Death of bees in Meghalaya not because of disease: ICAR

Newmai News Network
Shillong, May 28: The death of honey bees in West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya is not because of any common bee disease or parasitic infections as has been found by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
This was informed on Thursday by Director of Horticulture, Government of Meghalaya, S Nongbet who said that this was revealed by the laboratory analysis conducted by ICAR on the dead bees.
“ICAR has sent the complete report to the Directorate of Horticulture on the issue of the dead honey bees in West Khasi Hills district along with a detailed report on external and microbiological examination along with an advisory for beekeepers in the state,” she said.
According to the report from ICAR, the external examination of the dead bees and honeycomb samples did not reveal any type of common bee diseases and parasitic infections including mites.
The report also said that except for common bacterial contaminants (usually associated with handling), no other pathogenic bacterial growth was found on dead bee samples and that the samples did not show the presence of any pathogenic fungal growth.
Meanwhile, the advisory from ICAR to beekeepers in Meghalaya stated that the apiary must be located in well-drained area with a profuse source of nectar, pollen, and water.
"The colony needs protection from heavy rain and sunlight in order to maintain the optimum temperature in the hive and maintenance of proper ventilation in the beehives," the advisory also said.
It also said that artificial food like sugar syrup (1:1) @ 200 g sugar per colony per week may be provided during the lean period and to keep the colony away from the reach of cattle, other animal, busy roads, and street lights.
Chemical spray especially insecticides should be strictly avoided in the vicinity of the apiary and to keep the hive clean.
It has also advised bee keepers to remove dirty material in the roof if any, to observe if the queen bee is healthy or not, the status of brood development, storage of honey and pollen, presence of queen cells, etc.
"Inspect the beehives at least once a week preferably during the morning hours for routine cleaning of hives, inspect the mite, insect, pest and diseases and if any  insect, pest and diseases present in the hives then proper action should be taken accordingly", the advisory further read.
With regard to management during honey flow season, bee keepers are advised to keep the colony in sufficient strength before the honey flow season and to also place queen excluder sheets in between brood and super chamber to confine the queen to the brood chamber.
“Examine the colony once a week and frames full of honey should be removed. The frames which are three fourth filled with honey or pollen and one fourth with sealed brood should be taken out of the brood chamber and in its place, empty combs or frames with foundation is added,” Sandip Patra, Scientist, Agricultural Entomology said.
He also said that the combs that are completely sealed or two-third capped may be taken out for extraction of honey and returned to supers after honey extraction.