>> As Ghislain remarks, “Belgium is not an island and the 'burn only'
>> route is followed. So do the countries surrounding us.”
>
> Certainly France follows the European directives and burn is the
> only option. It has resulted in a lower occurrence of the disease.

The numbers given are shocking.  "Lower" is not low.

Moreover, I suspect that the number of operations in the 1,000 hive or
over class  in these regions is low, whereas it accounts for the bulk of
beekeeping in North America, so the scale and investment involved in a
typical commercial operation is incomprehensible to many Europeans, as
are the distances involved.

> “In which way this leads to 'false reporting and inaccurate
> statistics' is a mystery to me.”    And to me also.

I'm afraid that no matter how I try, I cannot explain the obvious to
those who do not wish to see it.

Moreover, all this discussion goes to show that all beekeeping is local
as are customs and standards of acceptability.

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