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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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From:
Blane White <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 27 Dec 2001 07:39:50 -0600
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Hi Everyone,
Robert asks an interesting question regarding AFB infection rates in the US in the early part of the 20th century.
Many factors combined to lead to this and I will surely miss some but it appears to me that they included:

The bees in common use were quite suspectable to the infection.

The beekeepers didn't understand the nature of the disease.

There were no drugs that could be successfully used to control the disease at the time.

I suspect that the most important factor was the lack of knowledge of the disease and how it spreads.  Even now the most common method of spread of AFB is beekeepers moving combs from infected to uninfected colonies.  If they didn't understand that doing this would spread the problem, they would have quickly spread it throughout their outfits in their efforts to boost the weak colonies and protect the equipment from the weak and dead colonies from the wax moth.  In many parts of the world today, they control the infection very effectively by buring infected combs and shaking the bees unto foundation ( if there are enough bees to be worth saving ).  In the 1920's it was observed that buring the infected combs stopped the spread of the disease and that was the key to controling it by inspection and destruction.

When you don't think infection contol you are very likely to spread the infection.

FWIW

blane


******************************************
Blane White
MN Dept of Agriculture
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