Just back from Apimondia 2007 in Melbourne.  Great time was had by all.

The seminar on world wide bee losses was well attended and really came up with nothing new from what I have read in all the posts received over the past week which I have finally got around to reading.

Here are some points which are my interpretation of what when on.

The question as to whether the IAPV is actually a strain of KBV was brought up.  It would seem that there will be testing to clarify this point.

The USDA is going to check a lot of hives in the USA in areas with CCD and areas without CCD.

They are also going to check samples pre Aussie bees arriving in the USA, (early 2005) to see if IAPV has been in the bees prior to this importation.

A French chap claimed that since the banning of imidacloprid and fiprinol spraying, the bees in France now are doing well.  No more massive die off.

Re the point that bees in Aussie land are not showing signs of CCD because we do not have varroa was challenged by pointing out that there are many other countries round the world receiving Aussie bees or have received them and these countries have varroa but no CCD.

A point raised by a scientist I spoke to (not in the seminar) asked why there was no AFB or EFB shown up in the samples tested and reported on in the Science article.  I am not a scientist but from what I could gather, he was saying that the testing methods used should also have picked up AFB and EFB if they were present.  Maybe someone on the list can understand this.

From what I can gather, the Aussie bees sampled and showing positive IAPV were installed in hives and did not come down with CCD.

A couple of points from posts on the list over the past week.

Bob wrote 

>Beekeepers from Down Under have reported a "disappearing disease" but not
on the scale of CCD, Pettis said during a press conference Wednesday.

The above was traced back to a pollen issue and the symptoms were not a hive
full of brood and no bees. Have I got it wrong Trevor?

I spoke with Dr. Pettis about this, which we call "The Muck".  He was interested in my theory and is thinking about it.  I have posted on this before and it is available in the archives.  Suffice to say that it is not like CCD.

Kim wrote

I'd be interested in the response from your end on this...it all seems a bit unfair but what will your queen and package producers do, do you suppose? And, the meetings scheduled for the Apimondia conferences should be worth every penny of admission...what do you think?

Well I cannot speak for those producers but from my point of view it is a matter of trying to get some science into this.  There are ongoing discussions between the Australian Government people and USDA.  I think these are being held in a constructive way.  I heard the comment at Apimondia re a ban being put on Aussie bees as akin to taking off the life jacket while floating in the water after the boat sinks.

Anyway, just thought I should submit some thoughts prior to trying to catch up on lost sleep due to helping organise Apimondia in Melbourne

Trevor Weatherhead

P.S.  For those of you that have not heard, we are going to Argentina for Apimondia 2011.

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