While lots of books, video's etc. recommend treating with terramycin every spring (and sometimes fall too) I generally wouldn't recommend it. It's primarily only used against american foul brood and overuse can cause resistance. I would recommend the approach of monitoring and treating only when necessary (the same applies to all other diseases and pests.) Varroa mites are by far a bigger problem anyways.

As far as the dosage. 4-5 tablespoons is right. When used it's applied every 7-10 days for a total of 3 treatments. Of course the powder applied is not just terramycin, it's a mixture of mostly powdered sugar with terramycin added.

Organic honey does exist. However, to label the honey organic you must be certified by an official certifying organization. I'm not sure one exists in the united states due to all the debate over what organic really means when it comes to honey. The requirements can vary by certifying organization and country.

The requirements and documentation for producing organic honey can be difficult at best in many areas. (From canada:) You pretty much have to be in the middle of nowhere (2 miles or more in all directions from residential, agricultural areas, or pretty much anywhere there is human activity etc.) You must breed your own queens, you can't clip them, you can't use artificial insemination (tell me how this can effect the quality of honey?). You can't use plastic in the hive (though plastic can be used when packing the honey.) Your extracting facilities must be inspected by Federal food inspectors. You pretty much have to make your own wax foundation. But you are allowed to use antibiotics, essential oils, sulphur, menthol, etc. in the hives. (In fact the only common treatments on the market that I don't see on the list are Check Mite, and Apistan (both of which mites are becoming highly resistant to now).

You can read the CA standards for yourself (see the following link). Very little in it (save for not heating the honey) has any real effect on the quality of the honey in my opinion.

-Tim

Here is a link that might be useful: Canadian General Standards Board - Organic Honey

In this state, once you have a bloom of AFB, the regulations require burning of the hive. Once you see it, it's too late to control it, I guess.

However, it would appear that AFB is more common in old comb, and a simple organic practice is to replace your old comb every three years. (We used to say five).

The miticides as well as the AFB spores seem to accumulate in old comb, including that of Honey Supers even though they're never on the hive during treatment. For this reason, cycling out comb, even in honey supers, is a good idea.

Old books bragging about the value of old, old comb are dead wrong.

Thanks all for responding. Newbies ask funny questions!!!
Claudia

I'm not knowledgeable about organic honey production, but have been told that besides the prohibition of synthetic chemicals in hive management, that the entire foraging area of the bees is required to be free of prohibited synthetics. Which synthetics are allowed is determined by the organic certification agency that has jurisdiction.

There's a workshop offered each year in New York that deals entirely with organic beekeeping. You should be able to find that relatively easily using your search engine.

People who are using excessive amounts of antibiotics are probably harming their bees as well as endangering other beekeepers. Honey bees have symbiotic microorganisms in their digestive tracts (pretty much all animals do) that are expected to be negatively impacted by antibiotics. There are also resident bacteria and yeasts in the hive that are considered to be beneficial, e.g. those that help process pollen and nectar into "bee bread".
Excessive use of antibiotics selects the bacteria exposed for resistance to the antibiotic. The increasing prevalence of Terramycin-resistant American foulbrood is considered to be largely a result of excessive Terramycin use.

I strongly suggest that beekeepers learn to identify important bee pests (like AFB and Varroa) and carefully examine their hives on a regular basis. Problems recognized and properly treated early can generally be overcome without horrendous losses.