The Vita EFB test kit is for the causal organism Melis
Thanks everyone

The Vita EFB test kit is for the causal organism Melissococcus and not Paenibacillus alvei.  Several people here have been having difficulty (I mean getting false negatives) with the test and I'm told that this is because the other bacteria interfere with the test, so 'old' infections are not reliably detected.  You can make it more reliable by going for larvae in an earlier stage, and perhaps using it on infected capped larvae is unreliable.

The instructions that come with the kit mention nothing of these difficulties and imply that the test on an infected larva is reliable.  The art of choosing the right kind of infected larva is not mentioned.

The Scottish Beekeeping Association is now advising its members not to use the test.  False negatives are a serious problem, and in any case the law here is that if you suspect the disease you must inform a bee inspector.

The discussion on PMS and the increase in 'snotty brood' is very helpful, thanks.  It is quite possible that we are seeing a low level of undetected infection flare up due to mite control problems and a string of poor summers.  It does seem to be a serious contagion as it has been spreading through operations with the earlier infected apiaries becoming very sick.

On treatment, there has been for many years a presumption in the UK that antibiotics are a last resort, and to be used by inspectors only.  Here, the burning has been for serious cases that have gone too far to be treated, weak colonies that are a risk to others through robbing, and where the beekeeper is keen to eliminate the visible disease to get to move other colonies for his next crop more quickly.  

Here is a question for you: is honey from an infected hive a risk to bees?

best wishes

Gavin 


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