[Gondring]

I saw above that you’re a honeybee scientist. So, what’s the latest on the bee sudden death syndrome?

You might find these interesting...

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013181

And I also would be curious on any updates from those that Battle Axe might know of.

[exDemMom]

Thanks, that’s very interesting.

[Battle Axe]

In the summer of 1991 I became terribly allergic to the stings. My boss when out with me on a routine inspection trip and he noticed that I was really swelling up. I thought nothing of it as it had happened gradually.

He asked me nicely to quit. Which I did. Since then I have developed more allergies to sheep, goats, deer and unwashed wool. The symptoms are anywhere from itchy eyes to full blown head to toe hives.

So I have really been out of it for some time.

When I was still inspecting, the Varroa mite and the tracheal mite were killing hives. Anything from China is a bad thing and they were importing a lot of honey back then.

If I were to guess, I would look at a variant of chalk-brood. There were two forms, a black one and a white one. American Foul Brood (Bacillus larvae) took its toll too. I had hives and lost many for apparently no reason.