How to prevent and treat chalkbrood disease in bees? Practical tips shared
AbstractChange box and change comb: Remove all diseased brood combs and pollen-honey combs from the diseased colony, and thoroughly disinfect the combs after replacing them. Medication: After changing the box and combs, promptly feed nystatin; or choose fresh old garlic, peel it, mash it and mix with water, place it on the bottom board of the hive, and let the bees lick it; or choose 60 grams of honeysuckle, 60 grams of weeping forsythia, 60 grams of wild chrysanthemum, 40 grams of dandelion, 20 grams of Sichuan lovage rhizome, 12 grams of licorice, and 60 grams of plantain, add water and decoct into 1 kilogram of medicinal liquid, and spray directly on the bees or feed it to them.
I. Change box and change comb
1. Remove all diseased brood combs and pollen-honey combs from the diseased colony. When the queen lays eggs, replace them with clean combs, and then thoroughly disinfect the removed combs.
2. To ensure dryness inside and outside the hive, be sure to strengthen the colony's warmth retention and move colonies in cold, shady environments away.
II. Medication
1. After the diseased colony has undergone changing the box and combs, nystatin should be fed promptly. Each liter of 50% sugar water can be mixed with 200 milligrams of nystatin, fed about once every 3 days, for about 5 consecutive feedings. Note that feeding should be stopped during the honey flow period.
2. You can choose 40 grams of Sophora flavescens and 60 grams of Smilax glabra, add 1000 milliliters of water and decoct, producing about 500 milliliters of medicinal liquid. Then grind 10 grams of borneol and 50 grams of dried alum into fine powder, pour it into the medicinal liquid, and after it completely dissolves, add 20 milliliters of benzalkonium bromide solution. Spray the combs once every other day, for about 4-5 consecutive sprays, which is one treatment course. After symptoms ease, to prevent recurrence, spray 2-3 times after an interval of 7 days.
3. To make the bees in the hive pass evenly over salt powder, during spring reproduction you can spread a layer of table salt on the inner side of the entrance or on the bottom of the box. In this way, the bees can spread the table salt throughout the whole hive, thereby achieving a certain sterilization and disinfection effect. Spreading salt 3 times each year helps control bee diseases caused by pathogens, and the effect in treating chalkbrood is significant.
4. You can choose old raw garlic, peel it, crush each clove. About 0.5 kilograms can be used for one colony. Place it evenly on the bottom board inside the hive and let the bees lick it. Replace it once every 4 days, for 4 consecutive placements.
5. Select about 10 garlic cloves, mash them, mix with an appropriate amount of water, and spray it on the four inner walls of the box and the entrance. This method will not harm bees or larvae, and can be sprayed directly on bees and combs.
6. Choose 40 grams of dandelion, 20 grams of Sichuan lovage rhizome, 12 grams of licorice, 60 grams of honeysuckle, 60 grams of weeping forsythia, 60 grams of wild chrysanthemum, and 60 grams of plantain, add about 2 kilograms of water, and decoct into about 1 kilogram of medicinal water. It can be sprayed directly on bees or put into sugar for feeding, about once every 3 days. 3 times is one treatment course, and about 3 treatment courses can cure it.
7. 10 grams of licorice, 20 grams each of rhubarb, Coptis chinensis, and Phellodendron amurense, and 15 grams each of safflower, honeysuckle, Sophora flavescens, and Isatis indigotica leaf, add about 1000 milliliters of water, decoct over low heat into about 300 milliliters of medicinal liquid and pour it out. Then add 200 milliliters of water and decoct for about 5 minutes. Pour the medicinal juice into the first medicinal liquid and mix evenly. Spray the combs once a day for 3 consecutive days.