Hi all,

Over the past few days, There has been a discussion about the
AFB and destruction of colonies as effective means to control the
AFB. I think that time has come to take a hard look at the AFB
and antibiotics use. In some areas in north America, beekeepers
are facing a major problem with the AFB-resistance to terramycin.
This is not a new case to microbiologists, doctors dealing with
animals and human. OUR PRACTICES OF USING THE MIRACLE
DRUGS ARE DESTROYING THE MIRACLE. The effectiveness of
the antibiotics is so high which means the selection pressure on
the bugs (bacteria) is also high. Therefore, new forms of the
bacteria which are resistant to  toxic antibiotics, develop in a short
time. As beekeepers, we are lucky to use Terramycin for that long.

History taught us eradication of a bug is not an easy task. It is also
too expensive and risky. However, a  long term sustainable
management program is much better. I think that Mark Goodwin
and Cliff Van Eaton's book " Elimination of American Foulbrood
without the use of drugs gives us a different approach to manage
AFB in bee colonies. To be fair, beekeepers who intend to apply
this program, should apply the whole system in a region at the
same time to get the expected benefits.

Remember, In recent days the FDA has banned 2 antibiotics used
in the poultry industry, who is going to be next?

Medhat Nasr
http://www.beekeeping.co.nz/disease/beecult.htm  describes the
New Zealand experience.
Medhat Nasr, Ph.D.
Research Scientist,
Ontario Beekeepers' Association
Dept. Environmental Biology
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
N1G 2W1
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