J. Waggle wrote:

>The
>thought of viruses being the cause of this CCD, is
>also of no concern to me because viruses are found at
>low levels in most colonies anyways, and IMO are
>basically secondary level diseases that do harm to the
>ill fit and sickly.

I was with you up to this point. I am afraid I do not share your lack
of concern about viruses. Now, I am no virologist (I play one on TV).
But this is what is going on: the bee population of North America (and
Europe, no doubt) has been plagued by mites for decades. These
critters are notorious for both A) weakening the immunity of their
hosts and B) inflicting a range of pathogens including viruses on the
hosts.

A perfect example is their cousin, the tick. A tick bite is not a big
deal unless you happen to pick up Lyme Disease or one of the other
tick vectored illnesses. They may be instrumental in spreading CWD in
deers, which is thought to be caused by a "prion" which is a sort of
genetic fragment. It is these genetic fragments that are worrisome.

Our bees are sort of a living laboratory where RNA viruses,
microsporidians, etc. get to party in new and different combinations.
The big problem with RNA viruses is not only do they recombine with
each other (sometimes turning into newer and nastier versions), but
apparently their genetic material somehow winds up in the host's
genome. Whether this is a mechanism on the part of the virus to gain
immortality or a means by which the host gains immunity, is unclear.

-- 
Peter L. Borst
Danby, NY USA
42.35, -76.50
http://picasaweb.google.com/peterlborst

****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm   *
****************************************************