David said "I couldn't, and still don't understand what the genetics of the
queen has to do with a spore disease. That's a bit like suggesting the
re-queening of a hive suffering with foul brood, a waste of time."

Hmmm... I thought it was fairly well documented that:
* Bees can have resistance to both Chalkbrood and AFB
* That disease in most animals is effected by genetics

Now, there are multiple means of disease resistance.  Hygienic behavior is
one; another is antibodies in the bee circulation system that prevent the
disease from progressing to the point of symptoms; another is disinfectant
contained in bee salvia used to clean cells; etc.  All of these, and more,
are being found to be inheritable.  This would seem to indicate that
selection of queens with resistance would be of real benefit.

Perhaps a genetic resistance to AFB is rare (we know it does exist).  If so,
perhaps Dave meant to say approximately "it is unlikely that re-queening
would have any effect on an AFB infection".


Lloyd
Lloyd Spear, Owner, Ross Rounds, Inc.  The finest in comb honey production.
www.rossrounds.com