A beekeeper has a duty to look after their bees and to ensure that they do not, as far as possible, come to harm. This means that the bees need to be protected from pests and diseases as far as is possible.
The best way to do this is to adopt the approach called ‘Integrated Pest Management’

American and European Foulbrood

American and European Foulbrood are notifiable diseases.
This means that if you suspect you have an outbreak, you MUST notify the local bee inspector. The best way to do this is by sending a message to:
BeesMailbox@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

American Foulbrood European Foulbrood
AFB generally affects only sealed brood. When infected larvae die within the sealed cell; the appearance of the cell capping changes. A good way of remembering is that AFB = A (after sealing of the cell). EFB affects mainly unsealed brood, killing larvae before they are sealed in their cells. An easy way to remember is that EFB = E (early infection before sealing of the cell).
Wax cappings become sunken and perforated when adult bees nibble holes in them to try to remove the infected larva within. These perforations tend to be jagged and irregular in shape. The EFB infected larva moves inside its cell instead of remaining in the normal coiled position characteristic of a healthy larva of the same age.
Some cappings may become moist or greasy looking and slightly darker in colour than other cells. When it dies it lies in an unnatural attitude – twisted spirally around the walls, across the mouth of the cell or stretched out lengthways from the mouth to the base.
At first only very few cells may show signs of disease, and the colony will appear normal in other respects. The dead larva often collapses as though it had been melted, turning yellowish-brown and eventually drying up to form a loosely attached brown scale.
Eventually much of the sealed brood will become affected by the disease, causing a patchy or "pepper pot" brood pattern. The gut of an infected larva may be visible through its translucent body wall. It has a creamy white colour caused by the mass of bacteria living within it.
There may then be an unpleasant smell associated with decomposition. A very unpleasant odour may sometimes accompany severe EFB infection, depending on the presence of certain other species of bacteria in the remains of dead larvae.
At the sunken capping stage the dead larval remains are light to dark brown in colour, and have a slimy consistency.
Further drying leads to the final stage, which is a very dark brown, rather rough scale lying on the lower side of the cell and extending from just behind the mouth of the cell right back to the base. When a high proportion of the larvae are being killed by EFB, the brood pattern will often appear patchy and erratic as dead brood is removed by the bees and the queen lays in the vacant cells.
The scales can be detected if the comb is held facing the light: they reflect the light from their rough surfaces and can easily be seen, even when their colour is almost the same as the comb itself.
If a matchstick is inserted and slowly withdrawn, the remains can be drawn out in a brown, mucus-like thread or "rope" 10-30mm long. This is called the "ropiness" test and is a reliable test for the presence of AFB.
The ropy condition is followed by a tacky stage as the larval remains in the cell gradually dry up and the colour changes to dark brown.
The proboscis of dead pupae may sometimes remain intact, protruding upwards from the bottom edge of the cell.
European foul brood cannot be reliably identified visually, as the disease signs can easily be confused with various other brood abnormalities.

There are many other pathogens which affect bees. Here are some of them:

Brood Diseases Adult Diseases
AFB. See above. Nosema
EFB. See above. Amoeba
Sacbrood Chronic Bee Paralysis
Black Queen Cell Cloudy Wing
Chalk Brood Slow Paralysis
Stone Brood Kashmir Bee
Chilled Brood Deformed Wing
Bald Brood Acute Paralysis
Neglected Drone Brood

Pests and Parasites

Below are some of the pests and parasites that can affect the hive:

  • Varroa
  • Tropilaelaps
  • Senontainia
  • Greater wax moth
  • Hornet – indigenous
  • Acarine
  • Braula
  • Small hive beetle
  • Lesser wax moth
  • Hornet – Asian

More information about bee diseases and pests can be found at:
BeeBase
http://www.gov.scot/beehealth
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bee-health