hi all,
 
Here in Holland we experienced multiple outbreaks of American
Foulbrood last season. The only legal
countermeasure consists of total destruction
( burning) of all infected material, incl. hives( with and without bees), tools, supplies, etc.
A regular disaster for the beekeeper(s) involved.
 
Despite these rigorous measures, AFB keeps returning; obviously
our system is not at all fullproof.
There are those seeking a more rational approach.
One proposal is to burn just the infected colonies, but to use an autoclave ( a huge pressure cooker that heats in a damp atmosfere under elevated pressures) to disinfect equipment and/or wax. It is known that AFB spores are VERY resistant to environmental influences. What I'd like to know is if anyone has done any work on this type of disinfecting AFB spores, or if any litterature references are known in this field. One solutionn could be to start warming up the materials to an ideal germinating temp. , after which a
high temp. treatment might kill off the germinated
bacteria; some autoclaves can be programmed to
follow such temperature trajects.
 
Thanx for any info you can supply !
 
sincerely, Hugo
 
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