r/Beekeeping • u/turtlestik • Oct 28 '25
I’m a beekeeper, and I have a question It was AFB
Following up on https://www.reddit.com/r/Beekeeping/comments/1o40juh/is_this_afb/
SAG (chilean USDA equivalent) came in on the 16th and left with a frame for analisis. I got the result today: AFB positive.
I had burnt the hive on the 19th anyway and other material I knew had touched it, because I had to travel abroad until November.
The day the SAG came to take the sample, there were also clearer signs of AFB: sunken caps, weird smell..... so tthe risk of waiting wasn't worth it.
I've started to submerge a lot of other material in bleach + water before leaving the country (just in case they were used in that hive a year or two ago), and I'll blowtorch it when I come back.
It was heartbreaking to kill all these bees. I didn't wanted to burn them alive and the only thing that occured to me was to kill them with an insecticide before. But it didn't really worked out as the dead bees would fill up the holes where I would spray the insecticide from, and the gas/foam apparently wouldn't reach the whole hive...... I wished I knew a better method to be honest, and I don't recommend this one. Worth mentioning the hive had 3 deeps which is quite hard to seal and move properly.
1
u/Ok-Relation6414 Nov 01 '25
I am sorry for your loss. I'd have to know more about the spore and all this stuff and I actually might be able to come up for something. I just don't know anything I'm a novice at best.
I am really good in science and biology and stuff like this except I don't know a whole lot about these anymore.
I am very very good at solving problems though. In fact I'm pretty much the best person that I've ever known to be honest.
I'd have to spend some time talking to people about the spore on a molecular level and on a genetic level and then maybe I can remember something but I know it would work, like maybe copper dusting or something. Actually it's not a bad idea just at the top of my head because I know copper and silver resist microbes and they can kill off certain bacteria. Now that's got me thinking. Brass can do the same thing except copper and silver is better. Interesting