Posted on 09/06/2007 3:03:25 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University, Columbia and other institutions have found a virus that they say contributes to the mysterious collapse of honeybee colonies around the United States.
"Our extensive study suggests that the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus may be a potential cause of Colony Collapse Disorder," said W. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University. The virus was the only likely cause, either alone or with other factors, that they discovered in a three-year study.
"Our next step is to ascertain whether this virus, alone or in concert with other factors such as microbes, toxins and stressors, can induce CCD in healthy bees," Lipkin said.
Phil Pellitteri, a UW-Extension entomologist at UW-Madison, said that the study is "a strong lead."
"Knowing the group out of Penn State, I knew they were evaluating this big database, so this is interesting," Pellitteri said. "They are not saying it is nailed down, but it has a lot more validity than some of the other theories that have not held up. I can see why they are publishing on it, because this virus does look like a pretty suspicious factor."
The disorder has threatened commercial beekeeping operations in the United States that are used to pollinate crops. Between 50 and 90 percent of the commercial honeybee colonies in the United States have been affected, according to the researchers' report, published today in an online version of the journal Science.
The researchers used a rapid genome sequencing technique to catalogue all the microorganisms that honeybees harbor. They identified bacteria, fungi and viruses found in both healthy and CCD colonies, in which adult bees disappear from the hive.
Samples were collected from normal and affected hives around the country. They also tested royal jelly imported from China and apparently healthy hives from Australia in an attempt to find potential sources.
The molecular signs of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus were found to be associated with CCD. That virus may reflect a lineage of Kashmir bee virus or a new species, the report said.
The virus was found in all four affected operations samples, in two of four royal jelly samples and in the Australian hives. It was not found in the non-CCD samples.
IAPV also has not been found in "feral" bee colonies in the wild, said co-author Diana Cox-Foster of Penn State.
Jeffery Pettis, a co-author with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said the department has been discussing the situation with Australian colleagues, but that no decision has been made about whether to stop importation of packaged bees from Australia.
"It is possible that we had IAPV before we started importing Australian bees," he said.
IAPV was first described in 2004 in Israel, where infected bees presented with shivering wings, progressed to paralysis and then died just outside the hive.
"This research gives us a very good lead to follow, but we do not believe IAPV is acting alone," Pettis said. "Other stressors to the colony are likely involved."
Those stressors could be poor nutrition, pesticide exposure and parasitic mites.
Asked during a teleconference Wednesday whether climate change could be a factor in CCD, Cox-Foster said there does not appear to be a linkage, but that recent droughts could have reduced nectar or pollen or affected its nutritional value, causing stress on honeybees.
The next steps include inducing CCD in healthy bees, determining the global distribution of the virus and the disorder, and studying bees that appear to have resistance to CCD. Researchers also will study whether IAPV affects bees' ability to learn or disorients them, or whether bees might be protecting the colony by not returning to it.
The scientists advised that the best way for beekeepers to protect their colonies is to keep bees as healthy as possible by controlling parasitic mites and using supplemental nutrition.
More information is available at http://www.scienceexpress.org and http://www.eurekaalert.org/bees
ping
The Joooooooos did it?
Bee ping
Just read that this am.. I’ve got 6 wild hives that seem to be doing extremely well this year..
see:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1892121/posts
Good on ya!
Muzzie bees?
buzzy, definitely.
The media “solved it” along time ago. Within moments of the story breaking originally, they had already attributed it to global warming.
I don’t doubt that for one New York Times minute!
Is there a master list of all the die offs blamed on man, pollution, technology or global warming that was later found to be something natural?
I remember the seals dying many years ago from pollution but it turned out to be a canine disease they passed from nose to nose.
Then there was the first be die off because of pollution or acid rain. That turned out to the be mite.
Then there was the mutated frogs caused by pollution. That was actually a parasite.
I am sure there are plenty more.
Penn Staters, once again leading the way to a better world. No need to thank us, folks. We do this for fun. ;-)
What the heck IS a “Nittany?”
The tough part is inserting the tiny little IVs.
That would be SC's "Catastophism!" Ping
I thought it was caused by George Bush’s cell phone.
;’)
We don’t need no steenging beeses! /s
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.