James Fischer wrote:

> What one can do about AFB/EFB is what they suggested in New Zealand,
> which was to cease moving frames between hives, and perhaps even dedicate
> specific supers to specific hives.  They found these and other common beekeeper
> actions to be the major factor in the spread of AFB, and other factors (such as
> AFB spreading due to drifting bees) to be non-issues.

Drifting bees may not be the major way that AFB moves but robbing is. It
was the way that a friend got it pollinating a blueberry field with
another beekeeper.

If you are just looking at a single apiary with a single beekeeper
practicing good beekeeping, I agree. But bring in another apiary and
poor beekeeping practices, such as not discouraging robbing, then all
bets are off, as is noted in the article. NZ also has countrywide
registration of hives and a countrywide inspection program.

And they burn in New Zealand- quoting from the article
>Beekeepers in New Zealand eliminate AFB by using routine and constant AFB inspection, >managing their beehives in such a way that they reduce the spread of AFB, and destroying >colonies that are found to have clinical infections of the disease.

I am not sure what "clinical infection" means in terms of when they
destroy a colony.

I think we are talking apples and oranges when we bring in New Zealand
as an example since we are not doing much of what they have in effect.
You can do everything correct as they do it in NZ, and be zapped by a
fellow beekeeper here in the US. We just do not have the program they
have there. Closest thing I have seen to their system is what is done
with the migratory (blueberry) pollinators that come into Maine with
their 60,000 hives. Inspection is mandatory and hives are burned when
AFB is found. And still the AFB rate is around 4% every year.

Compare that to the fact that at least double the number of apiaries are
unregistered than registered that are in Maine. And there is no
mandatory inspection program. And we have a State inspector while other
States do not. If the rate is 4% in a managed program....

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine