American Foulbrood Symptoms: Ropey Dead Larvae and Black Scale.
Photo credit: Michael E Wilson
Pick a cell with sunken, perforated cappings. When pulling the stick out from infected brood, a brown, ropey slime can be seen. Also pictured here are many cells with black, bacterial spore laden scales on the bottom of the cells, a condition unique to American Fouldbrood (AFB).
The nests of densely populated social insect colonies provide a favorable habitat for a wide range of parasites
and pathogens that have evolved to overwhelm or suppress their hosts’ immune defenses. AFB is found almost worldwide, and it is caused by the spore-forming bacteria Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae. [1]
Larvae up to 3 days old become infected by ingesting spores that are present in their food. Young larvae less than 24 hours old are most susceptible to infection. Spores germinate in the gut of the larva, where the vegetative form of the bacteria begins to grow, feeding from the larva. Infected larvae darken and die, normally after their cell is sealed.
When cleaning infected cells, bees distribute spores throughout the entire colony, contaminating brood food, also know as bee bread or perga. Thus perpetuating the cycle. Nectar stored in contaminated cells will contain spores and soon the brood chamber becomes filled with contaminated honey. As this honey is moved up into the supers, the entire bee hive becomes contaminated with spores. When the colony becomes weak from AFB infection, robber bees may enter and take contaminated honey back to their hives thereby spreading the disease to other colonies and apiaries. Beekeepers also may spread disease by moving equipment (frames or supers) from contaminated hives to healthy ones. [2]
Treating Foulbrood is complicated because the disease can evolve to resist antibiotics and other chemical treatments. Spores are extremely resistant to desiccation and can remain viable for more than 40 years in honey and beekeeping equipment. In order to prevent the loss of more colonies, beehives with American Foulbrood should be burned.
Phage
Lunar Lander
"A bacteriophage, AKA a phage, is a virus that infects and replicates within Bacteria and Archaea. The term was derived from "bacteria" and the Greek "to devour". Phages replicate within the bacterium following the injection of their genome into its cytoplasm.
Bacteriophages are among the most common and diverse entities in the biosphere. Ubiquitous viruses, found wherever bacteria exist. It is estimated there are more than 1031 bacteriophages on the planet, more than every other organism on Earth, including bacteria, combined. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage
Brigham Young University researchers have identified five new phages that can potentially treat honeybee hives infected with American Foulbrood.
Using phage against American Foulbrood is an organic treatment, that uses nature's natural bacteria killers. Definitely preferable to antibiotics, chemical and pesticide use that otherwise would be present in honey and all other bee products. This analysis provides a foundation on which to build an understanding of the natural predators of the disease American Foulbrood. [6]
