>
>
> > I have never known, from personal experience,  DWV to be independent of
> mite levels.
>
> Not sure how you would know this. Viruses are generally present but do not
> usually produce visible symptoms.


No doubt. DWV is always present. But I've never known or seen a hive
collapse (or dwindle) as a result of virus loads, DWV in particular, or
have the virus levels grow exponentially, independent of having excessive
mite loads.

Have you?

As best as I can tell every hive has some low background level of DWV and
> this situation existed long before mites came to the US.  But, in the
> absence of mites and the stress they cause and the mega transmission of the
> virus by mites DWV does little or nothing to bees as the number of virus
> copies inside the bees do not rise to symptomatic levels.  My experience is
> if you have a hive with enough DWV in the bees to be causing significant
> symptoms and you kill the mites down to nil you will still see evidence of
> DWV for several months as it gradually is brought under control by the
> bees.  But, this is because you have bees loaded with the virus infecting
> new bees, not because it takes that long for the virus to die on hive
> surfaces.


Exactly.

However, my question is related to the  growing prevalence of more toxic
> strains of DWV- and wondering if ignoring the virus itself was still a wise
> approach. I don't doubt that eventually the more virulent strains will win
> out- but isn't it possible that this is hastened by not treating it as a
> virulent pathogen capable of evolving into even more toxic strains? And if
> a particular hive, or hives, in one's apiary have a particularly virulent
> strain, wouldn't it be a wise thing to treat it at a higher level than as
> just background noise? Or is that just not practical?


Perhaps I don't understand, but why would you care? If your hives died from
DWV, they died because mite levels got excessive, regardless of the
toxicity level of the DWV they contracted. The more toxic strain of DWV
merely means that the bees can tolerate a lower percentage of mite
infestation than the more benign strain. So if you have the benign strain,
perhaps your hives can maintain a 8% infestation period for a progressive
period of time without collapsing, but if you have the toxic strain perhaps
your hives can only maintain a 4% infestation period without collapsing
(percentages completely made up for illustrative purposes). But the
solution to either isn't about irradiating *one *strain of DWV. The
solution is to maintain lower mite levels.

As Peter has explained, even if you do remove all viruses from deadout
equipment, the more toxic strain of DWV will still persist in the bees
themselves, the mites that have infested them, the neighbor's hives . . . .
The more toxic strain of DWV wasn't created in your hives in a vacuum. They
came from somewhere. "Sterilizing" your equipment is like bailing a sinking
ship with a bucket without trying to patch the hole in the hull.

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