AFB warning - Should I inspect?

[madasafish]

I received this on 19th Sept from the NBU..

This email has been sent out as part of a 'disease alert' service to beekeepers, implemented by the National Bee Unit (NBU). At the end of each day, beekeepers will be notified if they have an apiary that is within 3KM of a new disease outbreak.

Please be advised that today 19/09/2014, the following disease has been confirmed within 3KM of one or more of your apiaries:

Disease Diagnosed: American Foulbrood (AFB)
Your Apiaries At Risk: Home




I plan an inspection on a warm day - but should I? My TBHs are all glued together with propolis and it's not going to be fun..

(I have seen the symptoms before (Association Apiary) so am mentally prepared...)

 

[enrico]

The bee inspector will be round shortly. Don't disturb them twice. Leave it to him/her.
Do you even have brood!
E

 

[Erichalfbee]

Please be advised the following disease has been confirmed within 3KM of one or more of your apiaries:

Disease Diagnosed: American Foulbrood (AFB)
Your Apiaries At Risk: Home
[/I]

That's a real bummer!! Fingers crossed for you.
I agree with enrico, leave it to the BI

 

[madasafish]

Thanks.

I shall do what I do best: nothing

 

[MuswellMetro]

is 3km the new 5km?

in London email notification has been a 3km radius for sometime, So have they changed this from a 5km notice or am i mistaken and it has always been 3km

 

[wessexmario]

is there a confusion of units?
I thought bees forage up to 3 miles, which in round numbers is nearly 5 km.

3km is only 1.8 miles, which seems a bit short for a notifiable disease alert.
the first two research studies I picked at random with google gave maximum ranges of 3.8 and 4 Miles.

maybe city bees don't commute so far?

 

[itma]

Thanks.

I shall do what I do best: nothing

Rather than doing absolutely nothing, it might be wise to try and improve your "biosecurity". I'm thinking of things like lots of disposable gloves, boot washing facilities and OCD suit washing. Treating your apiaries (and everyone else's) as though they were already infected - I'm thinking isolation rather than pyromania!
And hopefully the plague won't reach you.

is 3km the new 5km?

in London email notification has been a 3km radius for sometime, So have they changed this from a 5km notice or am i mistaken and it has always been 3km

My impression is that 3km gets you an email (and likely a visit) whereas 5km (nearest I've had, and that was EFB) gets you a message in red print if you should happen to log in to Beebase (but no automatic email).

 

[wessexmario]

I'd suggest that if they're at all serious about disease notification alerts it should be emails at 5 MILES radius minimum.

It's not as if a few more emails is going to cost them anything?

 

[Hachi]

I'd suggest that if they're at all serious about disease notification alerts it should be emails at 5 MILES radius minimum.

It's not as if a few more emails is going to cost them anything?

And then what?

Not everyone is registered on Beebase and the notification system is linked to the policy of dealing with such problems that includes unfortunately a grossly underfunded Govt department to try and contain and deal with these challenges.

 

[Ruary]

is there a confusion of units?
I thought bees forage up to 3 miles, which in round numbers is nearly 5 km.

3km is only 1.8 miles, which seems a bit short for a notifiable disease alert.
the first two research studies I picked at random with google gave maximum ranges of 3.8 and 4 Miles.

maybe city bees don't commute so far?

The rule of less than 3 feet more than 3 miles is based on the theory that bees forage over a 1.5mile radius. The idea being that if the distance between the two hives is less than two radii, the foraging bees might cover territory they knew from the old hive. Thus the theory is 1.5 mile radius. However Norman Carreck has had his bees travel over 10Km to a particular source.

 

[madasafish]

Just had a visit from a very pleasant Inspector (Jo Schup). She confirmed AFB had been found in two abandonned hives locally. After discussion of what hives I had collected locally (none), we agreed an inspection early 2015 when all bees are flying..