Honey bees sit on a comb.
© dpa
American foulbrood, a highly contagious bee disease, has broken out in Lichtenberg.
The outbreak was confirmed by an official veterinarian on Monday, the Lichtenberg district office announced. A restricted area has been set up within a radius of at least one kilometre around the locations of the affected apiaries.
Among other things, this means that no bee colonies, live or dead bees, combs, wax and honey may be removed from these sites. So far, more than 200 bee sites are known to exist in the district. Of these, about ten are in the restricted area, which must now be examined. If the disease spreads unchecked, it could lead to a mass mortality of bee colonies, they said. In this disease, bee larvae become infected via spores of a bacterium and die. According to the district, the pathogen can survive for years in the soil or in old bee houses, so that infections can continue to occur.