Amoeba

 

Cause

A motile protozoan Malpighamoeba mellificae.

 

The Disease

Cysts are taken in by the bee which hatch into a flagellated form in the pyloric region of the ventriculus. The amoeba migrates into the malpighean tubules where it becomes trophic. This form finally becomes a cyst which is passed into the rectum to be voided.

The life cycle takes about 22 -24 days to complete and when fully infected a bee may contain 500,000 cysts. The cysts are spherical with a well defined cell wall.

 

Signs in the colony

The disease produces no signs and has no apparent effect on the bee.

There is likely to be some damage to the tubules but this does not appear to have an effect on the bee’s ability to excrete.

This disease is associated with Bee Virus X which can cause colony collapse

 

Treatment

There is no specific treatment.

Replacing brood comb regularly and fumigating old comb with acetic acid will reduce the risk of re-infection.