A serious bee disease, believed to be the deadliest of the ‘brood diseases’, has been identified in an apiary in Scotland. The case of American Foulbrood (AFB) was discovered following laboratory tests at a site near Inverness, where other cases of the disease have been identified and controlled in past years.

The disease infects honey bee larvae and is highly infectious to other bees; each bee larva killed by the infection may hold up to 100 million AFB spores.   

As no sanctioned treatment is available in the UK, the infected hive will be destroyed and the immediate area quarantined. The Scottish government has urged beekeepers to remain vigilant for signs of the disease and, especially in the cases of those near to the confirmed outbreak, register on national ‘BeeBase’ database at BeesMailbox@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.

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