Randy writes: “One very large organic group in Calif is experiencing 
unprecedented
losses.  I'm visiting them next month.

I am not an organic beek myself, but I strongly support their efforts.
 Unfortunately, they are not immune to epidemics.”

It is not at all surprising to me that an organic outfit would get nailed 
by a newly empowered virus.  Leaving the question aside of whether we know 
it was a virus that killed these colonies,  I would ask if this organic 
outfit keeps large numbers of colonies in close proximity to each other 
which as you mentioned gives rapidly mutating viruses a huge opportunity.  
Another question is will this outfit rebuild from the survivors of this 
devastation or will they go out and acquire bees from programs that use the 
more specifically focused breeding programs that I mentioned before; 
programs that may not have had to deal with said virus?  And while we are 
at it, if we are agreed that some breeding programs have at least the 
potential to inadvertently create problems while intending to solve 
problems, it seems to me a careful examination of the breeding practices of 
a large organic outfit might be in order.  This is all stuff for much more 
expert beekeepers than myself.   That’s why I am considering making a 
donation to the Randy Oliver foundation.   

Steve Noble

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