AFB?

[ayyon2157]

I got 2 nucs fairly late (after the dandelions were gone) and both had clumps of drone comb on top of the frames, of a very dark brown.  The one which  is doing quite well has most of the 10 frames in the second box filled, and all the new comb is light colored.

     The other nuc, although it seems to have baby bees has brood foundation as black as black can be.  Even the sugar water in the boardman feeder has black in it.  There seems to be no brood comb foundation, and they aren't filling any of the other 5 sheets of foundation.  There seem to be a few drone cells, and maybe even some queen "peanuts".  One sheet of what I think is capped brood is coffee colored.

     I am a beginner, but this seems like AFB to me.  Could it be anything else?

     I treated both hives with powdered sugar and terramycin, and plan on waiting to see what happens.

     Anybody have any advice?  There are no other bees within flying distance, and haven't been for a few years. so I don't feel like I am contaminating anybody else's hives.  

     When a tree which had previously had feral bees fell down, I noticed that there was "black" in there also.

[Joseph Clemens]

Black on feeder, sounds like sooty mold.

[Michael Bush]

The two tests for AFB (besides the ones you BUY from the bee suppliers) are the standard field test for stringy (ropeyness).  Put a stick in the black capped cell and stir it around and see if it strings.  The other is the holts milk test listed in The Hive and the Honey Bee.  I would do a defnintive test.  Don't assume.  Then you can make an inteligent decision based on facts instead of speculation.

Brood can die from a number of causes.  What YOU need to know is that it is or is not AFB.