Saturday, January 21, 2012

The spore- forming Paenibacillus larvae

American Foulbrood is an beekeepers nightmare.  Total hive destruction is recommended.  Since my ignorance is immense, I asked my science teacher hubby if I can use the school microscope to positively identify the spore.  Here is a link to Center for Disease Control American Foulbrood spore pictures.  This is what I expect  to find under the microscope from a scraping off the inside of the top bar hive.  I'm eager for the Auburn beekeeping conference to discuss the issue with the beekeepers and experts there prior to totally burning all parts of my hive and ordering a new one for this year (or two as my beekeeping instructor told me last year, always have at least two hives so if one goes odd, you can see what the other is doing).

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