Jerry Wallace <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Maybe supercedure issue is not all due to chemical usage.
My feelings is that the weakened immune of the honeybee caused by chemical
use and contaminates in comb is also permitting viruses to impact the
health of the colony and queen, causing an increase supercedure rate.
I have some clips from a few studies:
In this study, researchers suggest a connection of viruses with queen
supercede.
“Localization of deformed wing virus infection in queen and drone Apis
mellifera L”
"Queen fecundity is a central element in colony performance for honey
production that could be impaired by viral infections. For instance, the
undesired queen supersedure observed regularly by beekeepers may be
related to viral infections. There are several reasons for untimely queen
changing by workers in a colony, such as pathological impairment of its
reproductive functions, lack of pheromone emission and lack of fully
active spermatozoa in the spermatheca and decreasing sperm viability with
the ageing of queens. Very few investigations have been published
regarding factors affecting the fertility of the queens and the drones"
--------->
In this study, researchers find that some viruses were present on all
queens tested.
“Prevalence and Transmission of Honeybee Viruses”
“Distribution of viruses in the body of queens. The results of RT-PCR
analysis on tissues of hemolymph, gut, ovaries, spermatheca, head, and
eviscerated body from 10 queens for the presence of six viruses are shown
in Table 1. Among the six viruses screened, ABPV was not found in any
materials. BQCV, CBPV, DWV, KBV, and SBV were detected in one or more
queen tissues. Except for tissues of the head, which were negative for all
six viruses, the other five tissue samples were found to be virus
positive. The presence of DWV was found in 100% of hemolymph samples, 80%
of gut samples, 100% of ovary samples, 80% of spermatheca samples, and
100% of eviscerated body samples. The presence of BQCV was found in 100%
of gut samples and 70% of ovary samples. The presence of SBV was found in
40% of ovary samples, 20% of hemolymph samples, and 60% of eviscerated
body samples. The presence of CBPV was found in 30% of hemolymph and 40%
of eviscerated body samples. The presence of KBV was found in 20% of the
eviscerated body samples.”
Best Wishes,
Joe Waggle
Ecologicalbeekeeping.com
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries'
Feral Bee Project:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/
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