Restricted Zone
Lexikon
If American foulbrood is officially detected at an apiary, the responsible authority declares the area within a radius of at least one kilometer around that apiary a restricted zone.
If American foulbrood is officially detected at an apiary, the responsible authority declares the area within a radius of at least one kilometer around that apiary a restricted zone. In practice, the radius is also drawn larger depending on the local situation.
Within the restricted zone, bee colonies, combs, comb parts, bee dwellings and used equipment may not be removed from their location or brought into the zone. Migration is thus impossible both into and out of it, and the sale of colonies or used equipment is also suspended. All apiaries in the restricted zone are officially examined, as a rule via feed ring test sampling.
The measures are lifted only once American foulbrood is considered eradicated. Until then, several months often pass, frequently an entire season. Affected is not only the apiary where the outbreak occurred, but every beekeeper in the surrounding area, even if their own colonies are healthy.
This means two things for the beekeeper. First, a restricted zone is the reason the health certificate for migration must expressly confirm that the place of origin is not in a restricted zone. Second, the voluntary feed ring test is worthwhile: anyone who finds the pathogen early prevents the outbreak and thus the restriction measures for the whole neighborhood.