A study on the presence of Bacillus larvae spores carried by adult honey bees to identify colonies with clinical symptoms of american foulbrood disease
A study on the presence of Bacillus larvae spores carried by adult honey bees to identify colonies with clinical symptoms of american foulbrood disease
Author(s)
R M Goodwin; J H Perry; H M Haine
Abstract
American foulbrood (AFB) is a disease of larval honey bees (Apis mellifera) caused by the bacterium Bacillus larvae. Diagnosis is usually based on the presence of clinical symptoms (Matheson, 1984). An alternative means of identifying infected colonies is to test adult honey bees for the presence of B. larvae spores (Hornitzky & Karlovskis, 1989). However, samples of adult bees can test positive for the presence of B. larvae spores without their colonies exhibiting clinical symptoms of AFB (Hornitzky & Karlovskis, 1989), which limits the value of the test in identifying hives with clinical AFB symptoms.
Keywords
adult honey bees, Apis mellifera, Bacillus larvae spores, American foulbrood, diagnosis, brain heart infusion agar
