randy oliver wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Several parts of the article are of interest, especially the 
> discussion.  He raises the question as to whether native species of 
> Aussie bees are transmitting viruses to honeybees, and wonders why 
> there appeared to be different isolates of KBV from a "comparatively 
> small region."
>
>
Some interesting points were made to me a while back. One was that the 
different viruses which are now causing problems were known long ago but 
were more of a "laboratory" curiosity than something that was causing 
problems. After mites arrived, that changed.

There are still areas that have Varroa but are not suffering the same 
high losses as in the US. Randy's observation is probably the reason but 
not necessarily confined to Aussie KBV. That was another point made to 
me- it is not Varroa but the virus, which does complicate the whole 
Varroa problem. Add to that, variants in KBV as well as different 
viruses and you complicate it further. I still contend that CCD is a 
minor issue since it is Varroa/Tracheal that is the problem.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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