Diseases of the Honey bee

Pests and Parasites
Varroa mites
Varroa destructor and Varroa jacobsoni are parasitic mites that feed off the bodily fluids of adult, pupal and larval bees. Varroa mites can be seen with the naked eye as a small red or brown spot on the bee's thorax. Varroa are carriers for a virus that is particularly damaging to the bees. Bees that are infected with this virus during their development will often have a visible "K-wing" deformity. (For more information, click here and click here )

Acarine (Tracheal) mites
Acarapis woodi is a small parasitic mite that infests the airways of the honey bee. The first known infestation of the mites occurred in the British Isles in the early 20th century. First observed on the Isle of Wight in 1904, the mystery illness known as Isle of Wight Disease was not identified as being caused by a parasite until 1921. (For more information, click here and click here )

Nosema
Nosema apis is a spore-forming parasite that invades the intestinal tracts of adult bees and causes nosema disease. Nosema is also associated with Black queen-cell virus. Nosema is normally only a problem when the bees can not leave the hive to eliminate waste (for example, during an extended cold spell in winter or when the hives are enclosed in a wintering barn). (For more information, click here and click here)

Small hive beetle
Comb slimed by hive beetle larvae. Hives infested at this level will drive out bee colonies. Aethina tumida is a small, dark-colored beetle that lives in beehives. (For more information, click here and click here)

Wax moths
Galleria mellonella (greater wax moths) will not attack the bees directly, but feed on the wax used by the bees to build their honeycomb. Their full development to adults requires access to used brood comb or brood cell cleanings — these contain protein essential for the larvae's development, in the form of brood coocoons. (For more information, click here and click here)

Bacterial Diseases
American foulbrood (AFB)
Paenibacillus larvae (formerly classified as Bacillus larvae) is a spore-forming bacterium. This disease only affects the bee larvae but is highly infectious and deadly to bee brood. Infected larvae will darken and die. Lab testing is necessary for definitive diagnosis, but a good field test is to touch a dead larva with a toothpick or twig. (For more information, click here and click here)

European foulbrood (EFB)
Melissococcus pluton is a bacterium that infests the guts of bee larvae. European foulbrood is less deadly to a colony than is American foulbrood. Melissococcus pluton does not form spores, though it can overwinter on comb. (For more information, click here)

Fungal Diseases
Chalkbrood
Ascophaera apis is a fungal disease that infests the gut of the larva. The fungus will compete with the larva for food, ultimately causing it to starve. The fungus will then go on to consume the rest of the larva's body, causing it to appear white and 'chalky'. (For more information, click here)

Stonebrood
Stonebrood is a fungal disease caused by Aspergillus fumigatus. It causes mummification of the brood. Worker bees generally clean out the infected brood and the hive recovers. (For more information, click here and click here)

Viral diseases
Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) or (APV)
ABPV is considered to be a common infective agent of bees. It is frequently detected in apparently healthy colonies. Apparently, this virus plays a role in cases of sudden collapse of honeybee colonies infested with the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. (For more information, click here)

Dysentery
Dysentery is a condition resulting from a combination of long periods of inability to make cleansing flights (generally due to cold weather) and food stores which contain a high proportion of indigestible matter. As a bee's gut becomes engorged with feces that cannot be voided in flight as preferred by the bees, the bee voids within the hive. When enough bees do this the hive population rapidly collapses and death of the colony results. Dark honeys and honeydews have greater quantities of indigestible matter. (For more information, click here)

Chilled brood
Chilled brood is not actually a disease but can be a result of mistreatment of the bees by the beekeeper. It also can be caused by a pesticide hit that primarily kills off the adult population, or by a sudden drop in temperature during rapid spring buildup. The brood must be kept warm at all times; nurse bees will cluster over the brood to keep it at the right temperature. (For more information, click here)

Pesticide losses
Honey bees are susceptible to many of the chemicals used for agricultural spraying of other insects and pests. Many pesticides are known to be toxic to bees. Because the bees forage up to several miles from the hive, they may fly into areas actively being sprayed by farmers or they may collect pollen from 'contaminated' flowers. (For more information, click here)

Colony Collapse Disorder
Colony Collapse Disorder (or CCD) is a poorly understood phenomenon involving the abrupt disappearance of the worker bees in a beehive or Western honey bee colony. CCD has alternatively been referenced as Vanishing Bee Syndrome (VBS),[1] but this name is not in common use. Apparently, CCD was originally found only in colonies of the Western honey bee in North America,[2] but European beekeepers have recently claimed to be observing a similar phenomenon in Poland, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. (For more information, click here and click here)