I should keep "my big mouth shut", but I just can't do it.
1998 is my 65th year of beekeeping and I have never used Terramycin a single
time.
In those 65 years, I have only had American Foulbrood a total of 4 occasions
during which I had to destroy (by burning) a total of 5 colonies.  During this
time, I had anywhere from 30 to 150 colonies.  Since Terramycin DOES NOT KILL
the AFB spore, and if one colony gets infected, by next year EVERY colony in
your apiary including the neighbors probably have AFB, but the beekeeper is
unaware of the infection  because the Terramycin HIDES the symptoms.  I wish
we could ban the use, sale, and production of Terramycin for bees.
     Thank God, neither menthol or Apistan are antibiotics, and thankfully,
menthol
(provided it is used in very warm weather) KILLS Tracheal mites and Apistan
does KILL Varroa mites.  I surely hope we find additional killing agents to
use legally before menthol or particularly Apistan cease to be effective
because our careless beekeepers are leaving strips in colonies over the winter
and other abuses that make the mites resistant.
 
All I can do is keep trying to "spread the word", but I am but one voice.
among the many who take the easy way.  However, not only do I have healthy
bees, but I have never lost a colony to mites, so that satisfies me.
                                                                        George Imirie