>A few weeks ago on this list I described symptoms that I thought might
>be a strange looking American foulbrood.  Larvae dying extended in
>capped cells, melting down and forming scales that look just like
>American foulbrood scale.  In the mean time, USDA lab confirmed that my
>samples are of European foulbrood.

AFB scales are hard to remove without deforming the cell.  They also 
have a distinctive bump where the tongue was, if the bees have not 
polished it off.  They also take quite a while to form and do so in capped 
cells.

EFB is found pretty well everywhere in North America, AFAIK, and historically has 
typically only expressed itself under some stress conditions like mal-
nourishment.  EFB outbreaks were quite uncommon when people routinely treated
with OTC.  EFB has been known to spread through an outfit and cause 
serious loss, although I have never seen that in my forty years of beekeeping 
or when inspecting.  Apparently, EFB is comsidered a serious problem in Great 
Britain.

On the other hand, the first indication I had of (what I think was) 
varroa-related collapse of all my hives last year, I first mistook for EFB.

An EFB diagnosis from samples does not necessarily mean that EFB is more
than an opportunistic participant in the event.

What are your mite levels?  What have they been recently?

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