Both efb and afb can have or not have odors, so it is not a distinction.
When thy do smell, efb smells sour and afb smells like a "glue pot"
(ABC+XYZ of Beekeeping). Having smelled afb and not smelled anything
observing efb, I can only attest that afb just smells bad.

The Hive and the Honey Bee says the efb smell may be from other
bacteria. In any case, they can both stink or be near odorless.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

    This is my point exactly; the information necessary to distinguish brood
diseases was not available. Actually Cowan's description - which is far too
long to quote here - isn't too bad in other respects, but without the benefit
of the information available now, I do wonder whether I'd be able to diagnose
properly on the basis of it. I don't have enough old beekeeping books to be
able to pinpoint the date when these diseases were clearly distinguished in
UK beekeeping literature, but my 1947 edition of Wedmore is clear enough. I
have my doubts as to whether AFB emerged in the 19th Century, as one poster
seemed to suggest; I think people just weren't identifying it, and that real
knowledge of bee disease probably goes back only as far as the moveable comb
hive. As I add to my book collection, I'll doubtless be able to put this more
clearly.




Regards,

Robert Brenchley

[log in to unmask]
Birmingham, UK.

Regards,

Robert Brenchley

[log in to unmask]
Birmingham, UK.