What to do with AFB colonies?
 
First, check with your local Department of Agriculture to find out what
options are available to you.  The laws vary, and what I can do in Maryland
is not necessarily legal elsewhere.
 
Two things are here to potenially save: the bees and the equipment.
 
Assuming it's legal, some people will save both by feeding Terramycin.
  While Terramycin will render the disease inactive, the spores will still be
viable.  Hence, once you elect to go the Terramycin route, you are locked
into it forevermore.
 
Personally, I would (indeed have) killed AFB infected colonies, then get the
gear fumigated.   In Maryland, we have an Ethelyne Dioxide (ETO) chamber that
is run by the State Department of Agriculture.   It does a good job.
 
Other fumigation methods are also effective, but all methods require special
equipment and training, and are dangerous if you don't have the training and
equipment (in other words, don't try this at home).
 
W. G. Miller
Gaithersburg, MD