Occurrence of chalkbrood in Apis mellifera in Iran
Author(s)
M S Mossadegh; A Auzadeh
Abstract
In 14 provinces of Iran, 23 307 colonies of Apis mellitera from 94 apiaries were inspected for chalkbrood disease in 1993 and 1994. Chalkbrood was present in six of the provinces with an overall infection rate of 8%, however, infection rates varied between provinces and apiaries. The disease was particularly severe and widely distributed in the temperate, high-rainfall Caspian Sea region. Of 200 mummies sectioned and examined microscopically, 96% were infected with Ascosphaera apis containing mature spore cysts, while the remaining 4% had empty nutriocytes. Fungal morphology and growth rate fell within published limits for A. apis. This is the first report of chalkbrood in Apis mellitera in Iran.
