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British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Addled brood

  • Honeybee pests and diseases.
Honeybee pests and diseases.
 #5327  by AdamD
 12 Dec 2019, 12:38
Reading an old book recently, I came across the term 'Addled Brood' which I have read before but sort of forgotten about as it's not a common term nowadays. However reading the book reminded me of a nuc this year which had some really rubbish brood in it which looked similar enough to EFB that I reached for a test-kit to check, with a sigh of relief afterwards. It's supposed to be caused by a duff queen - and shortly afterwards she duly disappeared.

Does anyone else see such a thing very often?
 #5334  by AndrewLD
 15 Dec 2019, 18:17
I have three books referring to addled brood as a hereditary defect. I suspect that few new beekeepers have even heard of it and therefore may have seen it but not known what it is.
Ted Hooper says it can happen at any stage of the brood cycle and that it is sometimes confused with sac-brood.
However two of my other reference authors (Pavord and Clark) talk about it as occuring in post-capped brood and not to be confused with AFB. I have differing opinions as to whether the cap is likely to be sunken or moist. Both say the larvae lie flat rather than twisted in the cell and remain recognizable (i.e. not melted as in AFB). However it never ropes and as it is not infectious there is no need to destroy the frames, just re-queen.
Given the slightly differing advice; I think most would assume the worst and reach for their LFD test kits and/or their Bee Inspector's telephone number.