Dysentery in honey bees occurs when they deposit feces either just outside or within the hive. Typical signs include visible streaks of bee fecal matter on hive entrances, landing boards, or inside the hive itself. This condition tends to be more prevalent during the winter, though spring cases can also occur.
Severe winters significantly impact bee colonies overwintering inside hives, often prompting beekeepers to seek ways to treat dysentery upon noticing symptoms. This issue is concerning because it might indicate deeper health problems. Conducting regular hive inspections—even during cold months—helps detect dysentery early, enabling timely response. Because dysentery can be either a standalone issue or a symptom of a larger disease, prompt identification and appropriate action are essential in maintaining colony health.
It’s important to clarify that dysentery itself is not classified as a disease. However, it can signal the presence of serious underlying conditions affecting bees, such as Nosema infection. When Nosema is involved, dysentery represents a symptom rather than a separate illness. Treating the Nosema infection effectively often resolves the dysentery in the hive.
Although many diagnostic signs exist for Nosema, the most reliable method for confirming it is microscopic examination of adult bees in a laboratory setting. Management of Nosema infections generally involves integrated beekeeping practices, as chemical treatments are often unavailable or unapproved in certain regions.
Recognizing Dysentery: Symptoms in Honey Bees
Observing signs and symptoms helps beekeepers detect threats to their colonies. Dysentery manifests through various indicators that gauge how severely bees are affected.
There’s no need to panic upon spotting dysentery; understanding its indicators enables effective treatment. One key sign is the presence of bee feces within the hive on frames, hive walls, or other equipment, indicating that bees are releasing waste internally.
1. Fecal Deposits Near Hive Entrance
Another clear sign is the accumulation of bee feces around the hive’s entrance—on the landing board, hive stand, and bottom board. These yellow-colored deposits, which may appear sticky or shaped like droplets or small sausages, confirm dysentery’s presence.
2. Unpleasant Smells from the Hive
During hive inspections, keen beekeepers might detect an unusual, unpleasant odor emanating from a colony affected by dysentery. Though this alone isn’t definitive, it serves as a warning prompting further examination that often confirms the condition.
3. Abnormal Bee Activity
Observations may reveal bees making frequent short flights near the hive entrance, each time releasing feces. An excess of such flights signals that something is amiss within the colony.
Root Causes of Dysentery in Honey Bees
Dysentery arises mainly from the buildup of indigestible substances in a bee’s digestive tract or from Nosema infections. Bees can retain fecal matter up to roughly 30-40% of their body weight; surpassing this threshold—especially when prevented from cleansing flights for long periods—forces bees to void waste inside or just outside the hive.
1. Exposure to Low Temperatures
Extended periods of cold weather during winter can prevent honey bees from taking sufficient cleansing flights, which raises their risk of developing dysentery. When temperatures stay below 50 °F (10 °C) for more than two to three weeks, bees that do leave the hive may become chilled, deposit feces on the landing board, and subsequently die from the cold.
Upon inspecting affected colonies, you will often notice numerous dead bees directly beneath and around the hive, along with a considerable amount of fecal deposits near the hive entrance and inside the hive itself.
The bees perish because, when attempting to defecate outside, the low temperatures hinder their ability to fly or impair wing function, leaving them unable to return safely to the hive.
Periods of warmer weather during winter are crucial for allowing honey bees to leave the hive and complete their voiding flights. If these warm intervals are spaced too far apart, the likelihood of bees developing dysentery grows significantly.
Preventing, managing, and controlling dysentery in honey bees largely involves encouraging more frequent voiding flights and minimizing indigestible components in their diet.
2. Excessive Water Access
Some beekeepers have observed that an overabundance of water availability in spring can trigger dysentery. When bees consume syrup feeds, the excess water softens solid fecal material in their intestines, causing them to carry a load exceeding 30-40% of what they can normally hold.
During winter, solid waste tends to build up inside the bees’ digestive tracts due to their limited intake—mainly honey—and infrequent cleansing flights. Dysentery resulting from sudden increased water intake usually resolves within a few days as bees adjust, restoring proper voiding behavior and eliminating feces adequately away from the hive.
While water itself is not the direct cause of dysentery, having unrestricted access to a large volume of water, combined with accumulated solid feces in the bees’ guts from winter, leads to dysentery outbreaks in spring.
3. Consumption of Fermented Feeds
Feeding honey bees with fermented products disrupts their gut balance, provoking dysentery as they rapidly expel the spoiled material. The bees may experience symptoms until the fermented feed has been completely cleared from their intestines.
If managed properly by removing fermented feed sources and providing less watery alternatives, dysentery caused by fermented diets tends to be short-lived and poses minimal risk of colony collapse.
4. Ingestion of Juice from Overripe Fruits
When bees consume juice from overly ripe fruits, the high sugar concentration can impair digestion, triggering dysentery as the bees attempt to clear their intestines. Additionally, this juice may ferment inside the bees’ digestive systems, causing similar symptoms.
Impacts of Dysentery on Honey Bees
Dysentery affects both individual bees and the colony collectively. Infected bees become weaker and less effective within the hive, spending excessive time on cleansing flights instead of other duties. Stress from the condition can also lead to unusual behaviors among the affected bees.
1. Colony-Level Consequences
When a significant portion of the colony suffers from dysentery, foraging activity declines, leading to insufficient resource collection and replenishment. This deterioration compromises hive maintenance; brood mortality rises, and the queen receives inadequate nourishment, resulting in reduced egg-laying.
If left untreated, dysentery initiates a cascading effect where fecal matter inside the hive promotes fungal and bacterial growth, which then infects and harms the bees.
The foul odor from feces inside and near the hive interferes with pheromone-based communication essential for colony coordination. As hive order breaks down and individual bees lose synchronization, this downward spiral often culminates in colony collapse due to starvation or failure to replenish members.
2. Stress Induction
Dysentery induces significant stress within the colony, disrupting normal functioning. Bees consume their bodily food reserves rapidly and deplete stored honey at accelerated rates, causing premature deaths in large numbers and potential starvation once stores are exhausted.
3. Decline in Hive Hygiene
Dysentery leads to unsanitary hive conditions as voided feces provide fertile ground for fungi and bacteria proliferation. Even during winter’s cold, these microbes thrive on fecal deposits, infecting bees and increasing mortality rates. If unaddressed, such infections can eradicate the colony.
4. Breakdown in Hive Communication
Honey bees rely heavily on pheromone signals, alongside physical and visual cues, for communication. Severe dysentery causes feces accumulation within and around the hive, releasing unpleasant odors that mask pheromone signals.
This olfactory interference causes individual bees to act out of sync, disrupting hive cohesion. As disorder escalates, the colony’s overall functionality fails, often leading to its demise.
Treating Dysentery in Honey Bees
Several treatment strategies exist for honey bee dysentery, each differing in approach, efficiency, and appropriateness depending on the beekeeper’s situation and colony condition.
Identifying the underlying cause is crucial for effective treatment, focusing on enabling bees to take cleansing flights and reducing the buildup of indigestible solids in their digestive tracts.
1. Feeding Adjustments
One key treatment involves limiting indigestible material in bees’ diets. During winter, substituting honey with alternative feeds can help alleviate dysentery.
- Options like sugar water or high-fructose corn syrup serve as good honey replacements due to their low indigestible content.
- Administer these feeds during warm enough periods in winter so the liquids remain fluid long enough for bees to consume them effectively.
Supporting Honey Bees Wintered Indoors
When honey bees are wintered in controlled environments such as heated warehouses, managing, preventing, and treating dysentery becomes simpler. Maintaining moderate temperatures prevents the bees from consuming stored supplies too quickly, and dysentery typically develops only if bees have gone more than two to three weeks without a cleansing flight, leading to fecal accumulation in their guts.
For beekeepers who house their colonies in ventilated structures during winter, I advise removing honey from the hives and substituting it with feeds low or free of indigestible substances. Suitable alternatives include sugar water and high-fructose corn syrup. These feeds enable honey bees to survive the entire winter without needing to defecate, significantly lowering their risk of dysentery.
Supply Fresh Food to Honey Bees
Honey bee dysentery caused by fermented feed consumption can be addressed by eliminating the spoiled feed sources, such as feeders left too long inside the hive. Replacing them with fresh, harmless nourishment like sugar patties or fondant helps reduce the intake of watery material, easing symptoms and preventing further issues.
Approaches to Managing Spring-Time Dysentery in Honey Bees
During spring, replacing honey with solid foods such as sugar cakes or bee fondant can help manage dysentery. Because these solid feeds contain minimal water, they reduce moisture within the bees’ digestive systems, lowering the likelihood of dysentery. Conversely, feeding liquid diets like sugar syrup in spring often aggravates the condition.
2. Apiary Management Techniques
When situating your beehive, account for the bees’ need to take waste-eliminating flights during winter. Ideally, position hives facing south where they receive sunlight, but ensure they are protected from harsh elements like strong winds and snow. Sunlight warms both hive and bees in winter, encouraging safe voiding flights before they return to their winter cluster.
Incorporate upper entrances in hives experiencing dysentery to facilitate short, necessary voiding flights. The warm air rising inside the wintering colony heats upper hive sections as well, helping bees warm their flight muscles before exiting through these upper openings to relieve themselves and quickly return to warmth.
Preventing and Managing Dysentery in Honey Bees
To forestall dysentery in honey bees, it is crucial to apply timely and adequate management measures. Prioritize supplying clean or minimally contaminated feed to colonies over winter. Though honey is commonly favored, it poses a higher risk due to its indigestible solids which accumulate in bee guts.
- Undigestible solids persist and build up in the bee’s digestive tract after the bee absorbs all digestible nutrients.
- Should large amounts of undigested material accumulate and the bee be unable to make a timely defecation flight, dysentery ensues.
- Dark honey typically contains more indigestible content than lighter honey, so swapping frames with dark honey for those with clearer honey can reduce this risk.
- Similarly, honeydews possess a considerable fraction of substances bees cannot digest.
Optimal Feeds for Honey Bees in Winter
For colonies overwintered in ventilated facilities, it’s preferable to remove honey from their diet and replace it with sugar water or high-fructose corn syrup, or the closest alternatives you have available.
Because these feeds contain minimal or no indigestible substances, they effectively prevent dysentery outbreaks in honey bee colonies.
Colonies kept indoors during winter do not leave their hives until temperatures rise enough for the hive to be returned to outdoor apiaries.
Avoid Giving Honey Bees Fermented Feed
Prevent feeding honey bees any fermented feed by storing all syrups and patties in cool conditions to inhibit fermentation. Prepare only small quantities of feed that will last a few days, applying fresh supplies regularly to avoid leftover syrup fermenting due to improper storage.
If you find any feeders containing fermented feed, wash them thoroughly with plenty of water to eliminate the microorganisms responsible, ensuring that future feedings do not lead to recurring fermentation.
Dispose of any fermented feed appropriately and securely so bees cannot access or consume it, maintaining the hive’s health and preventing contamination.
Stopping Dysentery in Honey Bees from Overripe Fruit Juice
If overripe fruit juice is causing bee dysentery, remove such fruit from the bees’ foraging areas. This may involve requesting neighbors or local farmers to harvest their fruit promptly to protect your colonies.
Should this approach not be effective, consider keeping your bees confined within their hives for several days or a week, allowing overripe fruit to fall and reduce bee access. Over time, neighboring farmers may also harvest the fruit, easing the problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Do Honey Bees Eliminate Feces?
Honey bees do indeed excrete waste. Under normal conditions, they take cleansing flights away from the hive to dispose of feces, ensuring removal happens at a distance.
Occasionally, some bees may release fecal material inside the hive, but this minimal amount rarely causes issues, especially as hygienic worker bees promptly clean it up.
2. Is There an Infectious Cycle for Dysentery in Honey Bees?
The origin and development of dysentery distinguish it from typical honey bee diseases. Since it results largely from environmental factors rather than infectious agents, dysentery lacks an infectious or contagious cycle.
Moreover, dysentery does not spread from one bee to another, nor is it inheritable by the offspring of affected bees.
3. Which Honey Bees Are Affected by Dysentery?
Adult bees, especially those overwintering in the hive, are susceptible to dysentery because they can be prevented from taking cleansing flights by cold weather. Younger developmental stages do not require these flights and hence do not experience dysentery.
4. Is Dysentery Always Deadly to Honey Bee Colonies?
Dysentery on its own is not necessarily lethal. In favorable circumstances, it can resolve without intervention as long as it’s not linked to other underlying conditions. However, complications stemming from dysentery can weaken colonies, potentially leading to collapse. Early detection and prompt management are therefore critical.
Summary
Discovering dysentery in your honey bee colonies can be worrying, as it may threaten the health of your apiary if left unaddressed. However, it is a manageable condition that many beekeepers, whether novices or experts, have successfully handled. By applying the practical guidance in this article, you can confidently identify and treat dysentery, helping maintain robust bee colonies.