"Spotty" brood pattern

How to identify spotty brood

Because larvae infected with AFB fail to emerge, infected cells are often surrounded by empty cells or by younger, healthy larvae. As a result, the brood in a colony with a heavy AFB infection often takes on a spotty pattern (Fig. 13).

Worker brood in a healthy hive generally has a more solid pattern, caused by the queen laying eggs of similar age in a number of adjacent cells. The eggs develop into larvae and are capped by the house bees at approximately the same time (Fig. 14).

Figure 13: Spotty brood pattern
Figure 13: Spotty brood pattern
Figure 14: Healthy brood pattern
Figure 14: Healthy brood pattern

“Spotty” brood patterns can also be caused by other factors in the colony not related to AFB however, such as laying workers, a failing or inbred queen, or a range of other honey bee diseases.

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