I think it was Mark Wilson who determined that the bees' proventriculus sieved off something like 85% of the AFB spores within the first 45 (!) minutes of gorging on AFB-laden honey.  [That it some efficient spore filtering!]  In the case of swarms, that would be just 45 minutes after issuing from the parent hive. I have not seen the spore elimination curve but would risk thinking that AFB spores are a non-issue for any swarm a few hours after leaving the parent colony. Virtually all feral colonies are started by swarms and, in years of doing removals, have not seen a single feral colony with AFB disease.  I had really expected to see one every once in a while. And I have not gotten AFB by hiving ferals - bees, comb, and brood - in my equipment.  Waldemar
____________________________________________________________
$65/Hr Job - 25 Openings
Part-Time job ($20-$65/hr). Requirements: Home Internet Access
http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL3231/4d51aa9d51db525dd9est02duc

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