This discussion about SAFB caught me in the heaviest time of our
queen and package bee season here in Central Argentina. I am
sorry but I couldn't give my 2 cents before.

The whole thing Mr. Dick described in his original message
ignores and omits many important facts. I can understand it,
perhaps Mr. Dick has never been to Argentina nor he has many
sources of information.

Conversely I have had the chance of working many years in the USA
for commercial outfits (in California and Georgia) and have seen
how AFB is treated and make a fair comparison with what is done
here in Argentina. I could tell (but I won't do it in this list)
the names of important American beekeepers who make a regular use
of illegal drugs for the prevention and treatment of AFB. I am
speaking of Sulphatiazole Sodium and Tylosin.

In the first place, before starting a witchhunting, you should
assess whether the first resistant strain wasn't created
somewhere in North America, then spread and perhaps reintroduced
into your territory.

AFB was introduced and detected in Argentina during 1989.  I said
"introduced" because in fact AFB was not present in Argentina
before 1989. You can check this assertion with any of our animal
health authorities. Before 1989, AFB was something we only read
about in bee journals and bee books.

AFB was introduced in the central part of Buenos Aires province
in a huge shipment  (more than one thousand) of US queen bees
(North American - not South American certainly). It is likely the
candy of those queen cages was not made neither with HFCS nor
with irradiated honey. It was a terrible mistake and an accident.
I can't think of any beekeeper Canadian, American or whoever who
deliberately makes queen cage candy with infected honey.

Terramycin mixed with powdered sugar has been used for several
years to treat and prevent EFB in Argentina before AFB was
detected.

With the arrival of AFB a few beekeepers (included myself) tried
patties made up of Margarine and terramycin but something in the
margarine made the bees refuse the patties so we gave up with
them. Needless to say, Crisco is not available in Argentina. What
I mean is that sublethal dosis
were never used in Argentina as it was the case in the US with
some patties.

AFB was first introduced in Argentina in 1989 but I can't see how
it became resistant so fast... If our AFB is indeed
resistant -which I doubt-  I am led to believe it was already a
resistant strain when it reached our country.

The researcher that seemingly demonstrated that  we have a
"resistant strain" has only done IN VITRO experiments. Not a
single FIELD trial was made to corroborate her findings. At the
same time many other researchers found strong evidence that there
was not any AFB resistance to Terramycin in Argentina. It is a
pity those researchers didn't have the same publicity as the one
who said the opposite.

When l told many large Argentine beekeepers of this absurd
discussion about AFB or SAFB the only thing we could do was to
laugh and also wonder whether Mr. Dick has any other kind of
problem with Argentine honey that prompts him to discredit our
fine and high quality honey.

Mr. Dick: if you wish to impose a trade barrier or promote a
quota system for our honey I won't stop you. But please, I urge
you not to confuss the mind of people with
pseudoscientific and misleading information.

Mr. Dick: we do have varroa mite resistance to fluvalinate and we
don't mind to admit it. If we had AFB resistance to Terramycin we
wouldn't care to admit it either. Before blaming anybody I
suggest you to be better informed.

It is quite obvious Argentina has not become one of the largest
honey exporting countries with a simultaneous spread of AFB
resistant to Terramycin. Long before producing so much honey we
would have lost most of our hives. Do you understand it?


Martin Braunstein
Breeder & Exporter of Queen Bees
Criador y Exportador de Abejas Reinas
Malka Cabaña Apicola
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.apiservices.com/malka/
Phone (54+11)4446-8350
Fax (54+221)421-4318
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