>> NYS inspectors routinely 'pass' frames and hives with lots of scale.
>> The attitude is that if the disease is not in the vegetive stage, it
>> isn't there!  Further, it is well recognized that in commercial
>> situations few yards are seen without scale.

Well, this is a new one on me.  I've been thinking, and I can't imagine
what the rationale behind such "inspections" could possibly be, or why,
after finding scale, anyone would leave frames containing scale in a
hive.

In the presence of scale , even highly hygienic bees cannot keep the
disease down with any certainty, and even when they are able to control
it, the colonies are losing brood and other resources to the disease.
Using drugs to prevent breakdown can be successful to an extent, but,
due to many factors, control is not completely consistent.  In the
opinion of most of us who have considered the matter, using drugs in the
presence of scale on a long-term basis amounts to deliberate abuse of
antibiotics.

Certifying hives with scale in them as 'disease free', only guarantees a
long and secure carreer for inspection staff and continued losses for
current and future beekeepers.

What are these people thinking?

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com

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