american foul brood

[Andrew Dewey]

I think you need to let your buyers know that AFB has been found in colonies that originated as nucs from your yard, and that there is the remote possibility of it being in the nucs they purchased. (Presuming you believe this to be true) It would be fair to offer to take the bees back and give refunds. Encourage people who wouldn't necessarily know AFB to have the bees examined by someone with an experienced eye. I would take the further steps of reiterating that the bees have not been treated with anything to suppress AFB, and that as far as you know the nuc(s) they received are free from AFB. State a deadline for taking back bees / offering refunds.

[sqkcrk]

Since we are playing the "Hypothetical Game" let's think about what might be the result of not saying anything to the people who got those hypothetical nucs which came from the same parent colony as the one you have which is now showing AFB.

Should one of those folks have their hive(s) come down w/ full blown AFB and they recall where it came from, the seller will be exposed over and over again on beesource and throughout the sellers community. Not good for business. Not good for one's reputation.

Do the right thing and retreive and replace the nucs. Or retrieve and reimburse. There is more to lose here besides some bees and equipment.

[squarepeg]

many thanks again for the replies.

i was thinking i would see 'seek political asylum in a third world country' or 'get a new identity and enter a witness protection program' as possible approaches.

one purpose for starting this thread was to learn how those who ascribe to treatment free beekeeping would handle what is probably the worst case scenario.

the other purpose was for the benefit of other beginners like myself, especially those who are aspiring to be treatment free, that the approach of 'leave them alone and let them sort it out' does not apply to this particular case.

especially if there are neighboring bee yards and/or feral hives in the area.

[dixiebooks]

Beekeeper welfare? What did you pay into the Honeybee Health Insurance Program? Why should the State pay anything for an AFB hive? I never got a penny for any dead sheep.

I guess you could call it that. But I've heard some states do have a payout if the state apiarist orders a hive burned or if bears destroy one. -js