Thank you for your replies to my Braula coeca inquiry.  I recently had private correspondence with Megan Colwell, one of the authors of the "Possible transmission of honey bee viruses by wax comb and Braula coeca" paper/talk which she gave to the Manitoba Beekeepers Annual Convention in 2016. She is a doctoral student in entomology at the University of Manitoba and is the principle investigator re. the virus transmission research.   

I am not at liberty to share the contents of our correspondence, but I will say that she confirmed that we have no data on Braula spp. viruses in the absence of Varroa (at least it appears so). She referenced the Avalos et al 2019 paper re. Braula schmitzi, but this paper does not address the  question re. endemic Braula spp. viruses (i.e., pre-Varroa).

As noted by Trevor Weatherhead, Braula coeca is present in Tasmania honey bee stock, which is Varroa-free.  Has anyone tested B. coeca for viruses in Tasmania?

If you find any references to Braula spp. viruses, please let me know.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html