Allen wrote:
>As far as personal experience is concerned, as a bee inspector, I have seen bees that seem totally immune to AFB.  In one memorable case, cited here before, every hive in the yard of 40 or so was broken down and full, of scale with the exception of 3 or so.  These latter bees were robbing the AFB deadouts and thriving without showing any active disease. I was amazed.

OK, but does that mean they have "disease resistance" and is it *hereditary*?

Let me give an example. In 1955, in the middle of the polio epidemic, I got polio. (At the time, everyone was paranoid about polio; some people were even afraid to swim in public places for fear of getting it from the water.) I was one of a family of 5 people. No one else in my family got it. Were they "disease resistant" and was it hereditary?

Furthermore, if they were disease resistant, does that mean they shouldn't need to be vaccinated? In fact, in 1956, when everyone was getting vaccinated, I stood there and argued with the school nurse, telling her I didn't need to be vaccinated, since I already had it. I got vaccinated anyway.

There are people today that refuse to get vaccinated. Don't need it, they say. And some even get polio from the vaccine. But what does that mean? We have a national policy that all children should get vaccinated against a variety of diseases. I wonder how many beekeepers forego *tetanus* vaccine? I hope not many, because a beekeeper in our area recently got tetanus and it was not a pretty thing. He was in a coma for many weeks and barely pulled through.

The long and short of i t is, you may *say* you have disease resistance, but how do you know? And how can you propagate it? I submit that it *is not that easy* to propagate *any* line of bees. It requires scientific care and effort. It is not just a matter of saying "looks like a breeder". (I have actually seen people in the queen rearing profession do this.)

Allen writes:
>(Note: Don't try this at home, kids.  This will not work for most other beekeepers.  Lusbys have unusual bee stock, considerable expertise and insight, a unique management system, and an unique environment).

Perhaps this is all true. But then, if they have "a unique management system, and an unique environment" -- how much weight can be placed on "unusual bee stock"? We have no way of knowing whether the low incidence of disease is due to 1) unusual bee stock, 2) considerable expertise and insight, 3) a unique management system, or 4) a unique environment. See what I mean? TOO MANY VARIABLES = NO DEFINITE CONCLUSION.

pb