I think Dr Bromenshenk’s proposals for more and better screening for 
honeybee viruses across a broad geographical and operational range make a 
lot of sense.  It’s obvious just from the discussion that happens on this 
list that the broader beekeeping community, including hobbyists like 
myself, big commercial operations and everyone in between could use more 
factual information to base their judgments on.  In terms of understanding 
the relationship of viruses to the overall health of honeybees, a 
substantial database of highly cross referenced, screened samples, 
meticulously gathered and catalogued, could be of tremendous value.  Such a 
program, if conducted consistently over a long period of time, would surely 
enable scientists to identify some of the most important patterns, 
relationships, and real and potential problems.
   I can however see a problem with getting beekeepers to pony up 50 bucks 
for a test, at least until it can be shown to them; a) that viruses in and 
of themselves pose a real threat to the overall health of colonies to the 
extent that they are the cause of something as attention getting as CCD, 
and b) that something can be done about it.
   So far as I can tell from my limited knowledge, viruses are almost 
always present in colonies and not necessarily very often to the detriment 
of colonies.  
   Certainly a virulent strain could pop up anywhere, anytime.  And if one 
of these viruses that are out there spreading like the common cold does 
turn nasty, what are you going to do about it.  That is not a rhetorical 
question, by the way.  
   You could have screened the Australian imports and found any number of 
viruses present.  Since the bees appear healthy you might not be 
particularly alarmed because, what the heck, viruses are everywhere.  
Please correct me if I am wrong on this.  Then a virus gets over here, 
mutates a base pair, or encounters a special set of circumstances, and all 
of a sudden it’s a different beast and you own it.  Too late to blame the 
Aussies.  
   My point is that to be of real value to beekeepers you have to solve the 
problem of shooting at a moving target when it comes to viruses, but first 
you have to show that viruses are a real problem, or in the case of CCD, 
THE problem. 
   But I believe in science just for the sake of gaining knowledge, and I 
think more screening, if done right, is a good thing for this reason.  We 
all stand to benefit from more knowledge.

Steve Noble 

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************