On Fri, 13 Dec 1996, Ted Fischer wrote:
 
> Allen Dick wrote:
> >American Foulbrood (AFB) is quietly shaping up -- once again -- to
> >be a major beekeeping challenge.  That is unless new antibiotics are
> >approved in advance of the almost certain spread of mutant strains
> >of this old scourge, or unless the spread is controlled by use of
> >honey inspection and/or embargos combined with a thorough clean-up at
> >the site of current outbreaks.
>
> This is certainly not an unexpected development, with the widespread
> usage of antibiotics.  However, your report is the first I've actually
> heard of it.  Could you give a reference or two about where one can read
> up on it, please?
>
 Hello All,  The use of antibiotics in a hive of bees , should be kept to
a minimum. We need resistant bees and that should always be our goal.The
quick fix with antibiotics gets in the way of keeping bees that are
resistant to AFB.We have tools and the researchers to do the job right.
  I sell honey in Seattle to Naturalpathic Doctors and they don't want me
to use any antibiotics at all on my bees.I don't  use any and have no
problem with AFB. If I ran 1000 hives instead of 50 to 80 , I might have a
couple of cases , but it would be because of me getting slow with
requeening , with good stock.
 A point for all beekeepers, know your local beekeepers and help them get
good stock.We should not be passing AFB back and forth with each other.
 We have some great bee breeders around the world. I belive natural
resistance is the only answer and a beekeeper who really cares to learn ,
what is new in beekeeping.We are changing with the times.We do know that
antibiotics is a short term fix.We have been lucky with TM. It has lasted
a long time.
 Best Regards
 Roy