Here in the UK, AFB is a 'notifiable disease' , which means that the beekeeper is legally obliged to notify the appropriate authority if he suspects that his bees have AFB.  I always tell those I mentor that if they see something that they aren't sure is NOT AFB (or EFB) then they should call the Bee Inspector at once. The Bee Inspector visits and confirms or corrects the diagnosis with samples checked in a laboratory.  There is a 'standstill order' on the apiary, meaning that nothing may legally be moved from it until diagnosis and subsequent action, if necessary, are complete. 

If there is AFB, then all the hive contents are killed, burnt and buried and the inside of the hive is scorched with a blow torch. This policy has, over many years, reduced the incidence of AFB to miniscule proportions.  In over 30 years I have seen it only twice (in other peoples' hives).  On one of those occasions I was standing behind the photographer, Mervyn Bown, when the matchstick test was applied and his photo is to be seen in Hooper & Morse's Encyclopaedia of Beekeeping.  

On the other occasion the Association were doing a safari of members' apiaries with Beulah Cullen, the Regional Bee Inspector at the time.  As the afternoon wore on people got bored and numbers dwindled, especially when we got to Kevin Pope's apiary of about 15 hives on the Rape at Gorwell.  When Beulah, who was painstakingly meticulous, was on about hive 12, I was about the only one left to see her apply a matchstick to a dodgy cell and see the contents rope.  The owner, Kevin, is now our Bee Inspector!

The beekeeper, through his annual subscription to his BKA, is covered by Bee Diseases Insurance, a group run by beekeepers for beekeepers. Any profits are channeled into research and education.  They pay the beekeeper for the cost of his burned equipment according to a published scale.

There is no routine check on hives for the presence of spores.  The use of antibiotics in beehives is illegal (although I understand a blind eye is turned to Fumidil for Nosema).

Chris

             ***********************************************
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

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm