> Yes, well. Perhaps I don't understand the question. I thought the
> question was whether spores survive passage through the gut. They do.
> There is the potential to pick up  spores from the environment
> surrounding hives.

That was the original question, but then, the question then became what
percentage survive and how viable the survivors are on the scale from 0
to 100.  Is their vitality and germination rate unaffected?

We know that such spores can infect susceptible larvae in a lab
situation, but how likely is it in the real world?

Are all spores equally infective?  Or, are some weaker than others?

I think the answer is obvious.  Neglecting factors related to the spore
formation in the first place, what environmental influences may make one
spore stronger or weaker than another?

There is only a short window in a larva's development during which AFB
spores can infect that larva sufficiently to kill it and I understand
that takes more than one spore to achieve that end.  That number may 
depend on the larva, obviously, but also the potency of the spores, I 
should think.

So, the questions remain whether the spores are affected at all by the
trip through the bee and sufficiently to require more of them to infect.

We know that disinfection techniques typically do not kill all the
target microorganisms, but kill most and weaken others sufficiently to
forestall subsequent infection even if there are survivors that can be
cultured.

Additionally, although we know that UV light an heat don't kill AFB
spores quickly, we wonder if such influences weaken them.  They must.

Obviously these spores are not immortal.  Do we understand how they can
be weakened or what may slow their germination?

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