I was told this by a local beekeeper. Haven't had time to do a lot of research on it yet tho. Thought I'd check here to see what if anything any one else knew about it.
I have 32 colonies of bees in my backyard. I also have brug blooms most of the year and have never seen any sign of brood disease from brugs. There are only two plants that I know of that cause brood disease. Those are summer Ti-Ti and, rarely, blueberries. There are times in winter when the only thing blooming are a few brugs and the bees swarm them for their pollen with no apparent ill effects. Two other plants that can cause problems are rhododendron and Confederate jasmine but these are usually in the form of poisonous honey. That almost never happens since there isn't enough bloom to allow for any surplus honey.
Foulbrood is caused by a spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae...ingested by bees as they visit sources of nectar. The article I read did not say where these bacterium live, what the host plants are.
It sounds like the stanglebrand of the bee world. Not something you want to find in your hives.
Let us know what your friend says. And what his source of information is.
3left said:Foulbrood is caused by a spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae...ingested by bees as they visit sources of nectar. The article I read did not say where these bacterium live, what the host plants are.
There are two types of foulbrood, American and European. The spores live in the honey and wax from infected hives and is spread by the robbing that occurs when the hives are weakened by the disease. European foulbrood is easily controlled by terramycin but American foulbrood is "toss everything on the bonfire" situation. FWIW both foulbroods are bee diseases and do not affect humans. Both were once widespread but are not nearly as prevalent now due to some pretty rigorous inspections by both the beekeepers and bee inspectors. I havn't seen a case in over ten years. Of course, you get rid of one problem and have it replaced by another. Now it's varroa mites.
He was going to get some Brug cuttings from me. Apparently he googled "Angel Trupmpet ", and it came up with Datura, which he didn't realize was something different.
Bee person, not plant person. I'll get him sorted out with it.
