[log in to unmask] wrote:
> According to our state bee inspector, he has observed an high percentage
of
> ABF in our county.

That should be AFB (American Foul Brood).  ABF is the American Beekeeping
Federation.

I just got off the phone with Mark Berninghausen (NYS Bee Inspector in the
Northern tier).  Mark reported that they're finding larger than "normal"
incidences of AFB amongst the hobby/sideline sector.  All cases are being
sent to a lab in New Paltz for confirmation and then on to Beltsville Bee
Lab for evaluation regarding susseptibility to terramycin.  Some cases of
resistence have been verified, but pockets of resistence have not been
identified.  That is, there is no specific area where resistence has a
strong foothold.  The leads to SPECULATION that resistence may be out ther
more commonly than suspected, it just takes harder looking and evaluation to
identify resistent strains.  Possibly documented cases of resistence may
lead to faster approval for the use of tylocin and other treatments.

Taken from http://www.honeycouncil.ca/chc-ccm/afb.html
Tylosin:
Canadian government researchers Dr. Don Nelson and Adony Melathopoulos have
launched a project at Beaverlodge AB, starting in September 2000 to evaluate
the effect of Tylosin. This drug has been found effective against AFB in the
USA but formal registration is still pending. With good data from
Beaverlodge it may be possible to get a speedy registration of tylosin for
use in Canada. Health Canada is two years behind in drug registration so we
cannot expect anything emerging from the bureaucratic process in time for
fall 2001 treatment. Tylosin may be made available on an experimental basis
within a shorter time frame if the politicians and government can respond to
industry's urgent requests.
Erythromycin and lincomycin:
These two drugs may be useful alternatives in the future. Dr Don Nelson and
Adony Melathopoulos are conducting trials at Beaverlodge Research Station to
evaluate the effect of these antibiotics in the control of AFB under cold
northern conditions. This research is sponsored by the department of
Agriculture and Agri-Food with support from the Alberta Beekeepers
Association.

Obviously, oxytetracycline is not the only game in town.  The hurtle is
getting the products registered.  And there are beekeepers who will admonish
that regardless the chemical, ANY use of chemicals is just hopping on to the
treatment "Merry-Go-Around".

Aaron Morris - thinking I miss Andy Nachbar!