Two different deformed wing viruses

This is from Joe Traynor’s recent newsletter. Joe is a beekeeper and broker in the almond groves in California. Which means he connects almond growers needing bees for pollination, with beekeepers having hives to lease. I have known Joe for many years, and while his columns are mostly related to news in the almond/beekeeping relationship, it is much more. This next piece is an example.

“And Then There Were Two (or more), Australian entomologist Denis Johnson surprised the bee world when he found there was more than one species of varroa and that varroa destructor (which we have) was far more lethal to bees than varroa jacobsoni (endemic to Apis Cerana). Now, some great work by UK apiculturist, Stephen Martin has shown that there are two (or more) strains of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) one more virulent than the other. Let’s hope that the less lethal strain will prevail.”

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