make informed decisions about risks. If you are confident that your hives are healthy, then of course the risk of sharing frames of stores and brood between them is small. That said, I certainly wouldn’t feed shop-bought honey to my bees.


NDB Contributors Claire Waring, Bee Craſt Editor 1997–2019


Congratulations to Lynfa Davies on her considerable and well- deserved achievement in ataining the National Diploma in Beekeeping (February). This is the highest beekeeping award and, as you note, has been held by only 91 other beekeepers over the past 65 years.


I would like to add to your list of those holding the NDB because of their considerable contributions to Bee Craſt. These include David Aston, Adam Leitch and Tony Harris, who have all writen the beginners’ articles for 12 months. Paul Metcalf was the Bee Craſt correspondent for the east of England for many years. As well as writing the beginners’ articles, Bridget Beatie contributed ‘Bee Plant of the Month’ for seven years, and, if we are to include those who are no longer with us, Adrian Waring wrote the beginners’ series at least twice and made significant editorial contributions over a period of 23 years. My apologies if I have missed other holders of the NDB who have also contributed to the magazine – I am working from memory.


Too readable? Veronica Scargill


I am not a beekeeper, but married to one, so I regularly see Bee Craſt. In the past I have found some of the articles too technical for a lay person. The new Bee Craſt is very readable for me and I am enjoying it. But I wonder what ‘proper’ beekeepers think.


Editors reply:


We are delighted that you are enjoying the new-style Bee Craſt and can reassure you that we have had lots of messages from ‘proper’ beekeepers – even some of the world’s top beekeepers – saying how much they like the new-style magazine. Thankfully, accessibility is not the enemy of accurate, detailed and even technical information.


Bee Craft abroad


Bee Craſt has readers across the globe.


This photo of Dr Hassan in Oman was taken by Jiří Píza, founder of International Meeting of Young Beekeepers (IMYB), who says “I hope that Oman will soon be in our IMYB family.”


AFB in the USA


Following the feature on American foulbrood in the March issue, John Hill, president of the UK Bee Veterinary Association, reports on what he heard about the treatment of foulbrood in America at the USA Honeybee Veterinary Consortium Conference in North Carolina, USA, in September 2019.


In Europe, antibiotics are rarely used for American foulbrood (AFB) or European foulbrood (EFB) – in much of Europe, destruction of colonies with AFB is mandatory. In the USA, however, antibiotics may be used for both EFB and AFB, despite the evidence that they are not very effective at killing either – they merely suppress the symptoms and push the infection into a sub-clinical state.


Treatment regimens across the USA are very fragmented as the rules and control methods vary from state to state. Some states have a bee inspectorate that will apply strict control in recommending the culling of foulbrood-infected hives. Other states take a less rigorous approach and rely heavily on antibiotics. It is common for


8


oxytetracycline to be used prophylactically twice a year on all colonies.


With this irregular strategy, the true incidences of the two diseases in the USA is unknown. Migratory beekeeping exacerbates the issue: 1.9 million of the country’s 2.7 million colonies are transported to California early each year to pollinate the 1 million acres (400,000 hectares) of almond orchards. The potential for disease transmission is huge and once the almonds are pollinated there is no other food source, so the bees are moved to other monocultures such as apples, melons and blueberries. Colonies oſten travel 10,000 miles annually.


The USA has a long way to go to reduce the incidence of foulbrood diseases to European levels. A change in legislation, however, places much more control with the vets and there was consensus among the vets at the Honeybee Veterinary Consortium Conference that disease control and antibiotic reduction are necessary. I heard one interesting and encouraging fact: since varroa, the twice-yearly standard prophylactic antibiotic treatment is reducing as US beekeepers concentrate their efforts on treating for varroa.


Bee Craſt April 2020


Photo: Animal and Plant Agency (APHA) Crown copyright


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