I posted on this many months ago in relation to the behavior of bees and
if CCD only triggered the behavior. Jerry commented on the post.
If you want concrete examples of bees leaving the hive when they have a
pathogen, look no further than Tracheal mites in winter. Infected bees
will move out of the hive and cluster on the hive and die of the cold. I
have seen pictures of this taken by Tony Jadczak. The bees left in the
hive will test negative for TM.
Same with Varroa. Bees have been observed leaving a hive in large
numbers and crawling toward low spots where they die.The bees left have
few mites.
So it is not that it might happen. It does.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine
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