It is general 'beekeepers lore' in New Zealand that bees will
forage from discarded honey containers in rubbish tips ('garbage
dumps' to some of you!).  As NZ bees are not fed with terramycin
(curatively or prophylactically), this is considered to be a
vector for the spread of American foulbrood.  As well, the
Mininstry of Agriculture exotic disease surveillance surveying
particularly targets areas near tips as being high risk because
of this sort of behaviour.
 
Does anyone have (1) anecdotal or (2) literature references to
anything related to this?  Do bees readily collect honey from
discarded honey containers and could this be a recognisable
vector for the spread of honey borne bee diseases?
 
-------------------------------------
          Nick Wallingford
      Bay of Plenty Polytechnic
 (East coast, N Island, New Zealand)
     Internet [log in to unmask]
-------------------------------------