Hello Chuck & All,
Chuck has asked excellent questions but we need to look at the way
beekeeping is run in China (very different from the U.S. & U.K.)and then
we can see  the how & why of the situation.

Chuck wrote:
> The finding of low levels of chloramphenicol in bulk Chinese honey by
> the US Customs Service and the US Food and Drug Administration brings
about  serious questions as to how did this stuff get into Chinese honey and
more important why?

how:
All beekeeping in China is owned by the government and all drugs are
supplied by the government and beekeepers are told to use the drugs given by
the government. Three of my friends took the China beekeeping tour about 10
or so years ago and explained the above as explained to those beekeepers.

My opinion:
My opinion is that when looking for a cheap cure  for a antibiotc treatable
disease in China's bee population Chloramphenicol was tried and possibly was
effective ( most likely was).

 Chloramphenicol sits in pharmacies all over the U.S. with very little
application by our doctors because of dangerous human side effects and is
outlawed for use in food animals.

 What better way to reduce stocks of Chloramphenicol than finding a
livestock application.

Possibly Chloramphenicol is cheaper to produce in China than Terramycin?

I DOUBT THE ANTIBIOTIC WOULD HAVE BEEN FOUND IF THE AUTHORITIES HAD NOT BEEN
LOOKING FOR ANOTHER CONTAMINATION.

*How long have the Chinese  been using Chloramphenicol to treat the China
bees?*



>  Is there a serious internal problem in China with  American Foulbrood,
>ABF, and/or other honeybee diseases in China with  resistance to
>Terramycin and other antibiodics that the Chinese have  possibly >already
used to treat their hives?

There are other better antibiotic choices and the Chinese are aware of
those. I believe you are looking too deeply into the situation Chuck *but*
one can't rule out your scenario as not being the case.

 Because of new testing methods any chemical used in the beehive can be
found if  wanted. The testing is expensive but many packers are pressing for
better testing (to mainly protect their operations ). As usual the packers
want the foreign honey to come into the U.S. with testing already done by an
independent lab. Why not let the foreign shipper/beekeeper pay for the
testing?

> Current methods of heating and filtering packed  honey can not filter >out
all the AFB spores; and then there could be the  release of raw >Chinese
honey from a damaged drum that may possibly be   picked up >by local robbing
bees from the grounds of a importer or packer

AFB brought into the U.S. by the method suggested by Chuck above has been
going on since the first foreign honey was imported. Many commercial
beekeepers and others buy the foreign honey drums (as most foreign honey is
sold with the drums)  and some let their bees rob out the amount of foreign
honey left in the drum before washing .
.
Bob