> I've heard from a couple of older beekeepers that the soil in an apiary
> can be 'contaminated' with AFB spores and moving the apiary is the only
> way to prevent re-occurrence...

Maybe some locations are more prone to AFB than others due to specific
nearby vegetation, or lack thereof, or other factors we don't know.  I've
seen minor AFB clear up spontaneously when hives were moved to a nurse yard,
but not treated with drugs -- or any other method.

Personally, I'm not too worried about low levels of AFB spores, and when
people express a desire to eliminate even minor sources of AFB spores at
great cost, rather than express confidence in a program of reasonable
reduction of major contamination and selection for bees that can deal with
AFB, I tend to suspect that the problem is really either idealism and black
and white thinking -- or simply bad stock.  Given good management, AFB
should not be too big a problem, and extreme measures should not be
appropriate -- IMO.

In dealing with AFB, I feel that there are two basic approaches:

1.) Zero tolerance (ZT) of AFB

     and

2.) Intelligent management (IM) -- AFB monitoring, management
       and damage control

The choice of one or the other approach depends on a number of factors, any
one of which may trump all the others in a specific instance:

- Jurisdiction (state, country, province, etc.) and regulations
- Beekeeper psychology and relationships with neighbours
- Beekeeper expertise, or lack thereof
- Disease history of hives and previous AFB history
- Size and type of operation
- Products produced (pollen for feed or human consumption?)
- Bee strain(s) available and chosen for the operation
- Other factors

Zero Tolerance:  Many beekeepers, sometimes out of fear, ignorance, or
idealism, try to track down and stamp out any imaginable source of AFB
totally and absolutely.  IMO, in many, if not most cases, this is needless
and futile.  The cost of such attempts -- many intensive and invasive
inspections, drugs, irradiation, hygienic bees, burning, boiling, melting,
etc. -- far outweighs the cost of the disease itself, and in many cases is
doomed to failure, unless AFB resistant stock is also used.  In some cases
ZT is the only legal method, but in other situations, intelligent management
can minimize risk, loss and anxiety, and also maximize returns to the
beekeeper.

Intelligent Management:  Many beekeepers use much of the same arsenal --
periodic inspections, drugs, irradiation, hygienic bees, burning, melting,
etc. -- but keep an eye on the cost/benefit ratio and are aware that, if AFB
is well under control, and they can minimize their inputs, effort, risk and
costs, while maximizing convenience and profit, they are ahead in many ways.
While not something to be desired, an occasional breakdown is no cause for
great concern, and can be managed.

To my mind, the key, in all cases, is the bee stock used.  If an hygienic
stock (See http://www.honeybeeworld.com/misc/hygienic.htm) is purchased, or
if HYG is a major selection criterion in local breeding, over time, the
problem of AFB should fade away, unless there is some overwhelming pressure
from AFB locally.  Even with HYG bees, however, due to the nature of bee
genetics and practical factors, there are always bound to be a few rogue,
susceptible queens in any population, so occasional breakdowns will occur.
Even though occasional failures are almost a certainty, if susceptibilty is
rooted out constantly by immediate requeening from known good HYG lines when
AFB is found, and other measures are used to reduce and surpress (not
necessarily eliminate absolutely) contamination from frames with scale, AFB
should retreat far into the background and be no threat.

YMMV

allen

Those who agree with us may not be right, but we admire their astuteness.
            -- Cullen Hightower

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