> I realize I am coming from a fairly naive position, but  I have heard of
the
>highly antibacterial properties of several types of honey, not to mention
>propolis itself--are the bee's weapons just not strong enough to fight off
>these diseases and pests? If not, is the natural order of things dictating
>that bees are doomed?

I would use caution in the "highly" modifier to "antibacterial". There is
some good indications that some forms of honey work against some forms of
bacteria. But there are different types of bacteria, and different types of
antibiotics that work against them. American Foul Brood is of type of
bacteria that form spores to reproduce. Spore forming bacteria are very hard
to kill when compared to the bacteria that do not form spores. Examples of
spore forming bacteria that also cause humans great problems would be
botulism and anthrax.

Antibiotics that are used against spore forming bacteria attack the "adult"
form of the germ. The spores that do not become active during the antibiotic
treatment are not harmed. With AFB that means that spores in the wax are
available to attack the next generation of brood as soon as the treatment is
ended. Prolonged use of any antibiotic will result in selection pressures
that can promote resistant strains.

I always wonder at what is to be understood as "the natural order". If the
human race is to be thought of as part of nature then as long as we are
working to keep the bees going then they should not thought of as doomed by
nature. What you have to understand is that the problem of antibiotic
resistant bacteria is a problem for humans as well. There are now staff and
strep germs that only respond to a handful of the known antibiotics.

This is not against nature, but an example of the process of nature in
selection. As was mentioned in another post on AFB most antibiotics are
based on compounds found in nature. For that matter many toxic substances
are based on things found in nature. One species develops a defense, another
changes its method of attack. It has always been a war, we are just among
the larger players in the battle.


>How is it that there is a strain of bacteria so potent
>that no antibiotics can kill it? (or the only ones that seemed to be
working
>were sterilizing the queens--is this true?) Any or all of these questions,
I
>guess, are fueled by my knowledge of antibiotic over/mis-use in humans and
>farm animals, and prompted by the last posting about DNA swapping between
>micro-organisms.  thanks--

Most misuse of antibiotics have their roots in consumer desires. When we
have a cold, which is caused by a virus we want the good doctor to do
something. Since a little relief can be found in attacking the bacteria that
are taking advantage of the viral foothold, we are given antibiotics. How
would the patient of today react to the old "take two aspirin and call me in
the mourning".

In the food industry we want the big chickens and fat beef but we want it
cheap. So the farmer is put under pressure to use antibiotics. In the end we
all have a little bit of blame in the problems.