Keith Malone wrote:

> My opinion; First, unless this fungus naturally occurs within a
> colony of honey bees it really does not make it a "natural control",
> other wise it is an intrusive fungal control.

If we get too worried about things being "unnatural" we might as well
get rid of all honeybees in the US since they are "unnatural" having
been brought in by Europeans. In some places, honeybees are considered
intrusive, per Adrian's comments on the channel islands (if I remember
correctly).

You could even consider Varroa and SHB to be "unnatural" to US bees
since they were introduced by beekeepers. So why not use an "unnatural"
natural control. Truth is, organic beekeepers would have little problem
using something "natural" like a fungus to control Varroa, based on
their use of other kinds of controls for livestock and plants (think BT).

Dee's comments are correct since they address legitimate concerns about
the effect of the fungus on other organisms in the colony that are
beneficial but could be affected by the fungus.

All beekeepers commit "unnatural" acts on bees just by keeping them.
(Pun intended.)

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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