Allen said,
> The root question is whether one OTC resistant strain developed in one
place and
> has been spread by international trade in honey and other means, or
whether a
> number of separate strains have evolved in separate and totally isolated
places
> with no vector of disease transmission between them.
> I personally always favour the simplest explanation that fits the known
facts,
> and that is that SAFB started in Argentina, was exported to the US and
Canada,
> and continues to spread.

I recently had a visit from a Western Canada beekeeper who was convinced
that imported unwashed barrels are a major vector in "rAFB" .He said that
most had a fair amount of honey in the barrel and when stored outside posed
a real danger to the spread of diseases. Here in Quebec l have seen many
barrels purchased from the honey packer (Labonte) which come from the west
as well as outside of the country which have residues of honey sufficient to
encourage robbing. At the last Canadian Honey Council meeting
http://www.honeycouncil.ca/chc-ccm/indexe.html it was thought that barrels
may also be a vector for the small hive beetle! For those with HACCP
programs you may already have this problem under control?
Peter