[BeekeepingIsGood]

Unfortunately one of my hives was lost over the winter to afb. I'm working to put together a short video of what I saw to show others in my bee club. This is the first draft:

I saw ropy brood, and scales (the first 30 seconds). I also saw things that didn't exactly fit that (the last 30 seconds of the video). Maybe they were on the way to one of those two states? Or are they something completely different?

 

[Juhani Lunden]

I think the thick clumbs were AFB too.

The ropy thing is not always so well present as in the video. Good work!

I think smell is the best way to be sure. Once you learned it you never forget it.

 

[BeekeepingIsGood]

Here is the updated video documenting my experience with AFB

 

[Michael Bush]

There have been a lot of other diseases with ropy brood in recent years. I would do a holst milk test.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beespests.htm#afb

It could be parafoulbrood or it could be "snotbrood". It would be worth knowing for sure. And/or you can send samples to Beltsville.

 

[BeekeepingIsGood]

There have been a lot of other diseases with ropy brood in recent years.

Hi Michael, I'm having difficulty finding much recent reference to parafoulbrood. Where have you being hearing it reported?

 

[AR Beekeeper]

Beekeeping.IsGood; Para-Foulbrood was only seen in the early 1930's in the S.E. USA. It was thought that it was a strain of European Foulbrood that has not reappeared since. There are strains of EFB that are very hard to control, and in the U.K. EFB is considered more contagious than AFB. I have not heard of any "Super Strains" of EFB here in the U.S. or in Canada.

 

[Michael Bush]

>Hi Michael, I'm having difficulty finding much recent reference to parafoulbrood. Where have you being hearing it reported?

Recently similar symptoms are being called "snotbrood". Unfortunately "snotbrood" has no specific definition other than having the same sypmtoms as AFB but from a different but unidentified causative agent. It may just be parafoulbrood or it may be something else.