I am researching the prevalence of AFB in packages of bees as it was well documented last year that this was an issue by Clubs in NSW.
I am interested in hearing from people in NSW and Victoria who purchased packages of bees to start a colony and then had the colony die possibly from AFB, or not as the case may be.
Please post your reply here as that will help to raise awareness of this very real problem and I will arrange to get in contact with you.
It would be difficult to check for AFB in bee packages without laboratory tests.
It’s easy for folks to blame a bee package for an AFB contamination. When in fact the bees most likely picked it up from the surroundings after the package of bees got established.
Bear in mind that a package of bees has to start from scratch on fresh foundation or whatever the beekeeper chooses to start the bees on.
The link above is the one used by the Illawara beekeepers club of NSW to alert beekeepers to the risk of AFB in packages of bees that were sold last season, this risk is clearly one that they identified and wished to alert beekeepers of.
I remain interested in hearing from people who experienced problems with packages of bees that they purchased last season.
Yes I agree, a nuc is a much safer way to purchase bees from a peace of mind point of view. A new beekeeper MUST learn right from the word “go”, how to read the brood & how to identify brood that is infected with AFB. Even just one or two cells (the early stages) out of a whole frame of brood.