On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:53:20 -0400, Peter L Borst <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>In the case of honeybees fed antibiotics spring and fall (not during a honey flow) there
is an
>extremely small chance of the consumption of a detectable amount of antibiotic by a
person
>eating honey.
Maybe with TM I can agree with that, but the half life of Tylan I'm not so sure.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/Publications.htm?seq_no_115=157170http://www.medinabeekeepers.com/Newsletters/OhioInfoBee200604.pdf
"The stability of this type of product is measured
in half life. The half life for Oxytetracycline is 7.6
days while the half life for tylosin is 287 days!
The potential for residue is real!"
Here is an excerpt from the Union of Concerned Scientists position on the proposed law.
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/solutions/wise_antibiotics/pamta.html
"But while doctors are actively curtailing unnecessary uses of antibiotics in human
medicine, operators of CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) continue to use vast
quantities of these priceless drugs every day in the feed and water of animals that are
not even sick."
That sure sounds like feedlot beekeeping doesn't it? Maybe not every day, but twice a
year whether there is any sign of AFB or not many beekeepers are feeding antibiotics to
bees that are not sick. Thats the point of this proposed law. It's abuse of antibiotics thats
at issue. I also have heard reports of beekeepers claiming a feeding of Tylan 6 weeks
before the main flow appears to jack up the bees and increase brood rearing. This too is
similar to how antibiotics are used in pork and beef, amping up the growth rates.
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