# Why all my bees look so different?



## Cyan (Jan 27, 2015)

I've seen a few bees like that in my own hives last year. I took pictures and posted here. The responses were mostly on the line that it is an older worker bee that has lost most of it's hair due to robbing- if I remember correctly. 

I'm no expert, but I could also speculate that such a thing could possibly be a genetic anomaly; possibly be due to a disease, or you may have stumbled upon a worker/drone from a feral hive of the very elusive German bees that were brought here by settlers a very long time ago. In any event, there isn't a reason to panic because this kind of thing is seen occasionally by different beeks all over the US.


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## Agis Apiaries (Jul 22, 2014)

Cyan is right in that older bees will lose their hairs and appear darker. The other part is that, well, your queen was "promiscuous"  and let quite a number of drones have their way with her. If they were different types of bees (Italians, Carniolans, etc.,), her offspring will then likewise appear a bit different, depending on who the "father" was. And still, all one big happy family!


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

The worker population are not identical clones. Depending on mating a queen might lay bees that all look alike or a mixture of types. They're mutts.
Not a bee mating expert but I know a little about dogs, plus I slept in a Holiday Inn Junior once. :applause:
Anyway, a female black lab can have yellow, black, and chocolate colored puppies from the same sire. Same goes for bees I guess.


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## Bee Arthur (Mar 21, 2015)

I think folks may not be seeing the bees you're talking about. I believe you have chronic bee paralysis virus. It's a mite-vectored virus that can affect bees weeks after they're born. It causes them to look burnt and oily, and from my experience they may also appear to have tremors. The treatment for this virus is to get varroa mites under control.

When's the last time you tested your mite levels?


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

It could be IAPV but it's also from the bees robbing perhaps.


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## Bee Arthur (Mar 21, 2015)

I just found a picture I took last year when I had bee paralysis virus in one of my colonies. The physical symptoms looked just like the "hairless" bees in the top-right of your pictures. BPV only became a problem for me after the mite levels unexpectedly surged in that hive. After a series of OAV treatments, the BPV went away.


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## Bee Arthur (Mar 21, 2015)

JRG13 said:


> It could be IAPV but it's also from the bees robbing perhaps.


Yep, one of the BPVs for sure. I ultimately diagnosed mine as CBPV because the pictures of inflicted bees I found matched the symptoms of my bees. But as I understand, IAPV can have similar symptoms. In either case, RomaH is very likely dealing with a mite problem.


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

Bee Arthur said:


> Yep, one of the BPVs for sure. I ultimately diagnosed mine as CBPV because the pictures of inflicted bees I found matched the symptoms of my bees. But as I understand, IAPV can have similar symptoms. In either case, RomaH is very likely dealing with a mite problem.


I think you're right. Looked at the pics and there are some sick bees in them. Sorry about joking in my first reply. Test for mites.


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## rbees (Jun 25, 2012)

Those are infected bees with CBPV. Requeen and it should go away


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## RomaH (May 22, 2015)

I ordered a OAV vaporizer and will do treatment this weekend. I am unable to get any local queens this late in the season. So I will try the treatments first. Thanks everyone for the input.


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## Bee Arthur (Mar 21, 2015)

I don't think you'll need to re-queen. The queen probably isn't passing those viruses to her brood--the mites are. If it's still a problem after you get the mite count down, then maybe consider re-queening.

While you're waiting for your vaporizer to arrive, I think it'd be a good idea to go and do a sugar roll test on your bees to establish the pre-treatment mite count. That way you can confirm your treatments are working, and you've got a baseline to compare future tests with.


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## Barhopper (Mar 5, 2015)

BA hit it on the head I believe. I had a hive that had what I thought was BPV. A round of OAV and now it's clearing up. You should be seeing a good amount dead bees in front of the hive.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I think they covered your original question. You do see that queen cell right?


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## RomaH (May 22, 2015)

I do now. Have not been able to get in the hives since due to rain and other factors. I guess the queen cell means they are requeening themselves or fixing to swarm. I have so much to learn. Plan to use the OAV as soon as I am able to get to them.


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