> Quantification – 1.11E+05 copies/bee
> What is a beekeeper supposed to do with test result data like this? Yep, the sample is positive for SBV. But what does the quantification figure mean? I have never seen clinical symptoms of SBV in my colonies.


Here (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0166190) is a recent PLOS-1 article that assesses viral load in wild bees vs honeybees in an apiary. I think it was the source of a discussion thread here earlier this year or late last year--it might have been the thread discussing flowers as a vector site for varroa. Take a look at Figure 1. They cite various virus titers in the Iowa State University research apiary, including SBV, at ~10^5 (100,000 copies/bee), which is the level you have been cited in the report. And those bees were also asymptomatic.


I can tell you, having worked with pharma companies on HCV therapies for more than a decade (and HCV is a similar virus to SBV), that humans infected with HCV are living with viral titers in the millions/mL with no apparent symptoms. The vast majority die with the disease rather than from it.


So, commensal levels? At least until environmental or other conditions leave the bee at risk and turn the relationship parasitic. Or not.


S


Skillman, NJ

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