> does anyone have any experience with the Holst
> milk test and would they care to comment on it?
Sure. The major weakness of the test is that it depends
upon the selection of a suspect AFB scale from the comb,
which to me, means that one has already done the diagnostic
work, and uses the milk test to simply confirm one's likely
very accurate assessment.
You take your scale sample, and put it in a disposable
test tube or veterinary syringe with 4 ml of a 1%
powdered skim milk mixture (1% powdered skim milk in
99% water).
The next problem is keeping it warm, the best approach
may be to simply turn the oven light on for a few hours
rather than trying to heat the oven. You want about 98 F
(37 C), but you can be off by a few degrees either way.
A decent instant-read thermometer helps here, as does
an old muffin pan with sand in the cups to hold the
upside-down syringes that you are using as poor man's
test tubes.
In 20 mins or so, the solution is either still "milky",
or has cleared. If it has cleared, the proteases in the
AFB scale have broken down the proteins in the milk, and
you have a confirmed case of AFB. There's no other
proteases in a beehive, so comparing your test sample to
an equal amount of the same milk solution in the same
type of container will show a significant difference
if you have actual AFB scale.
Here's a cheap but accurate scale that can measure tiny
(0 to 4 gram) weights to mix up some milk "by weight".
http://www.villagecoin.com/page/coin/PROD/CnS/ACCURA01
There are several nearly identical versions of this
plastic scale, but they all work fine - simple balance
scales with little weights.
If you mix 1 gram of milk powder with 99 ml of water
you have your accurate milk mix, as 1 ml of water weighs
1 gram. The same type of veterinary syringes can be used
to measure out the water when mixing. Most "farm stores"
carry them, and you can buy them without needles in
various sizes for less than a buck each.
This approach is clearly not as good as culturing a
sample on agar in a petri dish, but I've never heard
anyone phoo-phoo it as "inaccurate", and it is both
much faster and more simple.
Jeff Petis and crew at the USDA Beltsville Bee Lab still
do free testing of samples sent in by any beekeeper in
the USA, the ultimate "easy way" to get a diagnosis.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=7472
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