foulbrood in ktbh

[allrawpaul]

My kenya topbar hive has afb. I am going to burn all their comb and scorch the ktbh. None of my other 12 hives show any symptoms. The ktbh population was probably equal to a medium sized swarm, and they still had some early season honey, so I dont beilieve they were robbed at all. Should I treat all the other hives with teramyacin.? Odd that they would get afb. This is their first year and so all their comb is freshly drawn. Must have robbed out a neighbors hive, but in that case why didnt my other hives find it too? The only other things I did different with that hive is I shook out a split from them in mid season(maybe I chilled some brood that them spoiled and afb proliferated?) Also, that was the only hive that had a screened bottom, open to the air, without a drawer underneath. Thanks for any suggestions! Paul.

[Axtmann]

Paul are you sure, is it 100% AFB and not EFB or chilled brood? It is really unusual that alone fresh drawn combs have AFB and not other hive in the yard with older dark combs.

We have only one medication for AFB and this is. …Fire!

Terramicine is an antibiotic and IMO it has nothing to do in our food. By the way, it doesn’t kill AFB spores.
There is absolutely no way to cure the hive from the AFB disease with a medication. Antibiotic only hides the problems.

[Michael Bush]

I would get a definitive diagnosis:
AFB

Holts milk test:
The Hive and The Honey Bee. "Extensively Revised in 1975"

edition. Page 623.

"The Holst milk test: The Holst milk test was designed to

identify enzymes produced by B. larvae when speculating (Host

1946). A scale or toothpick smear is swirled gently into a

tube containing 3-4 milliliters of 1 per cent powdered skim

milk and incubated at body temperature. If the spores of B.

larvae are present, the cloudy suspension will clear in 10-20

minutes. Scales from EFB or sacbrood are negative in this

test."

(Note: the name of B. larvae has now been changed by the

taxonomists to Paenbacillus larvae. You'll find many

references under both names.)

Discussion of Holts Milk Test:
http://www.beesource.com/cgi-bin/ubb...ebb.cgi?ubb=ge

t_topic;f=2;t=004299#000000

Test kits:
http://www.beeequipment.com/products.asp?pcode=315
http://www.dadant.com/catalog/produc...products_id=71

6&osCsid=fca1d9d269ea1eab911d6db7cf289bb9

Beltsville Lab:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=7473


Parafoulbrood is often mistaken for AFB and if it's just dark larvae many things are confused with it.

[allrawpaul]

Thanks Axtmann and thanks Michael for the advice. I will send a sample to the beltsville lab.