Suprisingly there have not been any reports (that I know of; anyone heard
of anything different? ) of tetra resistance to AFB.  There are a rather
alarming number of new resistant strains of organisms reported in
publications, news and medical journals.
 
Recently reports of BT resistance have emerged in some control circles.
This is very worrying since it has always been thought that biological
controls would be immune to mechanisms of resistance.  It would not suprise
me if a mode of resistance may not be identified for numerous biologically
or chemical products derived from biologic sources.  Certainly if a
chemical is used against a population long enough the chances for
resistance increases.  This is driving a new paradigm for anyone breeding
for resistances or developing chemical pesticides for management of a pest
complex. The work at hand is only another step in the walkway, not a silver
bullet that will control the pest always.  A long acting product is
prefered to one than can be projected to have a short useful lifetime.
 
The doctors treating my daughters recurrent ear infection have been
reverting to old sulfur based chemicals since most of the newer antibiotics
are ineffective because of the emergence of resistant bacterial strains.
We spend a lot of time at work trying new antibiotics to clean up fungal
strains from bacterial contaminants that were once susceptibe to standard
antibiotics.
 
There are many different descriptions for the mechanism of resistance or
the processes leading to the advent of resistance.  I believe that the
harder the pressure placed on a population the quicker surviving rebreeding
individuals can and will develop resistance.  Perhaps this may be the exact
reason that AFB has not shown resistance to tetra.  Tetra does not outright
kill the organism that causes AFB rather it suppresses the symptoms.  AFB
is probably still operating at a low level (like a cold virus), even in a
tetra treated colony. The disease does not manifest into a colony killing
situation because of the treatment but the bacteria can still be found.
 
Tetra suppresses the major symptoms boosting a colony so that it can
overcome the devastating effects of AFB.  Be careful not to become a tetra
junky.  As a hobbyist I choose to limit my use of chemicals in my hive (
This is not everyones choice or option and I do not stand on a soapbox
decrying that everyone should or can) I therefor utilize a multifaceted
approach for disease control and prevention that utilizes sampling,
cultural control and the judicious use of chemicals, especially when my
options are limited by radical conditions or threat of colony loss.
 
Mike
                                                .-~~~-.
                                              /        }
                                             /      .-~
                                   \        |        }
                   _   __        ___\.~~-.-~|     . -~_
                  / \./  \/\__      { O |  ` .-~.    ;  ~-.__
              __{^\_ _}_   )  }/^\   ~--~/-|_\|   :   : .-~
             /  /\_/^\._}_/  //  /     /   |  \~ - - ~
            (  (__{(@)}\__}.//_/__A__/_A___|__A_\___A______A_____A
             \__/{/(_)\_}  )\\ \\---v-----V----v----v-----V-----v---
               (   (__)_)_/  )\ \>  Mike Griggs  [log in to unmask]
 
                \__/     \__/\/\/        Entomologist
 
                   \__,--'HTTP://www.ppru.cornell.edu/biocontrol/griggs.html
 
>Hello All,
>
>Has anyone noticed AFB resistance to Terramycin developing in their
>yards?  I don't know ho long it's been being used to combat foulbroods,
>but given its blanket use as a preventative measure (I'm not criticizing
>this) it seems to me that we'd be getting some resistant strains by now.
>
>Dave T.
 
                                                .-~~~-.
                                              /        }
                                             /      .-~
                                   \        |        }
                   _   __        ___\.~~-.-~|     . -~_
                  / \./  \/\__      { O |  ` .-~.    ;  ~-.__
              __{^\_ _}_   )  }/^\   ~--~/-|_\|   :   : .-~
             /  /\_/^\._}_/  //  /     /   |  \~ - - ~
            (  (__{(@)}\__}.//_/__A__/_A___|__A_\___A______A_____A
             \__/{/(_)\_}  )\\ \\---v-----V----v----v-----V-----v---
               (   (__)_)_/  )\ \>  Mike Griggs  [log in to unmask]
 
                \__/     \__/\/\/        Entomologist
 
                   \__,--'HTTP://www.ppru.cornell.edu/biocontrol/griggs.html