U.S.D.A. & chalkbrood

[rober]

has anyone found a vet who will write a script for tetramycin for treating chalkbrood? what a pain! I just talked to a neighborhood vet who told me about a vet who is also a beekeeper. I trying to track him/her(?) down.

[Perry]

There is no treatment for Chalkbrood. Try improving ventilation and if no change think about re-queening.
Teramycin or Oxytet are for AFB/EFB.
This whole vet thing and needing a prescription for meds for bees is ridiculous!

[robo]

Teramycin or Oxytet are for AFB/EFB.

And all they do is keep it keep it in remission.  Stop the treatment and wham! you get hit.   Vicious cycle.

[Perry]

Teramycin or Oxytet are for AFB/EFB.

And all they do is keep it keep it in remission.  Stop the treatment and wham! you get hit.   Vicious cycle.

The only real way to treat AFB is with Eddy (as in a match).

[rober]

I hope I'm not jinxing myself but I've not yet had a problem with efb, afb, or cb. was just curious if anyone actually found a cooperative vet. also, it must have been a typo as I just read something about treating cb with antibiotics.

[riverbee]

rober, chalkbrood is a fungal disease and as perry and robo said, there is no treatment, and any treatment for it will just not work.

look in the stickies in pests and diseases for a brief description, honey bee diseases and pests and also a field guide to honey bees and their maladies.

it typically occurs in spring, late spring, cooler temps. chalkbrood can weaken and slow a hive's growth down.
may occur because of excessive moisture in the hive/poor ventilation. i said MAY. i have experienced chalkbrood with adequate ventilation.
colony nutrition, make sure they have adequate pollen and sufficient food stores.
old brood comb? might have to cull it.
other disease? colony stress?
genetics and resistance. as perry mentioned if it doesn't clear up, requeen.

[Bakersdozen]

rober, the KS state beekeeping association has encouraged us to establish a contact with a vet in advance.  You may have to educate the vet, to some degree.  Also, the local vet may not be aware of how many beekeepers there are in his vicinity.  A rep from the state of KS assured us that Veterinarians would need to come see the colony(s) in question and do follow up, at least the first time.  Skyping and texting pictures were mentioned as a possibility for diagnosis.
Earlier this month, my local bee club hosted our annual beginning beekeeping classes.  I was encouraged that we had 2 vets in attendance.  Their reason for attending was to educate themselves because of the new law.  I was encouraged to see that.
I would encourage local bee clubs to extend an invitation to all the veterinarians in their area to attend a meeting where the scheduled topic is pests and diseases. Any veterinarians could introduce themselves and establish contacts.