A beekeeper who sees a patchy brood pattern, sunken cappings or a bee with crumpled wings has only a hypothesis — field signs alone regularly overlap between diseases, or, in the case of many viruses, produce no visible brood sign at all. This lab walks one suspected case through the three stages a real diagnostic lab uses: a field inspection of the frame, a microscopy check of a slide sample, and a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test that amplifies pathogen DNA/RNA until it crosses a detectable threshold.
American foulbrood spores can remain viable in old equipment for over 40 years, which is why confirmed AFB cases are usually managed by burning the frames rather than treating them — laboratory confirmation before destruction is essential.
Pick a suspected brood or adult bee disease and carry it through the same three-stage workflow a real diagnostic lab uses: a field inspection of the frame, a microscope slide, and a PCR amplification run — watching where visual signs alone succeed, and where they fall short.
Each disease leaves a different signature at each stage: American foulbrood is obvious under the microscope and confirms fast by PCR; Nosema hides in an almost-normal comb; deformed wing virus is invisible to microscopy and needs molecular testing entirely.
Choose a disease, then switch between the Field, Microscope and PCR stage buttons to fly the camera to each station. Adjust magnification on the slide and step the PCR cycle number forward to watch the amplification curve and plate wells respond.
American foulbrood spores are so resilient that regulators in many countries require infected hives and equipment to be burned rather than treated, and lab confirmation is required before that step is taken.