American Foulbrood

 

• The most serious disease a hive can have

• Spore forming

• The vegetative stage infects larvae

• It grows for about ten days and then turns into a spore

• 2.5 billion spores can exist in one (AFB) scale

It takes only about 10 spores fed to a one day old larvae for it to become infected 

 

Symptoms/Identification

 

•             Irregular brood pattern (shotgun appearance)

• Many cells are left open among capped brood

• Perforated, sunken, sometimes greasy looking wet capped cells

• Foul odor

• Discolored larvae

• Dried out scales adherer to lower cell walls

• Pupal tongue may be present

• Larvae die upright

• Scales are difficult to remove

 

How it Spreads

• Robbing behavior

• Infected equipment

• Drifting

• Infected honey and pollen

• Swarm     

 

Diagnose

• Rosiness test-- take a toothpick stir it into a sick larvae and if it stretches out like glue it is most likely (AFB)

•  Foulbrood test kit

• Send a sample of Honey free brood to                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Bee disease Diagnosis

                                                                                                       bee research Laboratory

                                                                                                         Bldg. 306 Room 316

                                                                   Beltsville Agriculture Research Center-East

                                                                                                            Beltsville, MD 2070

Treatment

 

• Terramycin and Tylan powder kills the vegetative stage but not the spores!!!

• Lye bath and Paraffin dipping are both options but there is a risk of reinfection

• Ethylene oxide kills the spores but few states still approve it. (it is known as a cancer causing chemical and doesn’t kill the spores in honey)

• Gamma Radiation (impractical)

• Put the bees on knew equipment, requeen, and feed or spray with a medicated syrup

• BURNING is the most effective treatment. Kill the bees with soapy water at night. And them burn them. Then Burn the infected equipment and bury it.