Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
• In the unlikely event that you find a suspect infestation, immediately remove
that frame from the colony and isolate and store it so other bees don't have
access. Freezing it is the best choice, but double wrapping in a plastic bag is
acceptable until you can positively confirm the disease is present or the frame
is clean.
• If inspection services aren't available, find a local bee-keeper who is skilled
in identification for an opinion, and then submit a sample to the USDA (if
you live in the United States), or another government agency (see Bee Culture
magazine, page 199, for information.).
• If AFB is confirmed your only good option is to destroy the colony. If you
choose to treat an infected colony with the only available antibiotic, you open
the door for a permanent source of infection because the medication does not
destroy spores. Later the first season or next season the infestation will reap-
pear, and you will be unable to use the medication again until you receive a
positive diagnosis. It is a losing proposition. Burn the equipment and begin
again.
If you are going to burn infested equipment, dig a hole large enough to accommod-
ate much of the equipment. Then, kill the bees by dumping a five-gallon (19 l) pail
of soapy water directly into the colony from the top. Use one cup (60 ml) of dish
soap in the pail of water. When the bees are dead, first put in frames and burn
them, then add the boxes. When all the equipment has been consumed, cover the
ashes completely. This is a horrendous loss of equipment, so avoiding AFB is cer-
tainly recommended. Before burning, check your local fire safety laws. A burning
barrel also works for this.
Once the cell is capped the infected larvae die and turn into a jellylike mass. Shortly
after the cell is capped the larvae, at first standing in the cell preparing to pupate, now
spread along the side of the cell, drying down to a hard, nearly black scale that is diffi-
cult to remove even for the beekeeper, let alone a house bee trying to clean out the cell.
The dried scale produces millions of spores that are picked up by the cleaning bees and
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