Peter wrote

> If you don't have AFB, and you use terramycin, it prevents it. For 
> example,
> your hive robs a sick one and brings back spore laden honey. The 
> terramycin
> prevents an infection from developing. The spores are eventually 
> eliminated
> by house-cleaning.

How are the spores eliminated from honey by house cleaning?  My 
understanding is that the hygienic bees remove the vegetative stage in the 
cleaning phase.  If the spores are in the honey, unless that honey is 
removed e.g. eaten or extracted, then the spores must still be in the hive. 
As I understand it bees do not have a filter process where they can remove 
spores from honey.

> For example, hive dies from foulbrood. Swarm repopulates it, fills it with
> honey, gets foulbrood and dies leaving large quantity of AFB honey. Your
> hive robs it out, gets foulbrood.

If there was a feral hive there would not the wax moth destroy the comb so 
there would not be a source of AFB spores?  If it was managed hive that died 
out then I could see the problem but if a beekeeper is "on the ball" then 
they should be picking up these hives before they can be re-colonised. 
Robbing of that hive could be source but if the treatment is working then 
the hive should not be getting AFB.  This is where I disagree in the 
treating stopping the hive from getting AFB.  It only delays the inevitable 
and the beekeeper is spreading infected material throughout the beekeeping 
operation.

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA

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