when did EFB become notifiable

[MuswellMetro]

Does anyone remember when EFB became a notifiable disease in the uk..its is in the 1986 notice but can find when it became law

i was just discussing EFB with a czech bee-keeper and he was suprsed EFB was even thought a problem...live with it etc

any he asked how long has it been a reportable disease

 

[Hivemaker.]

1942.

 

[DanBee]

I didn't think you were that old, Pete

 

[MuswellMetro]

thanks

 

[Chris Luck]

i was just discussing EFB with a czech bee-keeper and he was suprsed EFB was even thought a problem...live with it etc

Exactly the same here - nothing to worry about.

Chris

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

i was just discussing EFB with a czech bee-keeper and he was suprsed EFB was even thought a problem...live with it etc

I believe they are thinking of removing it off the notifiable list - in England in any case, as they have lost a lot of funding for SBI's (the Welsh government I believe have no intention at the moment of reducing funding)
One thing that does get me (if the status quo remains) is the different attitudes from various SBI's with some it's just straight off - 'kill the colony off and burn' whilst with others it's the direct opposite - shook swarm and treat in every case unless the colony is terminal - a far more reasonable standpoint

 

[Into the lions den]

I believe they are thinking of removing it off the notifiable list - in England in any case

From my understanding the term 'were' thinking about it, maybe even just floating the idea ta assess reaction, is more like it, and for now the thought has passed. Its the status quo for the foreseable future.

 

[Chris Luck]

It seems strange that there should be such divergent views on this disease from the authorities, (not the people on this forum).

AFAIK it always was reckoned to be a fairly innocuous malady in the UK and one which otherwise strong colonies would overcome which is exactly the thinking here. Destruction would never come into it, shook swarm maybe as with AFB or simply leave alone and keep an eye on things.

Chris

 

[mbc]

- a far more reasonable standpoint

Try and delve into recorded stats on recurrence in shook swarmed colonies and you largely meet a blank wall. My best guess is that shook swarms are often ineffective leading to the colony breaking down with clinical efb in subsequent seasons. Experienced inspectors, already overstretched in many areas where efb is rife, could easily be forgiven for making life easier in the long term by utilising the match and permanently removing that particular outbreak.

 

[blackcavebees]

Listened to a presentation on Sat at the INIB Conference by the senior bee inspector, stated no cases of EFB found in Northern Ireland during 2012 but he said there were some in Eire. I only know one beek who has seen EFB and that wasn't here. Given our current state, what should we be doing to keep it out of NI? Is it now that common on mainland that you just live with it?

 

[smithhive]

Try and delve into recorded stats on recurrence in shook swarmed colonies and you largely meet a blank wall. My best guess is that shook swarms are often ineffective leading to the colony breaking down with clinical efb in subsequent seasons. Experienced inspectors, already overstretched in many areas where efb is rife, could easily be forgiven for making life easier in the long term by utilising the match and permanently removing that particular outbreak.

Shook swarms were very effective in my outfit in 2008. I don't have the exact figures to hand but I think we shook about fifty colonies in the summer of 2008 and spring of 2009. EVERYONE of these was successful and apart from one mysterious and unexplainable case of EFB in August 2009 I have been clean ever since.

I am concerned that due to this seasons awful weather and the resultant stress on the bees, it may flare up again!

The RBI and several SBI's involved in my outbreak did an absolutely marvellous job, so good in fact that I wrote to the NBU in praise of them.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Now being older than hivemaker LOL...i remember my grandfathers hives having EFB in the 1960s as we burnt the frames...AND I as a young 14 year old boy got money to make new frames..2/- per 50

but I dont remember a bee inspector coming around, i think i remember it was just my grandfather who decidedd to destroy the EFB frames but it is 50 years ago

Since hive makers post saying 1942, i have been sent a pdf that says the control orders were made in 1942 but it became notifiable in 1982

so what happended between 1942 and 1982, was it self imposed destruction if you had EFB?

 

[BeeJayBee]

Since hive makers post saying 1942, i have been sent a pdf that says the control orders were made in 1942 but it became notifiable in 1982

so what happended between 1942 and 1982, was it self imposed destruction if you had EFB?

Beedata carries an article that was written in 2000, so not 'up to date' http://www.beedata.com/data2/pam_foul_brood.html says this :-

NOTIFIABLE DISEASES

In 1942 the first Foul Brood Order controlled AFB and EFB but they only became notifiable in 1982 under the current Bee Diseases Control Order. ​

It also says this (not sure it's relevant, but it's interesting [paragraphs added to make easier to read]) :-

HISTORY

Aristotle was the first to record the pathological manifestation of foul brood but the name was first referred to by Schirbach in 1796. Bonner in 1798 writes of 'An uncommon Disaster which sometimes, though rarely, happens to Bees'. In 1866 Neighbour describes losses by both Dzierzon and Langstroth and defines for the first time two types of foul brood 'one moist and foetid, the other dry and not contagious'.

After Pasteur established the science of microbiology the causal organism of AFB was identified but it was much longer before the more complex aetiology of EFB was unravelled. In 1885 Cheshire and Cheyne published the first comprehensive work on EFB but believed it to be caused by Bacillus alvei which we now know to be a secondary invader.

In 1912 White deduced the causal organism to be 'Bacillus pluton' but this wasn't accepted at the time. In 1949 Aleksandrova thought she had managed to cultivate the elusive Bacillus pluton but Bailey found this to be Bacillus euridice another secondary bacteria. It took until 1957 for the causal organism to be finally identified by Bailey. At the time it was called Streptococcus pluton but was later reclassified as Melissococcus pluton.

While AFB was widespread in the UK before the 2nd world war EFB was rarely recorded. In 1936 Tarr records 13 cases of EFB diagnosed at Rothamsted in the previous three years compared with 104 of AFB. According to beekeepers who remember that time EFB was not widespread in England being particularly known in the New Forest in Hampshire. Pollination contracts and other migratory practices were less common than today. However, the war put pressure on food supplies and sugar was in short supply so beekeepers started travelling into the area for forage, probably heather, for winter stores their colonies becoming exposed to the disease as a result.​

There's a lot more to read, far too much to quote in one go.

 

[Bates]

In Australa AFB is only notifiable. EFB is not seen as bad and can be resolves easily by strengthening colonies effected. I beleive in NZ foul brood is not notifiable and is dealt with my the beekeeper themself?

 

[Teemore]

In our September meeting, the Armagh and Monaghan Beekeepers were told that there were a number of confirmed instances of EFB in the South over the past year. I don't recall the figures and I have no recollection that we were ever given any figures for 2011. I gather it is widely known that in 2010 the demonstration colonies at Gormanstoun all had EFB. I do not know how or if they were treated. EFB seems more prevalent in the South. Irish beekeepers do not have the support of any sort of formal Bee Inspectors unlike those of us in the UK. Membership of the Armagh and Monaghan Beekeepers spans the border and our bees don't really give much heed to flags or lines on maps....
Your best protection against EFB and AFB is to ensure that you, the beekeeper, does not transfer diseases between stocks of bees. It is important that you know how to recognise the signs of AFB and EFB.
At the most basic level, as beekeepers we can learn how a strong and healthy colony looks, sounds, smells and behaves: when something is not right you can then go about finding out what is wrong. Simples!!
Get a hold of the bee disease publications by FERA and by Dr Mary Coffey - they are excellent resources.

 

[Finman]

.
At the most basic level, as beekeepers we can learn how a strong and healthy colony looks, sounds, smells and behaves:

when something is not right you can then go about finding out what is wrong. Simples!!.

When you are on experienced level, you see, that you cannot see the diesease if you do not inspect brood frames. AFB has a smell when it is bad.

This does not work: colony looks, sounds, smells and behaves.

Sick sound?

 

[alanf]

Does anyone remember when EFB became a notifiable disease in the uk..its is in the 1986 notice but can find when it became law

i was just discussing EFB with a czech bee-keeper and he was suprsed EFB was even thought a problem...live with it etc

any he asked how long has it been a reportable disease

I recall a remark by the inspector that the orders and inspection regime had been very effective in controlling AFB, but nothing like as effective controlling EFB. I had a look at the beebase data and found a table of recorded foul brood in England and Wales 1952-2004. Looked intriguing, I didn't see a chart of the data for that period so I thought it quicker to create one, as below.

The AFB control does appear to have been effective, down from over 1000 colonies to around 200 per year. EFB on the other hand rose from under 200 to around 800 per year. Most of the increase appears to have been in the 1980s. Can anyone who was beekeeping at the time recall how that increase was explained? Was it improved diagnosis, the notified disease status taking effect or a change in treatment?

There's a decrease in inspections in the 80s to around half the level before. Is that reduced manpower, a change in inspection targeting or both? The EFB records increased at the same time so it clearly wasn't a simple reflection of trawling through fewer colonies.

 

[Chris B]

Andy Wattam explained the jump in EFB as being due to a change in treatment. When antibiotics became the normal method the cases started climbing.

 

[mbc]

Andy Wattam explained the jump in EFB as being due to a change in treatment. When antibiotics became the normal method the cases started climbing.

This explanation clearly ignores the fact that the steepest rise was during Thatchers reign, burn the witch !

 

[mbc]

Shook swarms were very effective in my outfit in 2008. I don't have the exact figures to hand but I think we shook about fifty colonies in the summer of 2008 and spring of 2009. EVERYONE of these was successful and apart from one mysterious and unexplainable case of EFB in August 2009 I have been clean ever since.

I am concerned that due to this seasons awful weather and the resultant stress on the bees, it may flare up again!

The RBI and several SBI's involved in my outbreak did an absolutely marvellous job, so good in fact that I wrote to the NBU in praise of them.

Excellent first hand account, thank you smithhive

I have heard of several instances of recurrance, sometimes many seasons down the line, this makes me fear efb more than afb ( which is relatively simple to get rid of)but I'm glad the forum is here so we can all read of others real life experiences.