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Honey Bee Pests - American Foulbrood
Varroa | American Foulbrood
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American Foulbrood - AFB
Three little initials that make all beekeepers get chills. THERE IS NO CURE. This is what American Foulbrood looks like. Any thing that causes a worker bee to smell something wrong in a cell will result in ragged, open cappings like this. Undertaker bees come along and clean out the cell. The spores are so prolific that the hive is eventually over-run.
The AFB killed larva will deteriorate in a particular way. It becomes a jelly-like mess, which is termed "ropy" in all the books. It stinks too. If not found ( and the colony burned ) the mass will harden into a "scale". This is impossible to remove without destroying the cell. That's another clue.
If you buy used equipment, have someone with knowledge check it out with you. The usual outcome is that the hive will expire and all the other hives in the area will rob it out, thus spreading the disease exponentially. (Courtesy of Back Yard Beekeepers of CT) |
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