Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) affects the adult bees of a honey bee colony. It can lead to severe bee losses and even the death of the affected colony.

On all continents where the western honey bee Apis mellifera occurs. It occurs occasionally in Austria.

Bee colonies with diseased bees

CBPV is transmitted between adult bees through physical contact or orally and faecally, e.g. with infected food. Transmission from colony to colony occurs naturally through the movement of bees, but also through beekeeping work when bees are added to other colonies.

An incubation period of five days was determined experimentally

Typical symptoms are shiny black, trembling and flightless bees, sometimes with a distended abdomen on the flight board. Guard bees show aggressive behaviour towards diseased individuals. In severe cases, the affected colonies suffer from massive bee losses, which leads to poor food supply and reduced honey yield. Especially if it occurs later in the season, it can be critical for the survival of the colonies; disease progression over several seasons is also known.

No medicinal products are available in Austria. The selective removal of older bees (e.g. sweeping off the bees), repopulation of the colonies and good feeding of the colonies are recommended.

Careful purchasing of colonies and good hygiene (e.g. no moving of combs) are recommended preventative measures.

CBPV is detectable in around 5 to 10 % of all apiaries in Austria ( Zukunft Biene 2 data, survey years 2018 to 2020).

CBPV can be detected in bees (e.g. symptomatic bees). Detection is carried out using PCR. As the quality of the test depends heavily on the material sent in, please inform yourself about the sample type and packaging before sending it in.