Terrestrial Animal Health Code
Terrestrial Animal Health Code |
Official health control of bee diseases
Purpose
This chapter is intended to set out guidelines for official health control of bee diseases. These are needed for the control of endemic bee diseases at the country level and to detect incursions of exotic diseases, thereby ensuring safe international trade of bees, bee products and used apicultural equipment. The guidelines are designed to be general in nature and more specific recommendations or requirements are made in chapters on bee diseases.
Overview
In each country or region, official health control of bee diseases should include:
official registration of the apiaries by the Veterinary Authority or other Competent Authority in the whole country or region;
an organisation for permanent health surveillance;
approval of breeding apiaries for export trade;
measures for cleaning, disinfection and disinfestation of apicultural equipment;
rules precisely stating the requirements for issuing an international veterinary certificate.
Official registration of the apiaries by the Veterinary Authority or other Competent Authority in the whole country or region
The registration of apiaries is the first step in developing a regional management plan for bee disease surveillance and control. With knowledge of bee density and location it is possible to design valid sampling schemes, to predict the spread of disease and to design inspection programmes to target areas of high risk.
The official registration of apiary sites should be annual and may provide information such as the presumptive locations of the apiary sites in the next 12 months, the average number of colonies in each apiary site, and the name and address of the principal owner of the bees in the apiary.
The main apiary locations (places where the bee hives are located the longest time in the year) should be registered first, followed as far as possible by the seasonal apiary locations.
Organisation for permanent official sanitary surveillance of apiaries
Veterinary Authorities or other Competent Authorities of countries are requested to regulate the organisation for permanent official sanitary surveillance of apiaries.
Permanent official sanitary surveillance of apiaries should be under the authority of the Veterinary Authority or other Competent Authority and should be performed either by representatives of this Authority or by representatives of an approved organisation, with the possible assistance of bee-keepers specially trained to qualify as 'health inspectors and advisers'.
The official surveillance service thus established should be entrusted with the following tasks:
visit apiaries:
annual visits to an appropriate sample of apiaries, based on the estimated risk in the whole country or region, during the most appropriate periods for the detection of diseases;
additional visits to apiaries may be carried out for specific purposes including trade or transfer to other regions, or any other purpose whereby diseases could be spread;
collect samples required for the diagnosis of diseases and despatch them to a laboratory; the results of laboratory examinations should be communicated within the shortest delay to the Veterinary Authority or other Competent Authority;
apply hygiene measures, comprising, in particular, treatment of colonies of bees, as well as disinfection of the equipment and possibly the destruction of affected or suspect colonies and of the contaminated equipment so as to ensure rapid eradication of any outbreak of a disease.
Conditions for approval of breeding apiaries for export trade
Veterinary Authorities or other Competent Authorities of exporting countries are requested to regulate the conditions for approval of breeding apiaries for export trade.
The apiaries should:
have received, for at least the past two years, visits by a health inspector and adviser, carried out at least once a year using a risk-based approach during the most appropriate periods for detection of listed diseases of bees. During these visits, there should be a systematic examination of at least 10% of the hives containing bees and of the used apicultural equipment (especially stored combs), and the collection of samples to be sent to a laboratory and, depending on the situation of the importing and exporting countries, no positive results were reported to the Veterinary Authorities or other Competent Authorities for the relevant listed disease of bees;
be regularly sampled, depending on the epidemiological situation of the importing and exporting countries, and found free from the relevant listed diseases of bees. To achieve this, a statistically valid number of bee colonies should be examined by any method complying with the relevant chapters of the Terrestrial Manual.
Bee-keepers should:
immediately notify the Veterinary Authority or other Competent Authority of any suspicion of a listed disease of bees in the breeding apiary and in other epidemiologically linked apiaries;
not introduce into the apiary any bee (including pre-imago stages) or used apicultural equipment or product originating from another apiary unless that apiary is recognised by the Veterinary Authority or other Competent Authority to be of equivalent or higher health status or the used apicultural equipment or product has been treated in agreement with a procedure described in the relevant chapters of the Terrestrial Code;
apply special breeding and despatch techniques to ensure protection against any outside contamination, especially for the breeding and sending of queen-bees and accompanying bees and to enable retesting in the importing country;
collect at least every 30 days, during the breeding and despatch period, appropriate samples to be sent to a laboratory and all the positive results officially reported to the Veterinary Authority or other Competent Authority.
Conditions for sanitation and disinfection or disinfestation of apicultural equipment
Veterinary Authorities or other Competent Authorities of countries are requested to regulate the use of products and means for sanitation and disinfection or disinfestation of apicultural equipment in their own country, taking into account the following recommendations.
Any apicultural equipment kept in an establishment which has been recognised as being affected with a contagious disease of bees should be subjected to sanitary measures ensuring the elimination of pathogens.
In all cases, these measures comprise the initial cleaning of the equipment, followed by sanitation or disinfection or disinfestation depending on the disease concerned.
Any infested or contaminated equipment which cannot be subjected to the above-mentioned measures should be destroyed, preferably by burning.
The products and means used for sanitation and disinfection or disinfestation should be accepted as being effective by the Veterinary Authority or other Competent Authority. They should be used in such a manner as to exclude any risk of contaminating the equipment which could eventually affect the health of bees or adulterate the products of the hive.
Preparation of the international veterinary certificate for export
This certificate covers hives containing bees, brood-combs, royal cells, used apicultural equipment and bee products.
This document should be prepared in accordance with the model contained in Chapter 5.10. and taking into account the chapters on bee diseases.
nb: first adopted in 1976; most recent update adopted in 2013.
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