Study Guide: Sacbrood

Studying continues for the Apprentice Beekeeper Exam. Here is the study guide.

Previous articles in this series include: European Foulbrood, American Foulbrood, Nosema and Chalkbrood.

Next on the hit parade of bee diseases is Sacbrood. Fortunately this one isn’t as disasterous as the others we’ve studied so far.

Sacbrood is caused by a virus that the adult bees pass along to the larvae. The Texas Apiary Inspection Service says it is “not a source of major concern for beekeepers”.

The virus kills the larvae, which then die…then the bees that go to clean up the cells eat the infected larvae, which then passes along the virus. And so it goes.

There isn’t a remedy for it except that it usually clears up on its own once the nectar starts flowing. The best prevention is keeping strong healthy colonies. Sound familiar?

Here is a helpful link about Sacbrood.