Dee Lusby wrote:
> Peter,
> What about other books with entries on how to process for
> foul contamination in wax for reuse, neutralize woodenware,
> and give honey for feeding, as it digests in the bees gut
> the spores. 
The following is from the Hive and the Honey Bee and is a synopsis, not direct quotes. 

First, it is not he adult bee that is infected but 1 to 3 day old larva from AFB in the spore stage. It is in the honey fed to the larva. One spore is enough to infect a larva. Beekeepers often spread the disease by feeding honey or pollen. AFB can remain viable indefinitely.

It is also interesting that different races of bees can handle AFB better than others, such as Africanized Honey Bees, found in places like Arizona and Texas.

Now I am talking- If your honey is disease free, then there is no problem feeding it in the summer or late spring. But if the honey has granulated, you will take losses, but they will not be noticed because of the buildup during those periods. Fed as a winter feed in a cold climate, you will take a much larger hit unless the honey is mostly sugar with little else. This has been talked about at length, just check the archives. Plus there is lots of science that backs it up, not anecdotal assumptions.

For me, the overriding fact is why play Russian roulette with your bees. The honey is fine for human consumption. My first honey (from my hives that I purchased and then burned up when AFB was found) was contaminated with AFB. Tasted fine. I turned the wax into candles.

I did all the right things with the remaining boxes to "sterilize" them. But every time I saw one of those boxes, I worried that maybe some spores were not killed. All the boxes are all gone now, but I would have had more peace if I just threw them into the wood stove.

Most of the issues here are back to the White Death (sugar), HFCS winter feed vs. "organic" beekeepers. Lots of that in the archives. I suggest reading it in the  dead of winter since the heat generated will really cut your heating bill.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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