Joe:
> If no drawn comb is available, the bees will consume
> the contents of it's honey stomach in order to produce
> wax to make more comb.  Consumed AFB spores are
> destroyed.

Yes, but it is not enough just to put the bees on foundation if there is good nectar flow on. Bees will bring in nectar so fast that they can mix the honey/ spores they have inside to necatar and place this on the first drawn cells.

To have maximun results the shaken bees shoud be prevented from gathering nectar by closing the hive for 1 - 2 days. Do not kill them in this stage by overheating !  Shade, net under and on top. German istructions tell to wait until the first bees start to die from hunger, which is good idea but not easy to do. But 1 - 1,5 days will normally be enough . After this it is a good to feed the bees.

Here in Finland some shaken swarms die for hunger after 2 days.

Shaking   removes about 90 % of spores from bees stomach.  If followed by    1 - 1,5 days without food 70 - 90 % of the remaining spores are removed.

Nowadays I always recommend this double method, but not all beekeepers will do it because of the risks involved.

Ari Seppälä
Trainer of AFB istructors
Finland

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