On Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:39:41 -0700, kirk jones <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I recommend minimal treatments with terra or tylosin. 



I agree with Kirk on limited need for TM or Tylan. My mentor used TM in spring and fall 
and then when TM quit working he switched to Tylan before it was labeled for use. 

Anyhow as he retired I ended up with his hives and brood equipment. AFB was rampant 
until I quit cold turkey and took a big hit the first year burning the inner 5 frames of the 
affected brood boxes. I would replace the frames with foundation or extracting frames 
and follow up with 1 or 2 TM treatments. 

5 years have passed and this summer with 450 colonies, I only found 2 or 3 minor cases 
of AFB.  Half my operation is now pure Russian and that may also account for the small 
number of AFB cases as I have hardly ever seen any AFB in those Russian bees. 

My take home point is the old system of treating 2X a year and never tossing comb 
resulted in a much higher incidence of AFB annually in my experience.  
             ***********************************************
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