Neighbour's colony died out and I'm scared it's AFB — what do I actually check before calling someone?
First year, two hives, Yorkshire. The retired chap two fields over lost his only colony a few weeks back and just told me over the fence that it 'dwindled and stank a bit'. His dead hive is still sitting there open and my bees could absolutely be robbing it out — which from my reading is exactly how American foulbrood spreads.
I've never seen AFB in real life. Before I ring anyone official, what should I be looking for in his comb and in my own hives? I've read about sunken greasy cappings and a ropey test but I don't fully trust myself to judge it. And if it IS foulbrood, what happens — is it true everything gets burned? I don't want to be the person who panics over nothing, but I also really don't want to be the person who ignored it.
#afb#foulbrood#inspection#robbing#disease
▲ 25 votes💬 5 replies✅ Solved
5 replies
ImkerinLena · Jul 22, 2026
You are right to take this seriously. Classic AFB signs: spotty brood with sunken, greasy, perforated cappings; the ropey test — stir a decayed larva with a matchstick and draw it out, AFB ropes 2 cm or more like melted toffee; older dead brood dries to a hard black scale glued to the lower cell wall that you cannot remove intact; and a foul glue-pot smell. Sacbrood and chilled brood are the common false alarms — neither ropes. Do the matchstick test on his comb before anything else.
PerthshireBees · Jul 22, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer
In the UK you don't have to judge it alone, and legally you shouldn't — AFB and EFB are notifiable here. Look up your regional bee inspector on BeeBase and ring them; they inspect for free, they've seen hundreds of cases, and they carry lateral flow test kits that confirm it on the spot. Nobody sensible thinks less of a beginner who calls. They think less of the one who didn't.
GeorgiaWes · Jul 22, 2026
Whatever it turns out to be, that open dead hive needs closing up TODAY — ask him or just tape the entrances shut. Robbing a foulbrood deadout is the number one way AFB jumps apiaries. The spores stay viable in old comb for decades, which is why confirmed cases mean burning frames and often the boxes, per your local rules. Harsh but it's the only thing that actually works.
CorkBeeRon · Jul 22, 2026
One more thing: while you wait for the inspector, check your own brood frames calmly and don't move any comb, boxes or tools between your two hives. Standard hygiene until you're cleared. Most 'stank and dwindled' hives turn out to be starvation plus wax moth, for what it's worth — but you check anyway, every time.
YorkshireNewbee · Jul 23, 2026
Update: entrances taped, inspector rang back within the hour and is coming Thursday. Did the matchstick test on his comb with shaking hands — nothing roped, but there are some dark scales so I'm glad a professional is looking. My own hives look clean. Thank you all, honestly felt sick this morning and now I have a plan.