# Bee's turning black?



## beedeetee (Nov 27, 2004)

They might be part Italian. The are certainly part something else. They don't turn black because of a virus but because of their mom and dad.

They might not even be your bees if you are open feeding.


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## allan38 (Feb 25, 2009)

If your queens were open mated then it's possible they could be your own bees. Open mated queens can have a broader range of genetics in the hive and that is a good thing.
Or it could be they're old bees and are losing some of their yellow hairs due to wear and tear.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

All my bees have some black ones mixed in. Some are mostly black:

http://www.bushfarms.com/images/BlackBees.jpg


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## FordGuy (Jul 10, 2005)

when the color changes, do you also notice more wet cap then before?


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## Jester (May 18, 2009)

Sorry, I was down with the FLU and unable to check my post. 

I have since been informed that open feeding was bad and causes bees to fight so I have stopped that, but it was fun to watch and interact with them. 

I did leave out a couple details. This was my second year with 2 italian hives. I caught 3 swarm hives this year. It is the swarm hives that seem to have the black bees in them.

Dad's friend, who's hard to get ahold of, has been keeping bees since the 50's. Made the comment that black bees could indicate a virus. Then mentioned to treat for Varroa Mites that could deminished the bees imune system allowing a virus. I do use screened bottom boards and will check for VM's this week.

Does anyone know were I can find a bee Identification site, maybe something with races and photos?

Thanks for the input,
Greg


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

Probably your father's friend was thinking of the Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus which causes the bees to look darker and with a greasy look. This is called the "Hairless black syndrome".


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## Jester (May 18, 2009)

Found an article on CBPV copied it below.

Yep, Syndrome 2 sounds like what I may have. Either way doesn't sound very promising. Ayone else ever had this before, any advice or suggestions?




Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV)



Cause

As its name suggests this is a virus. It is an ellipsoid with a size of 20 X 30 to 60 nm. It is believed to be endemic in the UK.



Disease

The virus multiplies in the bees tissues giving rise to 2 distinct syndromes.



Signs in the colony

Syndrome 1 Abnormal trembling of the wings and body. The bees cannot fly and often crawl on the ground and up plant stems. In some cases the crawling bees can be in large numbers (1000+). The bees huddle together on the top of the cluster or on the top bars of the hive. They may have bloated abdomens due to distension of the honey sac. The wings are partially spread or dislocated.

Syndrome 2 Affected bees are able to fly but are almost hairless. They appear dark or black and look smaller. They have a relatively broad abdomen. They are often nibbled by older bees in the colony and this may be the cause of the hairlessness. They are hindered at the entrance to the hive by the guard bees. A few days after infection trembling begins. They then become flightless and soon die.

Both syndromes may occur in the same colony but one usually predominates.

CBPV may be the final cause of colony collapse following other adult bee diseases.



Treatment

There is no treatment for viral diseases.



Control

Most viral diseases of bees are associated with stress. This may take the form of climatic pressures but is more often associated with other diseases. Viral disease has been much more common in colonies affected by Varroa.

In this case the signs described are very similar to those stated as being due to ‘Isle of Wight disease’ a condition previously ascribed to Acarine. It is likely however that its expression was due to the bees being weakened by the Acarine mite. Severe Nosema infections have also been implicated.

It has been suggested that there may be a genetic component in some colonies making them more susceptible to the disease.


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

The times I have seen it in my colonies, it cleared up on it's own after a couple of weeks. I have never had it kill a colony. Most of the time the colonies that have shown symptoms have been under stress from low adult populations.


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