I have sucessfully used fumigated equipment that came from hives with known active AFB, so I submit that equipment can have active AFB spores fumigated. Maryland uses an ethylene dioxide chamber; there are other fumigation methods also (although all of them require special equipment/precautions). As far as getting rid of AFB once and for all, that sounds unlikely. Unlike mites that die when they kill a colony, the AFB spores have effectively an infinite "shelf life". As long as there is an old hollow tree, old hive body in the barn attic, or anything similar, there is a source for AFB. W. G. Miller Gaithersburg, MD