Diagnosing honeybee diseases can be tricky, and proper diagnosis is required for proper treatment. Do your bees have nosema? Do they have American Foulbrood? Or are they stricken with something else entirely?
Diagnosing these ailments requires a number of specialized tools like a microscope and general knowledge of microbiology. Or, you can have your bees tested for free at the USDA Bee Lab.
USDA Bee Research Laboratory
The USDA Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland offers free testing of bee samples. All you need to do is gather bees and/or brood samples and pay for postage!
The USDA Bee Research Laboratory can test for:
- Bacterial diseases (American Foulbrood, European Foulbrood)
- Fungal diseases (Chalkbrood)
- Microsporidian diseases (Nosema)
- Tracheal mites
- Varroa mites
- Small hive beetle
- American Foulbrood antibiotic resistance
How to submit samples
In order to take advantage of this amazing resource, you’ll need to contact the lab and package the samples according to their requirements. Information on this process is available here.
For more information on the laboratory and testing, please visit their website: USDA Bee Research Laboratory
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Solange
Wednesday 6th of January 2021
Hi Nicole, Thank you so much for this post. Do you have an example of the USDA report? Is it easy to read and interpret?
Kind regards,