Hello All,
As we move to the time last year many hives crashed I feel I should share
knowledge about virus and bees.

Dr. Shiminuki (retired head of Beltsville Bee lab) gave the name "PMS" to
virus issues in bees. He said if you control mites for the most part PMS is
a non issue but when control drops then PMS is seen.

 I have personally seen thousands of frames of PMS since varroa arrived.
Only in my hives in the early years except for "leave alone" survivor hives.
A friend had over 4,000 PMS frames in his operation last fall.

I searched the latest books to find a reference I agree with and the best
was in chapter 20 on page 300 of Dr. Dewey Caron's book " Honey Bee Biology
& Beekeeping".

The book was published in 1999 and shows how similar "PMS" can be to CCD
symptoms.

quote page 300:
" Colonies that are apparently healthy and productive suddenly experience a
crash in ADULT population , often during the FALL , resulting in heavy loses
. Dead colonies have plenty of honey stores but FEW ADULTS and a very spotty
, unhealthy looking brood area. This condition has been labelled PMS"

Highlights are mine.

The above sounds like a description of CCD yet the above is Dr. Caron's
description of PMS. Hmmm.

quote:
" PMS mimics other diseases , So far ,no specific pathogen has been
identified , so confirmation of field symptoms with lab analysis is not yet
possible"

Samples sent to the U.K. for testing have always detected several virus.
Never a single virus.


Further quote:
" If a virus is ultimately found responsible, no chemical treatment will be
possible. Management techniques (such as reducing mite levels) and resistant
stock will need to be developed to reduce negative effects of a VIRUS."

Now if I had said the above the list might have turned on me so I found in
the words of Dr. Caron what I have been trying to say since this virus issue
came up.

PMS was rarely seen in hives when Apistan and Checkmite were killing 98-99%
of varroa in a hive. Last fall for reasons I have said before varroa control
was at a level at which PMS symptoms were common.

At first glance PMS is usually a "shotgun" brood pattern. The sealed brood
can look similar to AFB. The larva can be yellow and mimic EFB. All the
adult bees can be gone except for a queen and some young bees.

With PMS prevention is best. Test before and after your chosen varroa
treatment to make sure you have got a high varroa kill. The maker of
Miteaway 2 recommends treating every four months when brood rearing is
heavy. Apigard & api life var kill varroa slowly over a period of time so do
not wait too late in season to treat. In the old days a chemical strip could
drop 3000 varroa overnite. Today in our area those strips maybe will drop a
couple hundred varroa. Tests ran in Georgia (Dr. Delaplane and published
ABJ) with Apistan found the mite load continued to increase during the
treatment period when apistan was used on hives which had fluvalinate
resistant varroa.
Tip:
With varroa you can usually get by with only testing the strongest hive in
the yard as varroa always takes out your strongest hives first. Test before
treatment and after treatment!
Tip:
Treat early in late summer and if you find your hives still have got a high
varroa load after the end of the chosen treatment period  use another
treatment to clear the hive of varroa.

It is my opinion (and was the opinion of Dr. Shiminuki) that if you control
varroa PMS will be a minor issue.

Hope the above helps.

bob



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