Efb

[gavin]

Just a general reminder folks, this is the time of year when EFB tends to show itself most clearly. Get out there and have a very good look at your open brood, and check your sealed brood too (for AFB, and also some EFB-infected cells if you missed it elsewhere).

One of our members has just had a case confirmed near Dundee, so all of us locally will be checking carefully when the weather allows.

The NBU has some useful resources here:

https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/bee...ulbroodEfb.cfm

And I posted good images of a local case here:

http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/sh...=5191#post5191

[Neils]

Why does EFB show itself so much more now?

[drumgerry]

Luckily for me I'm participating in the survey of Scotland's bee health taking place this June so on Tuesday I have a bee inspector coming to look over my bees. Should be interesting - hoping all I have is the little bit of chalk brood I can see in one colony. Sorry Nellie I butted in to say that.

[Ruary]

Why does EFB show itself so much more now?

Well it might be because EFB is a disease which operates by starving the larvae; so.anything which affects the bees feeding the brood ( June Gap) will exacerbate (sp?) the effects of the lack of food. The resulting starved larvae die and are removed from the comb. Bingo! pepperpot comb, easily seen and closer inspection will show which disease is present.

[gavin]

Thanks Ruary. Yes, that is the usual explanation and it fits with the observations last summer when severely Varroa-infested bees mimicked EFB due to larval starvation (see that thread where I thought we had EFB). Of course the depletion of the population of young house bees due to dying larvae will point EFB colonies in the direction of larval starvation too. And there may be an element of the spring flow a couple of weeks previously distracting bees from dealing with EFB-infected larvae. Or there could be other complications. Larvae dying early can be removed whole without spilling the gut contents but well-fed larvae (during the spring flow) can struggle on and die at a later stage when the break-up of larger larvae on removal spreads infection.

All of it speculation, but speculating is fun.