Steve said: > ... catch 22 situation... impossible to isolate a > colony of bees from its accompanying micro flora > and fauna This is "impossible" in nature, and in production beekeeping, but it would not be difficult at all in a "lab environment", even a low-budget one. > [You] say that bees can "thrive in a 'sterile' environment, > where all microorganisms are deliberately hunted down and > killed on a regular and consistent basis" Yes, this would be the essence of the test one could do to verify that "sterilization" of combs and hives do not have long term impact on bee health, and that outside "microflora and microfauna" are not mission-critical to colony survival/health. If the colony died out, the flora and fauna would be mission-critical. > experimental evidence supporting either argument would be > damn near impossible to come by for the reasons you mention; > no way to construct a vacuum in which bees could live. I don't see it as difficult at all to construct a sterile environment in which to keep a tiny colony of a hundred bees or so and a queen. Do you see a major hurdles? If so, what would they be? **************************************************** * General Information About BEE-L is available at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm * ****************************************************