> Imported honey into South Africa is indeed required by law to be irradiated > to destroy any possible traces of AFB and EFB, two diseases we don't have > and can do without. I think a lot of people in North America are starting to wish that our authorities had been blessed with that much foresight as beekeepers look in their hives and find a new variant of AFB taking over. Our experts knew that resistant AFB was in South America, yet no effort was made to use simple existing technology to test incoming honey from the areas in question. Contaminated honey was welcomed throughout North America and some beekeepers even let their bees lick out empty drums. SAFB looks exactly like normal AFB, and it took a while -- and some analysis -- to recognise that something new was happening. I am sure the disease will be found in all honey importing countries now -- if they care to look. The ongoing hoof and mouth experience and the BSE situation are a lesson in how quickly indiscriminate international trade can spread an unusual local infections and mutant strains worldwide, although I suspect that we will eventually learn there is much more to the hoof and mouth story that we are currently being told. I also expect we will have a worldwide human pandemic one of these days and be powerless to stop it without compromising drastically on some of our libertarian and free trading ideals. Back to the topic: I wonder exactly how the irradiation takes place when honey does enter SA? I can see sending honey in small plastic retail packs down a radiation line, but cannot imagine drums undergoing the process due to size and the container material. Honey severely diminishes or stops entirely the electron beam radiation that is currently being used to clean up equipment contaminated with SAFB in Canada, and combs must be free of honey to be effectively sterilized. Honey offers only a little less resistance to the beam than steel. Perhaps longer duration or two-sided methods might work. I understand that there are some plants that can indeed get better penetration using cobalt radiation or other methods, but such plants are not available everywhere. The cost is also quite high, about $5 per super. What would the cost be for honey? Would it make the import impractical? Treatment must be 100.0000% effective or it is a waste of time and money. Radiation plants have quality control measures in place, but then again, human beings work there and they also use computers... allen http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/ --- If you are sending someone some Styrofoam, what do you pack it in? -- Steven Wright