Page 1 of 1

Store bought honey

Posted: October 7th, 2018, 7:53 pm
by slightmadness
About 4 days ago my bees got into a container of store bought honey. They probably helped themselves to 5-6 ounces of the most generic garbage honey around. I'm worried about the possibility of contracting American Foulbrood. Is there anything I can do proactively now?? Help@@

Re: Store bought honey

Posted: October 7th, 2018, 9:04 pm
by Allen Dick
I don't know where you are or the type of bees you have, but in my experience, it is not all that easy to infect good bees with AFB, especially at some times of year. It takes more than one viable spore to infect a larva and good, hygienic bees will detect and eject infected larvae/pupae before they are a further source of spores.

I would not worry, but it is always wise to insect brood periodically to detect any AFB in the early stages while it is easy to cure. Make sure you know how to hold a frame inverted and look properly into the cells with a strong light at your back -- and what to look for when you do.

Re: Store bought honey

Posted: October 9th, 2018, 5:15 am
by Countryboy
I sell my honey in stores, and I think it's pretty darn good honey. I've never seen AFB in my hives. The last numbers published by the state that I saw said something like less than 1/10 of one percent of inspected hives had AFB. AFB is a boogeyman in my state.

Educate yourself how to recognize AFB, but don't lose sleep over bees eating some storebought honey.
If you're that worried, spend $5 for postage to mail a comb sample to the Beltsville Bee Lab for a free AFB testing.

Re: Store bought honey

Posted: October 9th, 2018, 8:09 pm
by shawnybeegood
slightmadness wrote: October 7th, 2018, 7:53 pm About 4 days ago my bees got into a container of store bought honey. They probably helped themselves to 5-6 ounces of the most generic garbage honey around. I'm worried about the possibility of contracting American Foulbrood. Is there anything I can do proactively now?? Help@@
Antibiotics are used as a prophylactic treatment. But I hate the idea of putting antibiotics in the hive. Guess it's a matter of how high a risk you think there is.

Maybe what they got into isn't even honey?

Re: Store bought honey

Posted: October 10th, 2018, 5:58 am
by Allen Dick
I think the risk from that particular source is about zero. However the risk from the background is unknowable. Who knows what's within 5 or 6 miles of your bee hives?

That said, the fear of AFB is far overblown in my opinion. I know commercial operators who run thousands of hives over wide areas, including areas where AFB is known to exist, who do not treat prophylactically and have only a few hives that show AFB in any given year. They simply burn them

Is Brian said, don't lose any sleep over this.

If AFB shows up in your hives, it was probably already there, or came from somewhere in the neighborhood.

Learn to recognize it in the early stages and remove it immediately. Requeen. In my experience the bees will not show further AFB.

If you have an AFB breakdown, the stock you're using is probably not very hygienic. That's the reason I recommend to requeen with better stock.

Good stock can handle a little AFB.

Re: Store bought honey

Posted: October 11th, 2018, 5:40 pm
by Countryboy
Antibiotics are used as a prophylactic treatment.
Not in the US.

As of Jan. 1, 2017, beekeepers can't buy antibiotics without a veterinary prescription or Veterinarian Feed Directive. A veterinarian is required to diagnose the hive with AFB before they will give you a prescription so you can buy antibiotics.

Now if beekeepers purchased terramycin prior to Jan. 1, 2017, they may have stockpiled it, in which case they may be using it prophylactically.