> Since we are talking about foundation as a repository of AFB
> spores and that no AFB has been found in SA using foundation from
> outside the country, is there something else at work here?

I cannot quote my source, I don't recall where I got this information
although I seen to recall it was presented in a session of Cornell's
Master Beekeeper Program.  Anyway, my recollection is spores of Panibacillus

larvae remain viable in foundation, but they do not cause a vegetative state

within the hive.  Speculation is that the beeswax contains or entraps the
spores and they never get fed to less than day old larvae, hence no AFB
outbreak.

> Bees will chew up foundation, so it seems that if there were
> AFB in the foundation after processing, it would be cropping up all
> over.

Not so.  The spores must be ingested by larvae that are less than a day old.

Larvae do not eat beeswax, nor is beeswax a componenet of larva food, so AFB

spores in beeswax is not a problem.

> since it would be randomly distributed in large quantities of wax and
> therefor in foundation sold to hundreds of customers. And it
> takes less than 25 or so spores to start the cycle...

I'm nit picking, but I believe the LD 50 is 35.

Now this post is not meant to encourage folks to go out and use AFB
foundation
(as if such a thing is marketed), it's just intended to pass on what I
picked up
in class (I believe) and cannot document.

In a response to Bill Truesdel, Robt Mann wrote:
> ... we won't know what T-t to use unless measurements are
> made along the lines I've pointed out.
I'm surprized by this query coming from the land of parafin dips, which have

been documented to be an effective treatment to kill AFB spores.  I do not
know
time and temperature, but I'm sure they're in the manual (don't recall the
exact
title and don't recall if it was from Austrailia or New Zealand).  I recall
the
time for the dip was on the order of 15 minutes and the temperature was HOT,

close to the flashpoint of parafin, hence the whole method seemed too
dangerous
for this timid beekeeper. ;-)  I'm sure the parafin dip is document
extensively
in the BEE-L archives.

Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!