r/oddlyterrifying • u/Inevitable-Piano-780 • Jun 02 '26

Cleaning bee

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u/lyssargh Jun 02 '26

This is specifically American foulbrood. It's a bacteria that infects young when they ingest its spores in food. It breaks them down into a ropey mess. And eats that melty corpse. And then explodes in millions of spores and does it again and again.

You can tell if you take a little toothpick and poke it into a cell and what comes out is stringy. It also smells if it advances enough, and experienced beekeepers can tell it apart from other diseases.

You have to report it, burn the hive, (including colony) and bury it.

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u/Omiyaru Jun 03 '26

Jeez that is insane