Hi Allen and everyone,
I need to clearify a couple of points below.


> ...one
 > beekeeper here burned all AFB colonies last fall - he only had a
few
 > and figured it was the best way to go - trying to nip the problem
in
 > the bud so to speak.  The result?  A major outbreak of AFB in his
 > outfit this summer.

>I take it he did not use prophylactic antibiotics after the ETO?

He burned all infected colonies.  He did not treat with ETO( Ethyleen
Oxide ).  He also continued his good TM program.  Still the major
outbreak.  Why?  The AFB in his outfit is not responding to the
antibiotic treatment it is as if he quit using it.

>A question on the antibiotic resistant AFB you have encountered: is
it entirely
>unaffected by the application of drugs, or does it require a higher
dose to
>achieve control?

As above sometimes it appears to not respond at all but sometimes we
see reduced effectiveness in that you can keep a colony strong with
continued treatment but there is still some active AFB and highly
infectious scale is being created infecting more frames in the
colony....



>The universal use of hygienic bees should reduce the reservoirs of
diseases and
>benefit us all.  If we can get bees that can handle the diseases and
still
>produce, we can get off the drug treadmill.

Dr Spivak's stock is also good for honey production here in MN.  She
was very careful to also select for honey production, wintering, and
workability so it is an overall good stock but again it will take a
few years to see the major results.  Now the first year you will see
some improvement but the real improvement comes in later years as the
drones in your outfit also carry the traits so the frequency of the
hygienic traits increases in your workers.



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