> As for "susceptible bees", I submit that all EHB larvae are
> AFB-susceptible, without exception. I challenge anyone to show me a
> line of bees that can, if given a heavily AFB-infected frame, clean
> up the problem, and not make it worse. What we do have are lines of
> merely hygienic bees, which can sometimes handle very small AFB
> problems with aplomb, but this is a behavior, not a "resistance" to
> infection by AFB spores.
Hmmm. Maybe so, but I do recall being told of such bees by someone whom
I trust. Moreover, I have, as an inspector, examined a long-abandoned
yard of bees where all hives had broken down and had scaled up combs,
but where several hives were thriving with no apparent signs of the disease.
Now that was in the days of sulfa, a very effective and long-lasting
drug, and maybe these particular hives had somehow lucked onto brood
chambers with a residue of sulfa, but I do recall these hives very
clearly and have often wondered since.
I have also seen hives I moved to a 'hospital yard' clear up before I
got around to treating them -- and never AFAIK break down again.
Additionally, from information provided in public meetings, I have
learned that there is research underway to examine such mechanisms of
AFB resistance as larval resistance to infection and I have been told
(maybe wrongly?) by researchers to whom I have spoken that strains do
vary in the difficulty -- or ease -- of infecting larvae. Apparently
one spore won't do the job alone and some strains are harder to infect.
It is also fairly well understood in commercial circles that after three
cycles of brood are raised successfully in a formerly scaled call that
likelihood of infection is almost nil. Hence the importance of doing
several antibiotic treatments properly --as recommended -- and on schedule.
Just sayin'
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