCV.

VIGILANT HIVE & EQUIPMENT HYGIENE
Like most other diseases and infestations, proper hive/colony maintenance and hygiene can serve as a strong preventative measure against BQCV. Follow strict protocols for equipment hygiene, ongoing hive monitoring and related activities. All it takes is one small watering or use of an infected piece of equipment to introduce BQCV into a colony.

AWARENESS OF SYMPTOMS TO PREVENT FURTHER SPREAD
Finally, preventing the ongoing spread of BQCV comes down to beekeeper awareness and identification. If the virus is detected or suspected in a queen breeding hive, beekeepers should cease any sale or distribution of queen pupae and larvae. Additionally, they should also contact their nearest department of agriculture for lab tests to confirm the presence of BQCV.

Responsible apiary management will help prevent BQCV from continuing its spread throughout the world. That is why ongoing awareness and preventative hive maintenance is so critical for disease prevention.

Detecting BQCV in your colony
In many cases, BQCV is identified through the signature colour changes of dead queen pupae and larvae. The dead queen first turns yellow and quickly changes into a dark brown or black colour. Additionally, the skin of the pupae itself becomes sac-like in its appearance. It?s important for beekeepers to distinguish between BQCV and the similar Sacbrood virus as the sac-like appearance of pupae is similar in both diseases. However, Sacbrood typically affects worker bee larvae whereas BQCV impacts queen bee pupae.

Beyond visual identification of dead pupae and larvae, immunodiffusion testing is the most commonly used method to confirm the disease presence.

Laboratories use immunodiffusion to detect specific antisera within pupae cells specific to this infection. While this method is not always foolproof, it can add more specificity to disease identification when multiple colony symptoms are present.

 

SOURCES
http://beeinformed.org/2013/12/bqcv-black-queen-cell-virus/
http://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Black-queen-cell-virus-FS.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC92884/
http://www.caes.uga.edu/departments/ent/bees/disorders/viral-diseases.html
http://www.coloss.org/beebook/II/virus/1/1/2

Online Ben Framed

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2021, 09:55:47 pm »

Offline Beeboy01

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2021, 10:30:03 pm »
Thanks Ben for the links, since I'm not raising queens I'm more concerned about hive mortality with BQCV. Changing out old comb was already a priority this year and I'm about half way through switching over to plastic foundation. Sounds like hive mortality would be caused by a queen cell loss after a swarm or queen failure so I will keep an eye on the queen health in my hives. Varroa is a know vector so keep mites under control is another priority. Almost sounds like there's not much that can be done except swapping out old comb, re-queening and mite control.

Offline TheHoneyPump

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2021, 10:55:31 pm »
I raise queens.  BQCV does occur, tho very very rarely. Or at least what looks like and I tag as BQCV.  I have never had a sample analyzed for it.  It is quite easy to eliminate.
- candlelight each cell to verify queen inside before placing in mating nuc, trash any that are not on par. Do not leave for bees to tear down.
- remove and trash any cells that are more than 3 days overdue.
- do not leave dud cups for bees to cleanup nor leave them out where they can get to them. Trash em.
- only use healthy - thoroughly treated - hives for starter/finisher cell builders. That means apply mite controls, and antibiotic controls well ahead of when starting cells.
If your method is walk away splits, then yeah .. your whole entire operation and every piece of equipment is subject to the hygiene guidelines in the article quoted.  Much overkill imho.  Control it at the cell builder level and the BQCV will very rarely if ever exist in your operation. 
When the lid goes back on, the bees will spend the next 3 days undoing most of what the beekeeper just did to them.

Online Ben Framed

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #5 on: August 21, 2021, 12:05:09 am »
Good stuff HP

Offline Beeboy01

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2021, 11:17:38 am »
I volunteered my hives for a virus sampling earlier this year and the results just came in this week. As I said before I'm not producing or selling queens or nucs so long term eradication of BQCV in the yard is my goal. I know there is some old comb in the hives so removing that will be my first step along with increasing my mite treatments.
HP, thanks for the tips on how to control it.   

Online Ben Framed

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2021, 11:35:40 am »
I volunteered my hives for a virus sampling earlier this year and the results just came in this week. As I said before I'm not producing or selling queens or nucs so long term eradication of BQCV in the yard is my goal. I know there is some old comb in the hives so removing that will be my first step along with increasing my mite treatments.
HP, thanks for the tips on how to control it.

Beeboy I have learned some very important things from your post, as well as spin off post by others from your thoughts since I have been a member here. Thanks..

Offline LawyerRick

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2021, 08:13:08 pm »
You might try a 1% solution of Reishi mushroom extract & 1 to 1 sugar water.  This mushroom extract was found to reduce virus levels significantly.  Paul Stamets from Washington teamed with some researchers from Washington State U & wrote a 2018 paper about their findings.  The extract is the only thing that actually lowers viral load without harming the bees.

Offline Bill Murray

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2022, 07:30:19 pm »
Question on this. I had 2 hives that the larva turned to for lack of a better term snot. they were in the same yard I tested for AFB and EFB. Both neg 2x. Is this the same? sorry I read but cant quite comprehend symptoms. Thanks in advance.
Bill

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #10 on: February 27, 2022, 07:40:28 pm »
Question on this. I had 2 hives that the larva turned to for lack of a better term snot. they were in the same yard I tested for AFB and EFB. Both neg 2x. Is this the same? sorry I read but cant quite comprehend symptoms. Thanks in advance.
Bill

Bill thanks for reporting and posting this good 'learning' question. I have not looked any further into this since my last post here. I for one do not know. I bet HoneyPump, maybe Beeboy01, as well as others may be able to answer. Hopefully someone will speak-up..
I do recall Beemaster2 reporting a similar problem a few years ago. If I remember correctly his came negative as well. Is this right Jim?

Phillip

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2022, 08:22:50 am »
Bill,
Several years ago I bought out an apiary that had 12 hives. One by one they died off and they hen my hives got sick. Our bee Inspecter said it was snort brood He saw it in a few apiaries that year. He said to make a mixture of vinegar and sugar water, I think, and spray it on top of the brood frames every so many days. Give Stephen Cutts a call for first hand info. (352) 395-4633 
He is a fourth generation beekeeper.
Jim Altmiller
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Offline Bill Murray

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #12 on: February 28, 2022, 10:33:12 am »
Im not a very computer savvy guy, and actually hate sitting for hrs on end looking at a screen but low and behold did a search   and probably not the same thing but.
Quote
PUPAE/LARVAE DYING AND TURNING YELLOW TO DARK BROWN OR BLACK
The virus process first kills queen larvae (or pupae) and turns it a distinctive yellow colour. From there, the colour slowly fades into a dark brown or black.
This was kinda what it looked like. This was last summer I moved both hives, pulled all comb, installed a few frames of capped brood, and basically stated from scratch,  fed heavily , one recovered and one didnt. Never went any further than that so it was just kinda filed away until I read this.
snotbrood never heard of it  "Parafoulbrood" according to Mr. Bush on this site.
Quote
I have heard it called "Parafoulbrood" and read of it often being misdiagnosed as AFB.

Parafoulbrood is caused by Bacillus para-alvei and possibly combinations of other microorganisms and has symptoms similar to EFB and AFB. As with any brood disease, a common solution is a break in brood rearing.

Sorry back to BQCV

Offline TheHoneyPump

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Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #13 on: March 04, 2022, 02:19:59 pm »
Your soupy larvae that tested negative for EFB - AFB .. is/was most likely Sac Brood Virus.  Snot brood; is not a term used by beekeepers. While some folks may use it, collectively its use should be discouraged.
As for BQCV, yes that description quoted above is accurate/correct.
When the lid goes back on, the bees will spend the next 3 days undoing most of what the beekeeper just did to them.

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: Anybody Know About Black Queen Cell Virus?
« Reply #14 on: December 01, 2022, 07:07:04 am »
Actually Snot brood is being used by beekeepers to describe this condition especially when the cause is not AFB or EFB and is basically unknown.  I've had the bee inspector use the term.  If there is a known specific cause, then that should be the specific name used, but when it's unknown, then a description of the symptoms is about all you can use.
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