Adoption of Partial Shook Swarm in the Integrated Control of American and European Foulbrood of Honey Bee ( Apis mellifera L.)

Michela Mosca, Jernej Bubnic, Luigi Giannetti, Luca Fortugno, Marco Pietropaoli (), Veronica Manara, Elisabetta Bonerba and Giovanni Formato
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Michela Mosca: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”, via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy
Jernej Bubnic: Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova ulica 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Luigi Giannetti: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”, via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy
Luca Fortugno: Servizi Veterinari ASL di Viterbo, via D. Alighieri 100, 01027 Montefiascone, Italy
Marco Pietropaoli: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”, via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy
Veronica Manara: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”, via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy
Elisabetta Bonerba: Department of Veterinary Medicine, Food Safety Unit, University of Bari, Str. Prov. Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Italy
Giovanni Formato: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”, via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Rome, Italy

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-9

Abstract: American foulbrood (AFB) and European foulbrood (EFB) are the two most important bacterial diseases that affect honey bee brood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an integrated treatment of AFB and EFB in naturally infected colonies in spring, using the beekeeping technique partial shook swarm combined with oxytetracycline treatment. The following parameters were assessed: strength of the colonies, consumption of antibiotic solution, queen losses, honey production and relapses. An increase in strength was observed in both (AFB and EFB) groups. Mean syrup consumption in the AFB colonies was 444.2 mL, while in the EFB colonies it was 497.3 mL. Linear correlation between the strength of the colonies and consumption ( p -values < 0.0001; R² = 0.448) was observed. Three queens out of thirty (10%) were lost during the shook swarm procedure: one in the AFB group (5.3%) and two in the EFB group (18.2%). The results highlighted four clinical relapses (22.2%) of AFB, and no relapse (0%) of EFB after two years of observation. Six colonies (four in the AFB group and two in the EFB group) produced honey in the same beekeeping season that the shook swarm and antibiotic treatment were performed. Partial shook swarm is a good alternative to colony destruction, especially for EFB, and provides productive colonies during the foraging season.

Keywords: AFB; Apis mellifera; EFB; IPM; oxytetracycline; shook swarm (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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