On Mon, Jan 8, 2018 at 2:37 PM, Charles Linder <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>
> ...which is actually holding the viral load?  The cocoons  and debris or
the wax??  Not much left when the moths are finished!
​Well, in a severe case the spores are everywhere. I've been taught that
the most common vehicle to spread AFB is honey. I've heard others assert
it's the transfer of equipment (mainly interchanging frames). Biology
places the greatest concentration of spores in scale.


Regarding the question if wax moths render spores nonviable, I have never
seen​

​a definitive answer. The closest to a response I can remember (and I do
not remember the source) was an assertion that wax moths clean up feral
combs inside a tree (for instance) quite nicely​, consuming old comb (Pete
points out it is mainly the cocoons the wax moth larvae target) and
converting it into frass. I do not recall if there was an assertion that
passage through wax moth larvae digestive tract killed AFB spores or not.
Given the abundance of spores in a hive environment, I suspect there will
still be viable AFB after the combs are consumed, but that sidesteps the
question, "does passage through wax moth larvae digestive tract killed AFB
spores or not?"  So far, JFGI has not given an answer. Given how tenacious
is AFB I bet it survives, perhaps even enjoys the trip!


Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!

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