Honey Bee Parasites, Pests, Predators and Diseases

European foulbrood (young diseased brood in open cells)

EFB disease and its symptoms are highly variable, probably because several other types of bacteria are often present in dead and dying larvae. European foulbrood generally kills larvae that are two to four days old while they are still C-shaped in the bottom of the cells. Unlike American foulbrood, most of the larvae die before their cells are capped. A spotty pattern of capped and uncapped cells develops only when EFB becomes serious. Occasionally, pupae die from the disease.