Hi:  I am on my way to a plane to Washington, D.C. to discuss new methods
of examining the effects of microbial insecticides on honey bees.  I can
help when I get back in a week.
 
 
Basically, I believe your problem is that the protocols published and/or
handed out are always incomplete.  There are lots of little technique
tricks that are never detailed.  I know, we found out the hard way.
 
If you can't even get going, I suspect you are stressing your bees when
you collect them, either by shaking or vacuuming them from field hives or
letting them emerge from brood frames in incubators.
 
Expect some initial die off, we usually wait 24 hrs before picking the
bees to be used in the tests.  However, we have kept bees alive for up
to 3 weeks with no more than an 8-10% mortality.
 
As far as testing microbial insecticides, beware of transferring assays
used for chemical pesticides without asking whether the test is
reasonable.  Remember, MPCAs may affect a stadium other than the adult
stage.  Effects may be delayed by several weeks (e.g., fungi), and
ultimately it is the affect on the colony homeostasis as well as other
aspects of structure and function that is important.
 
Also, microbial pathogens may be self-propagating -- and exotic or
engineered forms should not be released into the environment until all
testing has been completed and the decision made as to whether it can
safely be released.  We do ALL of our testing in a microbial containment
module.
 
Send me a personal message, and we can continue to talk about the details
and why you may be having problems.  I will be back on the net after the
20th.
 
Jerry Bromenshenk
The University of Montana
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