Have to say that I am horrified by suggestions that honey should be fed back
to colonies other than to the one that produced it of course (but in that
case why take it off them in the first place?).  What better way to spread disease!


The idea was basically speculative in any case. But were one to do it, only honey from disease free sources would be recommended. Even bulk commercial honey is very unlikely to have spore counts that would be capable of producing AFB infections in actual colonies. 

Honestly, there are far more reliable ways to spread disease than feeding honey. Typically, a diseased colony getting robbed out is the primary source of foulbrood in a neighborhood. The next best way to spread disease is to unwittingly transfer combs from a sick hive into a healthy one. 

Finally, if one was really worried about disease in honey, one would simply add tylosin to the syrup and the whole issue becomes moot. But then, the guy that feeds honey probably won't approve of antibiotics so we are back to square one. 

PLB

             ***********************************************
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