Bob Harrison <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I always hesitate these days to describe the real world of commercial
>beekeeping as it has little in common with hobby beekeeping and the mindset
>of the "live and let die mindset". I do not mean to slam the mindset

I, for one, have spent a great deal of time on Bee-L defending
commercial beekeeping and the type of beekeeping that is done. To me,
there doesn't have to be a sharp distinction, keeping in mind that
small-timers may have more time to devote more attention to bees,
while commercials have to keep the numbers up to stay in business.

Further, whenever I talk about chemicals and bees, I always remind
people that it may be impossible for them to keep their bees alive
without treating with any or all the products on the market. It
depends a great deal on your location. If you are surrounded by lots
of beekeepers who are treating you may get away without treating, or
you may end up with all their problems in your lap.

Each person must work this out for themselves, what does it take to
keep bees alive? Just like gardening. If you can grow stuff without
spraying, who wouldn't? If you don't care if the deer eat up all your
veggies, so be it.

On the subject of terramycin, I agree whole-heartedly with Bob that it
is a big mistake to switch to tylosin IF you don't have a problem with
resistant AFB. I think a lot of guys did it because they thought newer
is better. But as Bob said, you lose terramycin's ability to prevent
EFB as well as AFB. In fact, some are recommending terramycin during
build-up even though foulbrood is not present -- because the colonies
seem to do better with it.

Whether the use of antibiotics is natural or not depends on your point
of view. In the real world there is no such thing as natural or
artificial; there are winners and losers. The use of antibiotics goes
back thousands of years in any case and many antibiotics are in fact
naturally occurring substances; as we have pointed out before the gut
of most organisms is teeming beneficial organisms whose function may
not be known.

> The first known use of antibiotics was by the ancient Chinese over 2,500 years ago. Many other ancient cultures, including the ancient Egyptians, ancient Greeks and medieval Arabs already used molds and plants to treat infections, owing to the production of antibiotic substances by these organisms. Quinine became widely used as a therapeutic agent in the 17th century for the treatment of malaria, the disease caused by Plasmodium falciparum, a protozoan parasite. In 1877 Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch observed that an airborne bacillus could inhibit the growth of Bacillus anthracis. The antibiotic properties of Penicillium sp. were first described in England by John Tyndall in 1875. However, his work went by without much notice from the scientific community until Alexander Fleming's discovery of Penicillin.

-- 
Peter L Borst
Danby, NY  USA
42.35, -76.50
http://picasaweb.google.com/peterlborst

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