"I've heard from a couple of older beekeepers that the soil in an apiary can
be 'contaminated' with AFB spores"
 I have also heard this, but I think it is bogus. Someone told me, I think
it was Cornell guys, that there have been repeated attempts to infect larvae
with AFB from soil extracts and no one has ever accomplished such an
infection. They also told me that several years ago folks at Penn State
tried to infect larvae by spreading AFB killed larvae on hive tools and then
inoculating healthy larvae with the 'spread'. They were never able to spread
the disease in this manner.
 I also know a guy who had quite an infection of AFB before he decided to
burn all the hive equipment whenever he saw infection. He reports that he
was successful (and has not treated or seen AFB in more than 10 years) even
though he never moved his survivor hives and put new hives in the place of
those burned.
 FWIW


--
Lloyd Spear
Owner Ross Rounds, Inc.
Manufacture of equipment for round comb honey sections,
Sundance Pollen Traps, and producer of Sundance custom labels.
Contact your dealer or www.RossRounds.com <http://www.RossRounds.com>

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