Jim Fischer writes:  ” The honey bee genome project revealed that bees have 
fewer known immune system genes than the much simpler fruit fly or malaria 
mosquito do.”

Could this be a matter that would require thinking out side the box as far 
as what constitutes an immune “system” goes?  The ability of honeybees to 
fight pathogens of all kinds involves much more than antibodies being 
produced to kill foreign organisms that enter the body.  Conceivably there 
could be any number of ways that a pesticide even at very low levels could 
alter some aspect of a bee’s or a colony’s ability to deal with the 
constant onslaught of destructive organisms.  Propolis comes to mind; the 
ability to maintain constant temperature and humidity in the hive.  There 
is the antimicrobial quality of honey itself that must be a part of the 
whole disease fighting system.  Also anything that adversely effects a 
honeybee’s overall vigor.  There must be many more factors that I am not 
thinking of right now other than those specific genetic factors that the 
honeybee genome project conventionally considers to comprise the immune 
system of a given insect.  Any one or a combination of these could, if 
altered in some large or small way, reduce a colony’s disease fighting 
ability.  
     It may not be proven that imidacloprid is a cause or a contributing 
factor in CCD.  There are some very good reasons for some beneficiaries of 
it in the ag community, not to mention the chemical industry, to not have 
it be shown to be a problem for beekeepers, and it is an insecticide, so I 
would not be too eager to completely check it off the list.

Steve Noble   

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