J. Waggle wrote:
>> their production of GOX decreases.   They suspect as mites build up, not
>> as much GOX will be found in the honey and the honey has more bacteria.
>>     
>
> If we look at what we know:
>
> We know that glucose oxidase produced in the honeybee hypopharyngeal 
> gland, and is placed in the colonies honey and food as a bacteria 
> inhibitor.  
>
>   
I have never seen anything that shows it goes into "food" (pollen?). 
Also it is not a bacterial inhibitor. It is an enzyme that oxidizes 
glucose to gluconolactone which, in turn goes into equilibriums with 
gluconic acid,  the principal acid in honey. In addition, hydrogen 
peroxide is produced and it is the production of the peroxide that kills 
off bacteria. The acid and high sugar concentration will kill live 
bacteria but will not kill the spores.
> Just a wild guess, but,,,
> The effects of varroa on nutritional pollen foraging could intern cause a 
> smaller less efficient hypopharyngeal gland to develop, which might result 
> in less anti bacteria substances produced by the hypopharyngeal gland to 
> be placed in the colonies food, which could make possible a rise in 
> harmful bacteria found in stored food which when fed to larva may easily 
> infect the developing bee due to its weakened immune system by way of the 
> scars made by the feeding varroa, and varroa feces would only serve to 
> accelerate this bacterial growth, leaving all the factors in place to 
> cause DWV symptoms to appear.   Remember now, its just a wild guess.
>   
What "harmful bacteria" are we talking about?

The main issue with glucose oxidase in honey is more in its breakdown 
products acting as a preservative to prevent fermentation, especially at 
the honey/air/moisture interface. When honey is "thin" it will ferment 
as the hydrogen peroxide is used up. That will weaken bees. Honeydew 
gathered in the fall will ferment during the winter and you can shake it 
out from frames in the spring. Varroa have nothing to do with it. BTDT.

Plus, the amount of glucose oxidase in honey is more related to the 
amount of glucose which is also related to the curing time of honey and 
the original nectar's glucose content.. That is the main selling point 
of the NZ research on their honeys wound healing capacity.It has lots of 
glucose to start with.

We have a lot of things going on here and are mixing glucose oxidase, 
nectar's glucose content, bacteria, viruses, yeasts and the like to 
arrive at some Unified Varroa Theory. Too much going on for that.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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