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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
John Chesnut <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 1 Nov 2015 10:52:14 -0500
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Randy O. queries, "I'm surprised that there hasn't been more discussion on this finding."

This may be due to message board sociology, "Miracle Fatigue".  Three months don't go by before some flash-in-the-pan Varroa Cure-all doesn't appear -- most are patent quackery -- but the constant bombardment obscures the better researched phenomenon.

The paper on the low-virulence DWV Variant B doesn't present a cogent explanation on the persistence of this strain in the face of previous findings that the wild-type virulent Variant A has virtually complete competitive dominance in nature.  The paper conflates the Swindon apiary survival with persistence of Arnot Forest ferals (which famously succumbed when removed to managed hives). 

The Swindon website presents images of antenna casts (from late stage pupa removed by hygenic bees) and immature mites dropped in the process.   This implies that the breeding program to maximize hygenic behavior is correlated with the relative dominance of the Strain B, and constant culling of the diseased pupa (presumably infected with Variant A) is necessary for the colony survival.

An apiary pattern where the Varroa strains must be actively and constantly managed discounts the superinfection hypothesis and supports previously proposed hygenic selection.  

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