Subject: Indian B Virus

From: [email-masked] (Andy Nachbaur)
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 06:03:00 GMT

*re posted because of delivery problems*
                    ----------------------------------------
BEEware...

* I had to review this (c) article as I could not find the author
to use the original.

    From an article in the January 1996 ASIA, INC, "SWEET DREAMS GONE
SOUR" by Michelle Huang comes a report on India's Agriculture Ministry
plan to become the world's largest honey producer by 1997, one season
>from  now.

The plan was based on money, big money, million's invested in beekeeping
and tens of thousands of new jobs using the more productive Italian or
European Honey Bees, the same one's you and I work with. This was
expected to increase honey production by 5X over the strange but
wonderful open air comb and little honey producing efforts of the native
Indian bees the main honey producer in India for thousands of years.
The imported Italian strain of bees were also expected to boost
agricultural production by beeing better pollinators.

    It looked good on paper and could have made a big difference to
the beekeepers of India until along came "Thai sac brood" a virus
which according to the Indian beekeepers and government BS was
introduced into India about the same time as the build up of Italian
bee improvement program started in the early 60's. The problem is so bad
that in the southern areas of India's prime beekeeping pasture thousands
of hives have died not from T-mites, or the Vampire mites as so many
beekeepers in North America blame there own losses on, but from a virus.

This has put 51,000 beekeepers in the Karnataka region out of the
bee business who are now living as farm laborers or nugatory workers
and according to the agricultural ministry's horticulture commissioner
the 250,000 village people who collect honey from the wild Indian bees
of the forests are also threatened.

The commissioner still has hope that the Italian bee population can
be increased, but admits they are more docile then the Indian bees
that work in the tropical rains that keep the Italian's home, but
still a better over all honey producers and are kept in modern hives.
He says "Indian bees are very susceptible to the virus..." A unexpected
side effect of importing European bee's, at least according to what
some of the Indian beekeepers think.

It is hoped that in time the south Indian bee population can be rebuilt
with a Indian bee if one can be found that is resistant to the virus.
Another area of India that was devastated in the mid 1980's by the virus
appears to be slowly recovering and government plans are to continue to
build their countries bee business based on the higher producing
Italian bees that don't work in the rain and hopes to find some native
Indian bees that are survivors of the "Thi sac brood" virus.

(c) Permission is granted to freely copy this document
at your own risk in any form, or to use for personal use.
The original article can be found on the internet site for
ASIA, INC and was used without permission for this review.

(w)Opinions are not necessarily facts. Use at own risk.

---
 þ QMPro 1.53 þ ... The hairy wild-bee that murmurs and hankers up and do

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From: [email-masked] (Kirk & Sharon Jones)
Date: 14 Mar 1996 23:37:46 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Andy
Nachbaur) wrote:

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the postings! What info do you know of in regards to the virus
reputed to be carried by the varroa and treacheal mites?