> From: Christine Gray
> On 18 April Bill Truesdell wrote: "Why is it there in the first place?"
>
> The 'why' has been a concern to UK beekeepers.  Antibiotics imply teatment
> for disaese - which ones, and how is the anti administered?  If
> the dose was
> too small to kill the disease, and perhaps deliberately just as a
> suppressant, imported hnoney (and blended honey) could also import disease
> spores.

This is more what beekeepers should be concerned about.  Not just disease,
but disease that was resistant to other, more acceptable antibiotics (even
the Chinese would, presumably, not use a more expensive drug when a cheaper
one was available).  If AFB was so prevalent in their hives constant
(presumably when honey supers were on, or just before, to get measurable
contamination) antibiotic treatment is necessary to suppress symptoms and
Chloramphenicol was required to suppress it, what would that do to
beekeeping in you area when some beekeeper picks up a few barrels and uses
it to feed his yards (since it is much cheaper than his own honey)?

In most areas, this would mean lots of burned hives (for those following the
law in those countries), but in the US some useless treatment with
antibiotics (perhaps even not with "approved" antibiotics).  TN has just
lost its state Apiarist (joining several other states in this sad state) and
his previous supervisor will assume his duties in addition to those of his
"regular" job (if this guy was so needed he survived out 9% state budget
cut, how much free time will he have to inspect hives?). The new policy in
TN will be to treat hives, rather than burn (perhaps the real reason our
Apiarist is out).

As to the residue levels in honey being too low to cause symptoms in those
with Chloramphenicol issues, that is probably true.  However, those low
levels may be just the thing to rush resistance to Chloramphenicol among
many different bacteria, not just TB.  Environmental exposure to low level
antibitics plays a big role in resistance, not just failure to properly take
a full run of antibitics by patients. (Ignoring, of course, the work done
that showed antibiotic resistant bacteria showing up in the gut of animals
and humans fed GMO crops that had the antibiotic-resistant marker genes --
only those humans who had partial colon removals had the gene survive the
entire digestive tract.  Perhaps it is not paranoia on the part of those
that saw a large correlation between areas where AFB became antibiotic
restant and areas with immense fields of GMO crops pollinated by honey
bees.)

Karen

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