In a message dated 8/26/2009 6:10:00 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
takes us back to the subject line.
Allen said:
Apparently there are survivors.
Sometimes - depends, I've seen it move through and wipe out whole yards, in
others, there are survivors. It doesn't hit every colony at exactly the
same time, generally takes out some, then more, etc. In the end, there are
usually a few survivors - mostly with a queen and small retinue of bees.
How much of that is luck and how much might be some sort of resistance?
Anyone's guess, but it acts like a contagious disease - takes out a bunch
of colonies, then slowly removes more, but usually some start to fail, then
recover, and some aren't affected.
Also, does CCD seem to hit all strains and colours of bees?
Yes, no compelling evidence that I've seen that it is worse in any strains,
or less harmful.
Have we seen it in the Russian bees? Yes
Our surveys suggest that it may be a bit more common in Italian, a bit less
common in Russian. However, winter kills were a bit higher with Russian,
bit less with Italian. But all of this may be skewed by the number of
beekeepers who have Italian versus the number who have Russian bees.
There was also some hint about AHB being less or unaffected, or is that
due
to lack of observations....
Lack of observations - I've not seen any hard studies. It seems to be a
myth based on the supposed absence of it in some of the bees managed by SW
beekeepers, where the bee operations are known to be partially africanized.
Initially, the word was that these bees did not have CCD - but by year
two, that was no longer the case.
Are there any particularly susceptible strains?
Not that I am aware of - maybe someone else has data, but I haven't seen
it. I can track the more recent CCD from one bee operation to another, have
a pretty good idea of its origin, but that would start an needless feud.
Nothing to be gained at this stage pointing a finger of blame. If CCD made
a major pass through bee operations in the 70s, which I suspect to be true
after talking with Bill Wilson; that epidemic also could be traced to a
common source.
Specific suppliers?
None from our surveys of several hundred U.S. and some Canadian beekeepers.
If you are looking for resistant stocks, I suggest you look for and breed
from survivors.
Jerry
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