Master Beekeeper Training
I was privileged to attend the Journeyman level course of the master beekeeper training last weekend at CSU. The morning was occupied by bee anatomy, looking at live and dead bees through a microscope. Very fun! In the afternoon, the apiary inspector from Utah gave us classes in diagnosing disease using bee samples and microscopes. We learned to uncover the bee trachea to look for mites, and to diagnose nosema and AFB using dead bee samples. We had a great talk on Sunday morning about varroa mites, treating for varroa, and symptoms and treatment of other bee diseases such as nosema, AFB, EFB, sacbrood, etc. Very enlightening, though thanks to our recent mite speaker, Bill Collins, Carol and I knew more than our speaker did about the mites! One of the biggest take-aways was the info that nosema ceranae, the more common one these days does not cause dysentery, and so is harder to spot as the culprit. The main symptom is failure to thrive, though now I know how to look at the bee gut under the microscope and tell what it is. Freezing frames and comb kills nosema spores, so we don't have to throw infected comb away. Also, fumidil doesn't work against N. ceranae. Another big take-away, though I did already know this one, is that for most brood diseases, a brood break while re-queening is the cure. Here's hoping for better, healthier, and longer lived bees! T
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