I wrote > ...you might want to consider the possibility that the > bacterial or viral or fungal pathogen is transmitted by > a parasite such as Varroa or tracheal mites, which would > make controlling mites the key to controlling CCD. Jim Fischer responded: If any of those possibilities were the case, then, colonies from packages on irradiated combs would have fared no better than colonies from packages put on non-irradiated combs. Does the fact that the final pathogen that produces CCD persists on dead out equipment really preclude the existence of an intermediary such as Varroa? If so how? I guess I just don't see how it is necessarily an either/or proposition. And if there is an intermediate carrier, then wouldn't controlling that carrier be crucial to at least reducing the risk of CCD? Also, I am not sure I see that stress is something that ought not be considered here. And I'm not on the anti commercial band wagon. The fact that in the study you mention stress was the same for all colonies just means that stress was not a part of the test. Stress may not be easily measured, but it certainly can be induced. That stress tends to weaken an organism's immune system is a pretty universally accepted notion if not a scientifically proven fact. On the other hand it is possible that the honey bee immune system has no chance against whatever causes CCD in which case no amount of stress reduction would do any good against it. It does seem like this possibility has not been as fully considered as the ones that tend to point the finger at commercial beekeepers, those ultimate stress inducers of all time. It just occurred to me that if stress is such a big factor in CCD then stationary beekeepers ought not worry about getting it since their bees are all on the Apis equivalent of a yoga retreat. I'm just kidding. Steve Noble ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************