<are you saying this because you think the symptoms are similar (symptoms
is how CCD is currently defined>
I've seen both the collapses in the 70s, and again those starting in 2006.
Symptoms (technically with insects we're supposed to call them signs)
were more or less identical in the 70s to those of the 2000s.
Turn of century reports, events which I did not see, I'm not that old, the
texts refer to a similar disorder, but much more localized. It was
sometimes called disappearing disease (Note, in the old Hive and the Honey Bee
the DD term was used to define a disorder that disappeared before the cause
could be identified). In the 70s, the term Disappearing Disease was used
in the context of bees disappearing.
Wilson thought it was a genetic defect, introduced from AFB sperm. Now
days, we know that some viruses can be transferred via sperm. Therefore, a
new virus or viruses could have been introduced via the sperm. The spread
in terms of number of states reporting, etc. in the 70s paralleled that of
more recent events. The important thing was that the signs were nearly
identical, the distribution widespread, and Bill could trace a common lineage.
In our work since 2006, we can not trace a common genetic lineage, but we
can trace the disorder from bee operations that share equipment, etc.
Both the 1970s and 2006+ events were blamed on everything anyone could
image, although due to the Cold War, in the 70s nuclear radiation was a
suspect, in the 2000s, cell phones were blamed. As occurs now, there were those
researcher and beekeepers who were sure it was pesticides, and BIll's team
was able to induce a winter decline with low level pesticides.
I'm still convinced its contagious. Other stress factors such as
nutrition, cool wet weather, possibly even agri-chemicals may act as triggers.
My guess is that Nosema ceranae, Kashmir virus, and the IIV all came to us
as a group from Apis ceranae. Camazine found the first Kashmir in a sample
of IIV from the asian bee, and he found IIV in varroa in hives from a
major collapse in the NE of the USA in the 90s. Latest I've heard, Nosema
ceranae has now been shown to be in the NE states as far back as the 80s, maybe
even longer.
Jerry
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