Abstract

American Foulbrood (AFB), caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae is a serious disease of honey bees worldwide that inflicts considerable economic losses to beekeepers. All work was undertaken in a commercial apiary that showed visual signs of AFB infection. Twenty four hives positive for AFB were identified from the apiary (4 colonies in each replicate). Half of the colonies were treated with shook swarm method while other half were left without any treatment. The treated colonies showed significant difference from untreated colonies (t test, P<0.005) and moribund colonies got recovered with increased bee population while the control colonies collapsed. It is therefore concluded that shook swarm method should be incorporated for prevention as well as curing of AFB.