The Thin Bine Line

摘要

I had of course, seen European Foul Brood before, albeit mostly in a classroom environment on disgustingly smelly, decomposing black frames. However, I was once fortunate enough to observe it during an apiary meeting with Richard Ball. Nonetheless, nothing could prepare me for the first time I detected EFB. A typical summer's day, typical is for 2007. It was unseasonably cold and the constant drizzle was only interrupted by intermittent bursts of heavy rain. As I entered the apiary, I could see the bees flying and soon realised how incredibly friendly they were, as they greeted me with such enthusiasm. I approached undaunted and even when the wind gusted and distributed the paperwork the length and breadth of the apiary, I was quite undeterred. BeeInspectors are made of sterner stuff.