This is from Beeinformed (West Australia) April 2009 (which also contains an article about Peter Detcheon). I searched the Archives, but didn't find any reference. Does anyone have more info on "Empty Nest Disease" in China? Randy Oliver China is experiencing two new bee diseases, ‘Empty Nest Disease’ discovered and named in 2006 by Chen Yuan and ‘Crawling Bee’ discovered in 2003. Colonies all over the country have been decimated. ‘Empty Bee’ disease can reduce a strong swarm of Italian honeybees into a few worker bees and a queen within two to three weeks. Researcher Chen Yuan found bees of all ages crawling on the ground outside their hives in October 2006. Some were normally developed and some had curved wings. In some hives, he found the queen and dozens of bees crawling helplessly on small blocks of comb with pupae. The cause of the disease is thought to be fungal and is treatable with Ketoconazole, a broad spectrum fungicide. In 2003, China experienced a collapse in the number of bee colonies due to ‘Crawling Bee Disease’ and this has worsened every year. Chen Yuan, A New Disaster to Bee – Empty Nest Disease, Yiwu Apiculture Assoc. Zhejiang , China. ‘Empty Nest Disease’ and ‘Crawling Bee Disease’ in China *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html