AFB is generally considered the most devastating disease of honey bees, as clinical infection typically results in both the death of the colony and the destruction of the hive equipment. (Milbrath 2021)

A survey of colonies in almond pollination found that while only a small number (<5%) of the colonies had AFB disease (based on high bacterial colony forming units), 70–80% were positive for the etiologic agent that causes AFB (Eischen et al. 2005). [20 years ago]

East Coast of the United States found a similar trend: few colonies (<10%) had visible disease, but infectious spores were found in about half of the registered apiaries (Dingman 2012). [>10 yrs ago]

In a study in Manitoba, about 15% of the colonies had signs of disease, but spores were found in the honey of almost all of the colonies (Pernal and Melathopoulos 2006). 

Adult honeybees will be collected from randomly sampled apiaries in Connecticut and the bees will be assayed for the presence of P. larvae spores. P. larvae is the causative agent of American foulbrood and the bacterial endospore is the contagion of this disease. P. larvae cultures collected from the various bee samples will be DNA fingerprinted using PFGE, REP-PCR and ITS-PCR to better understand the dynamics of this contagious disease. (Dingman 2012)

§

2024

In recent years, natural alternatives have been sought for the control of beekeeping pathologies; in the case of American Foulbrood (AFB) disease, the use of synthetic antibiotics was prohibited due to honey contamination and the generation of resistant bacteria. 

SCG [spent coffee grounds] is a source of many bioactive compounds with known antimicrobial activity. ... Our results show that SCGE [spent coffee ground extract] has antimicrobial activity against P. larvae vegetative cells, is not toxic against A. mellifera, and can induce the overexpression of genes encoding for antimicrobial peptides the most important defence system in honey bees

Spent coffee grounds extract: antimicrobial activity against Paenibacillus larvae
Veterinary Research Communications (2024) 48:889–899 
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-023-10256-1

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html