Well I have AFB in one of my hives. The 2 DPI inspectors here for the state have so much on that they are unable to monitor what is happening and they tell me that AFB is throughout the state. They used to do annual compulsory testing of honey samples but this went by the board when (i imagine) AFB became endemic. Now nothing happens except that they tell you that you have to destroy the colony and have all timberware sterilized by radiation.
They also tell me that they can't tell me that is what I have to do (well they can) but there is no way they can monitor that I have done what they tell me.
So over the past couple of days I have read a lot about shaking the hive onto clean box, frames and foundation as a century old method of dealing with the disease. There has been a bit of recent research into the process and whilst there does not seem to be a claim to eradicate the disease it seems that the process is able to eliminate clinical symptoms.
Well. I have made a new deep, frames, foundation, bottom board and cover and tomorrow I will shake the bees into their new home as per the process suggested by Dave Cushman
http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/shookswarm.html. I will destroy all comb and brood and have all my woodenware , tools, clothing and everything remotely associated with the bees irradiated next week. In the meanwhile I will confine the girls for a day to empty their stomachs of honey and feed them sugar syrup until new comb is built and pollen and nectar is coming into the hive.
Has anyone tried this?
How successful was it and did the AFB reappear?