Background Information

Chalkbrood disease is caused by the fungus Ascosphaera apis. The fungus rarely kills infected colonies but can weaken it and lead to reduced honey yields and susceptibility to other bee pests and diseases. Young infected larvae do not usually show signs of disease but will die upon being sealed in their cells as pupae. Worker bees will uncap the cells of dead larvae, making mummies clearly visible, before sometimes removing the mummified larvae and depositing them on the hive floor or at the entrance to the hive. Chalkbrood disease is present throughout most of Australia and its incidence is generally higher when a colony is subject to temperature changes, particularly cooler weather, or other sources of stress. Chalkbrood disease is not usually a serious disease, as healthy honey bee colonies will usually be able to tolerate it. The incidences are generally higher when a colony is subject to temperature changes or other sources of stress. Some stressors on the colony may include long periods of wet or dry conditions, poor nutrition, a failing queen bee or the movement of hives.

LiliF™ CB PCR Kit Kit is able to detect directly and specifically Ascosphaera apis by CLP™ technology and Maxime ™ technology on the basis of a genetic database of target nucleic acid fragments. Therefore, this kit can diagnose very sensitive, fast and accurately. The kit contains a specific primer set for a highly conserved region based on current sequence alignments of Ascosphaera apis, allowing the DNA detection. It can determine the infecting all serotype and accurately and sensitivity detect multiple detection genes at one time using the conventional PCR method, and take only 3 hours for detection. Fast and sensitive detection of pathogen enables patients to get appropriate treatment and prevent the rapid spreading of disease by separating patients immediately.