i stickied a handful of threads last year having to do with efb outbreaks. i thought it would be best to organize those threads here into one sticky, and we can start over with 2020 outbreaks.
understood bernhard. the current thinking is that efb is morphing and becoming more of a threat. discovering efb bacteria can live for a long time in beebread and honey makes it more like afb in that the equipment has to be dealt with as well.
here is a very informative video presentation that is worth looking at when you have some spare time:
Only in the SE US.
Traditional terramycin (or even tylosin) not effective if diagnosed and action taken timely? or is the secondary infections the problem?
when i say 'anecdotal' i am referring to direct personal communications with the leading bee entomology professor at auburn university, the research leader at beltsville bee lab in maryland, and the chief apiary inspector for alabama's apiary protection unit.
i'll defer to these 'experts' and when they tell me that efb is on the rise nationwide i'll accept that until i see evidence to the contrary.
all one has to do is look over the threads linked in post #1 on this thread to see reports of efb outbreaks in the u.s. including the southeast and elsewhere.
waiting for efb test kits and the time delay with obtaining the vfd necessary for ordering antibiotics can certainly contribute to efb advancing through an apiary and reaching a point of no return despite eventual treatment.
the surprising and most concerning facts the brits have uncovered are the ease at which the bacteria can spread within a yard and to nearby yards and the length of time the bacteria stays active in the food stores. they also prove that antibiotic treatment alone doesn't do much to keep efb from showing back up later.
Recognizing and acting on the very first signs of EFB is excellent advice; as usual though, the devil is in the details.
The first signs of EFB in a well populated hive would easily go unnoticed. With plenty of nurse bees the affected larvae are quickly removed. They dont get to the large, discolored and slumping stage that is so obvious in advanced cases. The vacated cells appear as a bit spotty brood, but this is common in cold climate spring colonies as a lot of cells are empty for occupation by heater bees. In early stages there will not be the secondary infections which are responsible for the commonly reported odors so that might not be an indicator.
I missed the first signs for certain and the delay in acting cost me colonies. I even made moves that are commonly recommended but dead wrong for verified Monococcus Plutons infection.
Reading some of Flowerplanters advice was helpful. I remember thinking (long before I had the problem) that he was way over the top about EFB. I dont think that now!
I agree! This happened with a swarm my husband picked up; as soon as I saw the symptoms I dumped the whole hive; box, bees and frames. Grateful it was a small one. After viewing the UK’s National Honey Show videos on EFB and some people on this forums experiences lately, I am very cautious.
i'm guessing that those reading in other countries will find it strange that swarm traps are outlawed in germany.
so if a beekeeper in germany is not doing a good job with mite control season after season and affecting the neighboring beekeepers will the authorities deny that beekeeper a license to keep bees?
i wonder what the authorities in germany do if they should come up on a case of efb or afb? perhaps there is not much efb there due to mandatory destruction, like it is in switzerland?
If you're not really sure on the issue, pull a frame of larva at night, the yellow will really stand out then and be very apparent, especially on older comb.
Squarepeg: What kind of hygienic precautions do/will you take going from hive to hive or apiary to apiary? When the state apiarist inspected my hives for suspected efb (neg thankfully), he scrubbed his hive tool with water and comet cleanser with bleach and then soaked in alcohol. I do not know what, if anything he did with his suit/jacket. Nancy (Enjambres) who was kind enough to help me out dedicated a efb suit which she left here so as not to risk contamination to her apiary. J
melissococcus plutonius is an anaerobic bacteria. for most anaerobes oxygen is toxic and they cannot survive long when exposed to it.
i've not been able to put my hands on any studies that show how easy it is or not to grow m.p. off of tools, clothes, ect., let alone say a frame of empty comb with no stores of any kind in it.
on the other hand it's easy to see how the organism could thrive at the bottom of a cell containing beebread or honey.
Our inspector doesn't touch anything or use a hive tool. He wears latex gloves and changes them between inspections. I hope these precautions are adequate.
fortunately the bacteria associated with efb doesn't form long lived and virtually indestructible spores as is the case with afb.
afb is the one where you might as well through everything into a pit and then burn and bury, unless you have ionizing radiation available.
it would be helpful if some research types would look into how long and under what conditions m.p. can remain viable.
the folks at beltsville offered to test any equipment ect. that i wanted to send them. i thought about sending some of the empty comb from efb infected hives that i have rinsed out and then bleached to see if they could grow any m.p. off of it.
as of right now the strongest colony i have is a caught swarm that i installed into a double deep full of washed and bleached comb out of efb dead outs.
https://youtu.be/z0B9o4GHq7U
UK honey show video on AFB/EFB I am not sure who has seen it. ?I don’t remember how in-depth it was regarding the lifetime of EFB outside the hive. I’ll watch again.
A good reason not to share honey among the hives or if you do, not to share it between apiaries. Also, feed sugar water to your caged/banked queens, not honey. Something I did before I knew better. J
how would the authorities there deal with a case of a beginner beekeeper purchasing 4 hives of bees and then completely neglect them, resulting in the collapse of all 4, and do this same thing for 3 years in a row for a total of 12 collapsed colonies? (assume nothing was done to prevent the robbing out of these hives after the collapses)
would the neighboring beekeepers have a legitimate complaint and could they compel the authorities to refuse a license to the negligent beekeeper?
in my state of alabama, the authorities tell me there is nothing that our laws allow them to do about this, and that such a beekeeper can continue to carry on doing this if they wish.
the only exception here is with afb, in which case a law allows the state authorities to come in and destroy the afb infected hives.
if my understanding is corrrect, a similar mandatory destruction directive is now in effect for efb hives in switzerland, and if over 50% of the hives in an apiary are infected then 100% of the hives are destroyed.
in my state of alabama, the authorities tell me there is nothing that our laws allow them to do about this, and that such a beekeeper can continue to carry on doing this if they wish.
the only exception here is with afb, in which case a law allows the state authorities to come in and destroy the afb infected hives.
i am bumping this thread and keeping it stickied even though the efb discussion has transitioned to newer threads. the information contained in 2019 threads linked in post #1 of this thread is still current and relevant.
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