Filed under

THREATS

Healthy colonies don't fall apart by accident. Varroa mites, American foulbrood, small hive beetle, nosema, deformed wing virus, wax moths, fire ants. Every one of them has a threshold, a management approach, and a point where it becomes a colony-ending problem if you don't act. This encyclopedia covers the threats we manage in central Texas: what they are, how to identify them in the field, and what actually works at the scale of a working operation. We don't treat preventatively and we don't guess. We count mites, read brood patterns, and make decisions based on what the numbers say. That's how you build a yard that survives.

Historical illustration of foulbrood-infected honeycomb cells from Isaac Hopkins Bee-Culture 1907

Threats

European Foulbrood in Honey Bees: What EFB Is Telling You

European foulbrood in honey bees kills larvae before cells are capped. Here’s how to identify EFB, distinguish it from AFB, and manage colonies without reaching for antibiotics first.

Small hive beetles clustered in a honey bee hive

Threats

Small Hive Beetle and Honey Bees

Small hive beetle is established in Texas, active year-round. Here’s the biology, what larvae do to a colony, and why colony strength is the entire SHB program at Honey Outlaws.

Fire ant worker, Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Austin, Texas

Threats

Fire Ants and Honey Bees in Texas

Fire ants are part of beekeeping across the eastern two-thirds of Texas, but they only raid weak colonies. Here’s how to keep hives strong, band the stand, and bait the mound.

Honey bee with crumpled deformed wings and a Varroa mite visible on its body

Threats

Deformed Wing Virus in Honey Bees, and Why Varroa Makes It Lethal

Deformed wing virus stays harmless on its own. Varroa is what makes it lethal, carrying it straight into developing pupae. Here’s what DWV does and why controlling mites is your only defense.

Threats

Chalkbrood in Honey Bees

Chalkbrood in honey bees is usually self-limiting. Here’s why some colonies clear it and others don’t, and what to do when it keeps coming back.

USDA ARS researchers using microscope to examine Nosema ceranae honey bee fungus spores

Threats

What Nosema ceranae Does to Honey Bees, and Why There’s No Fix

Nosema ceranae causes invisible colony decline in honey bees, no dysentery, no obvious signs. Here’s what it does, how it differs from Nosema apis, and why there’s still no reliable fix.

Threats

Greater Wax Moth in Honey Bees: The Colony Is the Defense

Greater wax moth can’t establish in a healthy, queen-right colony. The bees handle it themselves. Here’s what wax moth damage actually signals and how to protect stored comb.

Dark, sunken AFB scales on the bottom of brood cells caused by American foulbrood

Threats

American Foulbrood in Honey Bees: Find It, Burn It

American foulbrood is Texas’s most serious brood disease, and it’s legally reportable. Here’s how to identify it, what the law requires, and why oxytetracycline won’t save the colony.

Varroa destructor mite on a honeybee host, scanning electron microscopy

Threats

What Varroa Mites Do to Honey Bees, and How We Treat

Varroa mite is the most destructive pest managed honey bees face. Here’s the biology, what it costs the colony, and how Honey Outlaws monitors and treats.