Bob
You said "now the (CCD) team is kind of at a dead end".
There's a big difference between being at a dead end and waiting for results
and funding. The first report from PSU was based on in-house capabilities.
The first funds ($13k) received from NHB in February went to Penn State so
that they could contract more diverse, expanded surveys for virus (with
Columbia). Other small awards from EAS, etc. also went to Penn State.
The first of the Columbia results were expected this week - but I haven't
heard whether they came in or not.
The second tier of funding from NHB was approved March 23 - and I don't
think anyone on the CCD has received a funding package yet. I'm still waiting
for our first nickel from any external source - hard to analyze for chemicals
and other things without dollars, especially if you've spent money to keep 4
people in the field in 5 different states for 7 weeks -- so yep, I'm at a
stand-still until I can pay for additional work. I'm in the fiscal hole already
just collecting the samples in our freezer that are awaiting chem/bio
analysis - when we can afford to conduct this next phase of the analytical work.
And the bee loss surveys have taken up a lot of time and effort.
Waiting for results and waiting for sufficient funding to conduct specific
testing is not the same as the CCD team reaching a dead end - which implies to
me there is no answer. I'm not ready to say there's no answer until we've
had a reasonable chance to explore at least the most probable causes -- and a
preliminary survey for viruses and imidacloprid is NOT by any stretch a
comprehensive examination.
I suggest that you read the survey results that we posted on
_www.beealert.info_ (http://www.beealert.info) last week. The beekeepers surveyed are
clearly NOT attributing all of their deadouts to CCD. In fact, we were surprised
at how much effort each beekeeper put in to give us a clear picture of what
is happening. And, we continue to get new surveys every day. It is clear
that those beekeepers (about 1/2) who have not experienced CCD or unusual
losses attribute most of their losses to overwintering or mites. It is also clear
that the 171 who reported severe bee losses, most frequently cite CCD
symptoms - but they also list overwintering, mites, etc. and try to partial out
number of losses by suspected cause -- so they ARE NOT LUMPING everything that
died into the CCD category. In fact, if anything, they are quick to
acknowledge and separate out those losses due to failed management (like mite
control) from CCD.
However, until a beekeeper has experienced CCD, he/she has no idea of what
we are really talking about, and the tendency is to say its poor beekeeping,
failed mite management. We've seen that, but more and more, we're seeing CCD
in operations that appear to have everything under control, mites treated and
regularly monitored, feed sucrose rather than fructose, stay away for
toxic/nutritionally poor sources of honeydew, etc. Spring collapses in strong
colonies are worrisome.
We (Bee Alert and BVS) also posted at _www.beealert.info_
(http://www.beealert.info) some new virus results and will update these next week. No big
surprises except that we've finished analysis of the Australian bees brought in
to Florida. Those bees have one and only one viable virus in them, and it is
one of the two viruses we found in CCD colonies from Florida. That means
that the Australian bees that we sampled ARE NOT introducing any new viruses to
the U.S., very good news.
Of the two viruses found in the Fl colonies, one is an unknown.
Two other comments -- our preliminary virus work says that there are two and
only two viable viruses in the Fl bees that we have checked - rather than a
multitude of viruses. So maybe we don't have a general failure of the bee
immune system - hard to tell. We should have more information over the next
few weeks - even if its on borrowed nickels. So, we're slowed up but not at a
dead end.
Finally, as far as I know, the European Foul Brood was found in collapsed Fl
bees some weeks after the initial collapse, probably because there weren't
enough bees left in the brood nest to keep things under hygienic control.
Those same colonies did not show any evidence of EFB when David Westervelt and I
examined them some weeks earlier. Nor have I, and as far as I know, any of
the rest of the team seen any widespread EFB in colonies in other states.
However, in failed colonies, it does look like EFB can pop up after the fact,
and as such, beekeepers should take precautions.
I'm not arguing against taking steps to manage bee better -- it can't hurt
and will at least help reduce losses from known causes. Even if the CCD team
does find the cause, it may not be directly treatable. Knowing what causes
CCD would be helpful, and if its something that can be mitigated, that would be
tremendous. Those large beekeepers who sustained large losses this year -
some won't survive the current loss, many can't survive a 2nd go around. We
owe them our best effort.
Jerry
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