James Fischer wrote: > Wow, what a week for proving that "common sense" is anything but common!< > The drug-resistant strain of T.B. is really nasty. Rifampicin is one of the few drugs left that can fight it...< The process of realization sometimes can be negatively exciting. I personally wouldn't know anything about Rifampicin before it show up in this Bulgarian beekeeping product. Here, from information's I gathered up until now, I can say that Rifampicin is obviously used as ingredient of number other veterinary drugs - my question is: which one, how many - and in which countries? Did anyone know something? I am sure that lot of people on this List at least can ask some veterinarian friend(s) about this. Knowing that Bulgarians usually are not "inventors of hot water" I can suppose that this antibiotic is registered for veterinarian purposes in at least one another, much more powerful country (Russia maybe?) Also I can say that I have respect for their considerations connected with metod of applying. They obviously had taking care of antibiotic ending in hive products and was prone to invent another way of application, lot less dangerous than, for instance, dusting. BUT, I have problem with respecting their prescription of using the drug in preventive. In the raport of their first research, required for registration purposes, they didn't find any residue of Rifampicin, 10 days after application, BUT I do not believe in that, because I do not know the methods they were using for testing that. For me it is impossible to expect that if you put something strange in the hive, that nothing of it will be left, or in this case, that bees will clean it totally. This is specially important if you know, as I know at the present time, that bacteria's build resistance to Rifampicin very, very fast - and that is the reason why Rifampicin is never applied alone, but together with other antibiotics - in any case, including humans (T.B.). Also, I am almost sure that nobody knows for how long Rifampicin is active in honey or wax! I must point out another problem: in my country, also in neighbouring countries, and I am sure in others, veterinarians are usually promoters of using drugs instead no-drug methods when dealing with livestock illnesses. Most of them had never been closer than 2 meters from any beehive, or they never opened a hive in their life, but they are usually obliged from governments to gave advises, prescriptions or permissions. Therefore I am not surprised when one of our veterinarians stated that without antibiotics beekeeping will be ruined in one year! Do I need to look surprised when after few years Rifampicin will be officially registered and advised for using in beekeeping in my country or Your's? No I do not think so - because veterinarians will not ask us for opinion. So, I must agree with You: "common sense" is anything but common!