Subject: AFB research Articles (was: Re: American foulbrood)

From: [email-masked] (Andy Nachbaur)
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 1995 02:34:00 GMT

[email-masked] (adam Finkelstein)refer#: None
> Looking through the Apicultural Abstracts I found two articles that are
>sort of relevant to this topic.
>
> (In Russian)
>_Don't allow spreading of honeybee foul brood disease through wax
>refineries_, Smirnov, A.M., _Veterinariya_,(5):92-94 (1966).
>
> " Data are provided to show the survival of _Bacillus larvae_, _B.alvei_,
>and the two species together in wax, wax residues, washing water etc. at
>various stages in the refining process."
>
> _Preserving beehive parts with paraffin wax_, Cook, V.A., _N.Z. Jl.
>Agric._, 117 (1): 60-61; 63,65 (1968).
>
> " Immersion for 2 minutes at about 316 degrees F (158 degrees C ) was
>sufficient to sterilize equipment taken from hives infected with _Bacillus
>larvae_."
>
> Draw you own conclusions.
>[email-masked] ____________________________________________________
 |-------------------------------------|

 Hello All,

   Not to minimize the danger AFB is to a beehive or beekeepers. It may
be true that some or many spores may be left over after most any scheme
to sterilize equipment. But it is also true that the bees have a certain
resistance to these spores, and even after a boiling lye bath AFB spores
can be found, but in hundreds if not hundreds of thousands of practical
tests no colonies or very few colonies will be re-infected by using this
equipment, and the same can be said of wax foundation that may have
originated from hives with AFB. No creditable evidence has been
presented that the use of todays foundation has caused one case of AFB,
as far as I know.

  IMHO, Where it is permitted the regular use of TM should be part of
every beekeepers prophylaxis treatment of his bees in the early spring.
The increase in healthy brood even in hives with NO signs of disease is
worth the cost. The most costly common disease in many areas of America
is EFB, EFB can be prevented, and TM must be present at the start of
brood rearing. Beekeepers who feed sugar syrup or protein diets, or can
dust bees early with what ever and include TM will be rewarded by fewer
problems later on.

   This resistance to AFB demonstrated in all manner of field conditions
may be the quantitative number of spores needed to kill any one larva,
or the fact that many hives will remove spontaneous low levels of
infection. Or it could be that spores in honey that is ingested by bees
pose a grater degree of danger to a larger number of larvae then spores
that may be on hive parts or wax.

   A few people, me included, believe AFB, is a most dangerous
disease because it will kill the bee colonies if not abated, at the
same time we believe that AFB is more a disease of beekeepers then
bees. I say that because seldom in any one beekeepers experience does
one find AFB in feral hives, and the beekeepers compulsion to save
diseased hives and equipment at any cost or risk and to almost always
place the blame for any disease found in his own equipment on the poor
beekeeping skills of his neighbor, sometimes hundreds of miles away.

   Many beekeepers understand and promote that their bees are a bio
sampler of the environment, and this is sometimes sadly true with
agricultural chemicals, and environmental pollution of every kind. We
accept this as part of the grand plan. Another part of the plan may be
we will be continently threatened by pests, predators, and disease that
our bees are host to.

   If todays challenge to keep bees alive and healthy seem large, just
wait awhile. I believe America is about to learn more about viruses,
(what they can do to bees), in a relative short span of time that will
make all else seem like wonderful diversions. A beekeepers life span in
the industry is rather long, maybe 45+ years. Today those with a
lifetime of experience are reporting losses in the 50%-80% range. None
of these people ever expected to work 40+ years and have these kind of
losses. None are BAD beekeepers, all are SAD.

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