< Robert Brenchley wrote ..EFB is a stress disease. Melissococcus is endemic
..An endemic bacillus will not be eliminated either by
treatment or by burning >

I believe AFB is also endemic .. a study here awhile back found reported AFB
spore counts in many honey samples.

Thus, I think your argument is valid for AFB as well.

Burning is probably needed when it isn't caught in time and treated.  Foci
of AFB in a hive will responded to treatment vs when entire hive body is
rotting and no amount of terramycin will save them .. also not a good
environment to start a new colony, thus burn it.

Management is probably the operative thought.

Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Brenchley [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2000 04:03 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: AFB/EFB


<Here in UK we have a destruction policy for AFB, absolutely no
<exceptions...There are
<many of us here that think this policy should be extended to EFB as well.>

    From my reading (I'm pretty new to beekeeping), EFB is a stress disease.
Melissococcus is endemic, and the disease appears in times when the larvae
are fed insufficiently. If this is correct, what purpose would be served by
burning EFB hives? An endemic bacillus will not be eliminated either by
treatment or by burning; wouldn't it be better to deal with an EFB hive by
identifying the cause of the stress and eliminating it? Or is my reasoning
cockeyed somewhere?

        I would totally support burning for AFB, but I wonder where the bees
come into contact with spores, given the pattern of sporadic isolated
outbreaks?

Regards,

Robert Brenchley

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