> I wonder whether we're getting a clue as to why there seems to be
> much more disease in the US than the UK.

Is there much more disease in the US than the UK?  Hard to say, things
are very different, including the standards of openness.

Additionally, in the US, beekeepers, researchers and the media have
found bruiting about disease to be a profit centre.  In the UK, not so
much.   What can I say?  The US is an entrepreneurial society.

There also is no comparison between the scale and scope of beekeeping --
or agriculture generally -- in the US and Canada, and beekeeping in the UK.

Small scale, hobby and crofter operations in no way compare to
huge commercial migratory operations which manage on a large scale.

 From http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/beeHealth/
"There are an estimated to be around 40,000 beekeepers in the UK who 
maintain over 200,000 colonies of honey bees. Of these around 300 are 
commercial beekeepers managing around 40,000 colonies whilst the 
remainder are smaller scale beekeepers".

I know of beekeepers in the US who have more than 40,000 hives of bees 
_each_.

No comparison.

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