Lloyd Spear wrote:

> Clearly NYS inspectors are educating the hobbyists, and burning hives.  Is
> it worth the money for the control achieved?  I doubt it.  I'd feel
> different if every frame with scale had to be destroyed...but then there
> would be far fewer commercial beekeepers in NYS.

In Maine, AFB hives normally are burned, and that includes commercial
beekeepers.  (We once had a gas chamber for sterilization, but the EPA
ended that). We have about 60,000 hives come into the State for
blueberry pollination. They run about 3-6% AFB in any given year and I
am sure that burning is the main reason AFB is under control.

The reason for burning is fairly obvious. You have a mix of commercial
pollinators in sometimes close proximity to each other on the blueberry
barrens. The possibility of cross contamination is great. So it makes
sense to burn. There may be some grousing but generally the beekeepers
take it in stride.

If the commercial beekeepers in NY have high levels of AFB and do not
burn, it seems to be self evident why they have high levels of AFB. I
pity the hobby beekeeper near any of those commercial yards.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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