Hi Adony, both Peters, and All:

>>If melissococcus pluton is not spore forming, then how long does the scale
remain infective?

>Correct, it does not form spores.  Why it is not killed by 8kGy of gamma
irradition is also a mystery.  Being in spring pollination, I can see why
you are concerned, as the disease is typically only a problem where
management necessitiates moving colonies from pollen rich spring yards, into
stressful, pollen poor pollination yards.  Perhaps pollen patties prior to
and going into pollination may help the colony keep pace with the disease?
I am afraid I have not much experience with EFB in the Peace.  Good luck.

I *do* feed pollen (substitute with 5-10% trapped) before the hives go into
blueberry pollination. Lots of it. I regularly have a few hives that show
EFB.  Usually under 1%. About the same level as sacbrood.  No AFB for the
last 22 years.  This year was a poor honey season for all the hives, and
maybe that stress contributed to the problem.  But drifting bees must also
spread it.  I keep my hives in lines of five and I am seeing stands which
don't have it, and other stands with most hives infected.

From Peter Bray's post:

>However one of the key symptoms of HMD is multiple eggs in the same cell (or
>even around the entrance to the cell) and eggs at odd angles.  Next time you
>see "EFB", look for multiple eggs (even only 2) per cell.  If you find that,
>chances are you actually have HMD.

I looked at brood in about 80 hives today.  Did not see multiple eggs except
in one near dead pitiful specimen.  But I did see LOTS of EFB.  The speed
with which it has spread is frightening.  Some hives with good strength,
lots of honey and pollen and good brood patterns are showing initial
symptoms.  I can see what Andy Nachbaur meant in one post on EFB I found in
the archives of this list  when he said that EFB could take down a
commercial operation faster than AFB.

By the way Peter, many of my queens ARE from New Zealand!  About three
hundred are this years queens and several hundred more are from last year or
their daughters.

>  I
>personally think it's possible the only "true" EFB out there is the stuff
>that has to be treated with antibiotics to cure.

I am dusting everything now, and I believe that will cure it.  However my
most important question has still not been answered:

If the bacteria is NOT spore forming, then how long does it remain infective
once the larva dries up.  The reference that Adony mentioned about
sterilizing honey, is somewhat of a different case.  Honey has moisture, and
if a bacteria is adapted to living in honey it might persist quite awhile
even without forming spores.  But the larva do dry up.  How long is that
material still infective and how can it be treated?  This would seem to me
to be a pretty basic question that someone must have looked at.

Thankyou for all the replies so far.
Stan