This is welcome news as American Foulbrood is very damaging to bees and beekeeping. Not only are the bees killed but the spores can remain viable for 40 or more years on the hives. The only way to “treat” hives infected with American Foulbrood is to burn the equipment! Very harsh indeed.

Bees may soon get an ally in their fight against bacterial disease — one of the most serious threats the pollinators face — in the form of an edible vaccine. That’s the promise held out by researchers in Finland, who say they’ve made the first-ever vaccine for insects, aimed at helping struggling honeybee populations.
The scientists are targeting one of bees’ most deadly enemies: American foulbrood, or AFB, an infectious disease that devastates hives and can spread at a calamitous rate.
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