Abstract:
Paenibacillus larvae is a spore-forming bacterium causing American foulbrood (AFB) in
honey bee larvae. The remains of a diseased larva contains billions of extremely resilient
P. larvae spores viable for decades. Burning clinically symptomatic colonies is widely
considered the only workable strategy to prevent further spread of the disease, and
the management practices used for decontamination requires high concentrations of
chemicals or special equipment. The aim of this study was to test and compare the
biocidal effect of two commercially available disinfectants, “Disinfection for beekeeping”
and Virkon S on P. larvae. The two products were applied to P. larvae spores in
suspension as well as inoculated on two common beehive materials, wood and
Styrofoam. “Disinfection for beekeeping” had a 100 % biocidal effect on P. larvae spores
in suspension compared to 87.0–88.6% for Virkon S which, however, had a significantly
better effect on P. larvae on Styrofoam. The two disinfectants had similar effect on
infected wood material.
