There is no reason why CCD, DD and all the others cannot be genetic,
because all describe a behavior. If bees are stressed with a pathogen,
they clear out. As noted, we see it often in Maine in the winter with
Tracheal. Bees leave even in sub-zero weather.
Something triggers that behavior, and in most all the cases so far
that we have documented it, it is a pathogen.
When you look at DD, fall or spring dwindling, virus infections and
departure (through Varroa or Tracheal), even stress related
disappearing, they are seem to be triggered by something which results
in the behavior. So there is a genetic factor to this behavior. It is
hard wired into the bee, and maybe all honeybees.
This could also explain the AHB disappearing. Something triggered it,
and, I think it was Jim who said it, it could have been a virus. It
had less to do with the race of bee than the thing that triggered it.
I wonder if the symptoms of CCD are nothing more than a degree or
subset of that behavior. (It is interesting that there is another set
for winter CCD which is not the same as summer CCD.) Maybe we get the
different sets of disappearing because of the degree of virulence of
the pathogen or the way the pathogen works in the bee. If it stops the
ability to fly, the bee crawls, if not, it flies.
Disappearing can be witnessed in some cases, like crawling from the
hive which has been seen with both Tracheal and Varroa infestations.
It would be unlikely to be witnessed if the bee still had the ability
to fly.
As I noted before, the simple reason for this form of absconding my be
nothing more than survival. It does make sense, especially for a dense
community to segregate infected or diseased individuals to preserve
the whole. From there, it is the working of the pathogen and the
behavior of the bee.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine
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