[log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask])  writes:

so why  are caged studies such a large part of the research being 
done...including  your own recent (and excelent) work?  why should we be skeptical of 
a  neonic study that (probably) was on caged bees, but not of a study of  
nosema/virus infected bees in cages?

We state clearly in our article that the nosema/virus trials were  
preliminary, that we need to confirm with full colonies after we isolate and  
sequence the actual virus that we found.
 
All of this is driven by money.  We had very little funding. USDA  
consistently rejects our proposals - says we will never find anything, that we  lack 
experience.  Robb had a bit of Ag experiment station funds for  the lab 
trials.  Army contributed all of the analysis by proteomics.   The bits and 
pieces of funding we got went to collecting samples, etc.
 
 
We currently have some funds from Project Apis m to inoculate whole  
colonies.  We have to do these initial tests in confinement - there  are issues 
that in our experimenting, we might add to dispersion of the pathogen  (which 
we have yet to fully isolate) - so the work is being done in a shed. Not  
the best way, but it is the safest way for the industry for us to proceed 
until  we can fully sequence the virus.
 
We submitted a proposal to USDA to isolate, purify, sequence, and do the  
field inoculation trials - but so far, nothing.  I and all of my crew are  
funded by external grants and contracts - we get no money from the University  
other than a very small percent return of the Indirect Costs.  It cost me  
about $800k per year to keep everything running.  All  of the bee  disease 
and pest work is a financial loss item - we spend more than we  recover.  If 
we did not  have funding for our DoD work, we'd  vanish.
 
Jerry



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