I may have been the one who make a reference to AFB having been identified
in the late 1800's.  At the time, I tried, unsuccessfully, to find a
reference in The Hive and The Honeybee.  Unfortunately, this otherwise
excellent book is not always well indexed.  For example, AFB is discussed at
length on pages 1083-1096, but the only index reference to those pages is to
the photos on page 1086!  But I digress...

On page 1090 there is a reference to a control procedure developed in 1907.
That is the earliest reference I could quickly find.  However, my memory is
that the names EFB and AFB were applied based on the location where the
bacteria was first discovered and identified, and that EFB was discovered
and identified several years before AFB.  In fact, if my memory serves, for
a few years AFB was misidentified as EFB.

Now, this could be within the pages of The Hive and the Honeybee, or in some
other reference.  I am certain I read it somewhere.  I am less certain of
the late 19th century reference, but it is not illogical if the 1907
reference to an AFB treatment is accurate.

Seems to me that Miller's Forty Years Among the Bees had a reference to
disease?  I'll look that up at home.

Even if early 1900's is a better reference date, why did it take until the
1940's for American bees to become so infected that AFB was threatening the
existence of beekeeping in the US?

Lloyd
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Lloyd Spear Owner, Ross Rounds, Inc.  The finest in comb honey production.
Visit our web site at http://www.rossrounds.com.