Getting rid of an infected colony

[Angularity]

I have a colony which is infected with CBPV, and has a laying worker to boot. I tried the shake out and let the healthy ones fly back treatment, which is apparently also the treatment for a laying worker, then put in a test frame with eggs from a strong colony. No good; no queen cells and more worker eggs.

So, the question is, how to get rid of them and clean up the boxes? I assume it's unfair to scoop them all up and dump them n a hedge somewhere, because there would well be another beek nearby who will get a couple of hundred unwanted, infected guests. Should I just leave them to die out over the next six weeks or so?

After that, do I need to burn the frames and bleach out the brood box and floor, or is there something else I should be doing?

 

[Stiffy]

I have only encountered this once and was from a colony in a similar state as yours i.e. drone laying queen.
If it was mine, I would scrap the frames and wax, clean the brood box and start afresh.
Advice from Bee Unit attached for reference.
S

 

[Briarfield]

I had one earlier in the year. Washing up liquid in a spray, then all the boxes went in a tray with a steam hose from a wallpaper stripper into the side of an old super under them.

The wax then went into the solar extractor.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Paul in Poole]

Like you i had CBPV and could not find an answer about wether i could use frames of comb etc again . I considered that if one of the treatments is to shake out the bees that the combs should be ok to use again.
So i put a new swarm in the hive and after about six weeks the bees are doing well with no signs of the disease.
Will monitor for a season before making any statement.

 

[Angularity]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

What did you do with the living bees?

 

[Swarm]

See reply by Briarfield, washing detergent in a sprayer.

 

[Angularity]

See reply by Briarfield, washing detergent in a sprayer.

Ah. That's the kind of thing I was thinking of.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Am I correct that a virus only lives in the host so consequently it will not contaminate comb ?

 

[Fritillary]

Am I correct that a virus only lives in the host so consequently it will not contaminate comb ?

That's what I used to think, but I gathered (from people who were bee inspectors) that some viruses can apparently survive, or at any rate remain viable, for some time outside the host. That was why I made candles from all the comb, and used virucide and scorching etc with my hive after I had CBPV here.

 

[bontbee]

Have a read of the NBU leaflet, as per the link posted by Stiffy. It suggests that comb should be replaced as it is, as yet, unknown how long the virus can survive outside a bee....

 

[Nige.Coll]

I had CBPV in a colony and shook them out as instructed by the bee inspector.
Sorted the problem and the hive and frames are still in the same colony no further issues. No further infections or signs of them, colony has been fine since.

 

[birdsandbees]

I've got one like that at present, they had CBPV last Autumn, thought they were doomed but I just left them to it, they pulled through and the disease disappeared or so I thought, they swarmed this year after becoming a very strong colony, the queen and her swarm went into a Nuc and are looking good, however after the swarm bees started showing signs of CBPV again and although they are still going the queen became a Drone layer, they have replaced her with a new queen which is laying but its a bit of a mess in there now with all those bumpy Drone cells and poorly bees sitting around.
I was wondering what to do with them and was considering a shook swarm into a new box and foundation but as has been said if its the bees themselves that carry the virus its a bit odd that its only this one hive that is affected?
I wont shake them out for fear of transmitting the disease to other hives but I'm reluctant to snuff them out as they recovered once they may do it again.