Pest Management Strategy - Elimination of American Foulbrood Without the Use of Drugs
A Practical Manual for Beekeepers, by Mark Goodwin and Cliff Van Eaton

11 Management Plans To Eliminate AFB

The following plans are designed to provide guidance to beekeepers with different sized outfits and different current levels of AFB, in their efforts to eliminate AFB. Obviously, not every situation and variable can be covered, and not every management technique can be discussed. However, we hope that beekeepers will find these management plans worthwhile as they develop their own strategies to overcome the disease.

11.1 Hobbyist - Up to 10 Hives

Because hobbyists do not get the chance to look at large numbers of hives throughout a beekeeping season, they are less likely to see the full variety of brood abnormalities in hives. They also sometimes have less chance to seek second opinions on differential diagnosis of disease symptoms.

Hobbyists should therefore take every opportunity to get together with other beekeepers, and in particular take part in AFB training field days. Meeting with other beekeepers is a big part of the fun of beekeeping, and these field days offer an excellent chance to learn more about disease identification, often from people who work beehives every day.

A good disease elimination management plan for a hobbyist beekeeper would include the following:

Inspect every brood frame in every hive three times during the spring period
Assign each beehive with a number
When taking the honey off, mark each honey box with the hive number
Make sure the frames from the box are put back into the same box after extraction
When the robbing impulse is finished for the season (usually beginning in April or May), give each hive a full brood inspection, concentrating especially on any capped brood that has not emerged
Honey boxes can be put back on any hive the next season provided no AFB has been found in the interim
If AFB is found in a hive, no matter what time of year, destroy both the contents of the hive and the corresponding honey boxes
Don't be tempted to retain boxes, lids and floor boards from AFB hives unless a commercial beekeeper's wax dipping plant is available
If AFB has been found, use a marking system to quarantine all honey boxes, and all other beekeeping equipment, to individual colonies; do not move any equipment from one hive to another for at least 18 months
If no further AFB is found during the 18 month period, revert back to only marking honey boxes prior to extraction

11.2 Semi-Commercial Beekeeper - 10 to 350 Hives

The problem for a semi-commercial beekeeper, as far as AFB elimination is concerned, is the same problem as running the outfit itself - finding enough time to do the job properly when the job needs to be done.

Semi-commercial beekeepers have to fit their beekeeping activities around other employment. However, they have enough hives that they can't just work them when the weather is right or when they have a spare weekend afternoon. They have to put in the work regardless, and the temptation is always strong to leave a few beekeeping management jobs undone.

Semi-commercial beekeepers need to be very well organised, and must be ready to work in all kinds of weather, especially in the spring. While they are bound to gain more experience in working hives than hobbyist beekeepers, they often work alone. They therefore also need to take advantage of opportunities to get together with other beekeepers, and trade experience and information regarding AFB recognition and control.

A good disease elimination management plan for a semi-commercial beekeeper would include the following:

Keep only the number of hives, and the number and location of apiary sites, that can be worked properly on a 1 month rotation in the spring
Give every hive a full brood inspection early in the spring once brood development is under way
Inspect at least 3 frames in both brood boxes twice more during the spring
Ensure all hives are given a full brood inspection whenever anything is moved from one hive to another during the spring period
If AFB is at a low level in the outfit, but is remaining constant or increasing, increase the number of frames inspected at each visit to all brood frames in both boxes
If a part-time worker is employed, do all or almost all of the inspection, and give the worker other jobs (eg., removing honey, extraction)
Use apiary quarantine as a matter of course, particularly on honey boxes
If an outbreak occurs in an apiary, use hive quarantine for at least 18 months
If no further AFB is found in the 18 month period, revert back to apiary quarantine
Inspect every brood frame of every hive once the honey is removed, but after the threat of robbing has ended for the year
When the robbing impulse is finished for the season (usually beginning in April or May), give each hive a full brood inspection, concentrating especially on any capped brood that has not emerged
Don't be embarrassed to seek a second opinion regarding AFB symptoms. Be prepared to take suspect frames to full-time beekeepers more experienced in AFB identification. Since they have even more to lose from AFB outbreaks than part-time beekeepers, they should be willing to assist in AFB identification

11.3 Commercial Beekeeper - 1% AFB Incidence

Commercial beekeepers with a stable 1% AFB incidence per annum should not consider that they are on track to eliminate the disease. A steady incidence at this level means that new AFB infections are being created as quickly as old ones are being found and destroyed. As well, there is always the potential for an AFB outbreak in an apiary, or the spread of AFB to other apiaries (either because of the movement of beehives or through wet honey supers).

Commercial beekeepers have the problem of training and supervising beekeeping staff. As a beekeeping outfit gets larger, or as staff members change, training and supervision in the area of AFB recognition becomes especially important.

A good disease elimination management plan for a commercial beekeeper with a 1% AFB incidence would include the following:

Hold a detailed training session with all staff at the beginning of the beekeeping year
Describe in precise detail what is expected of staff in relation to AFB inspection (number of frames, number of inspections, shaking of bees, etc.)
Obtain an AFB frame (remember to get a permit for the frame from the Management Agency); have every staff member look at the frame and discuss with others the symptoms they see
Ensure every hive is given a full brood inspection early in the spring once brood nest expansion is under way
Ensure all hives are given a full brood inspection whenever anything is moved from one hive to another during the spring period
Ensure at least one more full brood inspection is given to every hive before pollination and/or honey production
When AFB is found, instruct all staff in the apiary to look at the symptoms as a refresher
Encourage staff to seek second opinions from fellow staff members whenever they find brood abnormalities in a hive
Use apiary quarantine as a matter of course, particularly on honey boxes
If an outbreak occurs in an apiary, use hive quarantine for at least 18 months
If no further AFB is found in the 18 month period, revert back to apiary quarantine
Inspect every brood frame of every hive once the honey is removed, but after the threat of robbing has ended for the year
When the robbing impulse is finished for the season (usually beginning in April or May), give each hive a full brood inspection, concentrating especially on any capped brood that has not emerged
Keep careful records of AFB incidence, and make staff aware of downward or upward trends

11.4 Commercial Beekeeper - 10% Incidence

A commercial beekeeper with a 10% AFB incidence is creating far more AFB infections than are being found and destroyed. It is therefore essential that management practices are significantly altered, to find more of the infections sooner, and to reduce the spread of AFB spores from infected colonies to healthy colonies.

If staff are employed, they must be made aware of the reason for changes in management practices, and supervised more intensively, at least at the beginning, to ensure that new behaviours are adopted.

A good disease elimination management plan for a commercial beekeeper with a 10% incidence would include the following:

Hold an extensive training session with all staff at the beginning of the season, describing in detail the changes in management practices that will be implemented
Supervise and audit staff to ensure management changes are understood and are being followed correctly
Use frames of AFB as a training tool (remember to get a permit from the Management Agency first)
Ensure every brood frame in every hive is inspected whenever the hives are visited during the spring period (at least once every month from August to December)
Impose a hive quarantine in any apiary where AFB is found during the spring of the first year
Do not move any beehive equipment from any hive in an infected apiary to any other hive
If equipment must be stored, mark it with the unique hive number
Mark honey boxes used on all hives in infected apiaries and store according to hive
Do not remove the hive quarantine until an 18 month period is completed with no further infection, then revert to an apiary quarantine
Impose an apiary quarantine on all non-AFB apiaries in the first year
Mark honey boxes used in infected apiaries and store according to apiary
Inspect every brood frame in every hive once the honey has been removed, but after the threat of robbing has ended for the season
When the robbing impulse is finished for the season (usually beginning in April or May), give each hive a full brood inspection, concentrating especially on any capped brood that has not emerged
Keep careful record of AFB incidence, and make staff aware of downward or upward trends
Seek advice and support from AFB disease control professionals and fellow beekeepers

11.5 Pollination vs. Honey Production

Apiary and hive quarantines can be very effective tools in reducing AFB levels in honey production outfits where apiaries are not moved, or where they are moved together as complete hive groupings. Pollination beekeepers, however, need to develop disease elimination management plans that either do not use these quarantines, or use detailed recording systems to keep track of the movement of hives. In all other aspects, the management plans should be the same as for all commercial beekeepers.

If AFB incidence is at a low but steady level in a pollination outfit, the management plan should concentrate on better training and supervision, and increased numbers of inspections (especially in the spring build-up period and in the autumn).

If the AFB incidence is higher, and possibly increasing, changes in management must be made to isolate apiaries with AFB problems, and to track more carefully the movements of hives in these apiaries.

First and foremost, a policy should be instituted of not evening out the strength of hives prior to pollination. Hives should be managed as individual units, and nothing should be moved from one existing hive to another. If a hive does not reach the required standard for pollination, then it should remain in the apiary, or it should be taken to apiaries set aside for below-standard hives.

Hives which become too strong should be split, ensuring that only equipment from the strong hive goes into the split, and ensuring that the split and the hive are marked for future reference. The movements of the split and parent colony should also be recorded, if possible.

Hives destined for pollination from apiaries with a high AFB incidence should be treated differently than other hives during pollination. This may involve using these hives only in certain orchards, so they can be moved back to the same apiary. In serious outbreaks, consideration should be given to leaving the entire apiary on site for 18 months and not using it for pollination.

Pest Management Strategy - Elimination of American Foulbrood Without the Use of Drugs
A Practical Manual for Beekeepers, by Mark Goodwin and Cliff Van Eaton

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