> And some beekeepers may have used antibiotics to treat active outbreaks of AFB, an illegal act.  Legal or not, what changes is the easy access to the antibiotics.

I would hasten to point out that use of drugs on active AFB has never been illegal in every single state, the state laws vary. Some states have no laws, some have lenient regs. In California in the 1980s it was common to treat AFB. 

In New York state, it may be illegal but it is also common here -- I know this because I inspected hives that were being treated or had been treated recently. Some beekeepers told me the inspectors told them how to do it. 

The NY state inspectors did not have any jurisdiction over what beekeepers put in their hives; that would be another department. There is a lot more to this story which I don't feel like making public at this time. 

PLB

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html