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
I wish the researcher all the best. Bees are unbelievably important to our eco-system. Plus they provide with several very good and healthy products along the way.
China imports Royal Bee Jelly ... Good thing I forgot it down at the trailer or I would be freaking...GRRRR My jar better not say China, maybe that why I feel sick...
Are you still beeping?
Naw, frothing at times though.
Last week, I threw away my excess frame parts. I’m down to one empty hive with a brood chamber and 3 supers.
There used to be many swarms available in the spring to repopulate dead colonies but there have been none in years.
But still no clue in sight for the A disease.
Sorry, I’ve been in the topic before, but up it popped in the active list, soooo...
O Death, where is thy Sting?
Hummmmmmm. If fraudulent doctors offer worthless cures in exchange for honeycomb, then we would have....not only a Center for Disbees Control, we'd also have...
...a bee see disease that whacks bees wax quack wisecracks.
Hun, Hunk and Honey Ping!
Hopefully, this mysterious malady will help vanish the Fresno Bee!
If only the media were better behived....
And you can’t beelieve a lot of what they write anyway. You have to really have to comb through the articles to get at the truth. It’s a sticky process. Frequently their national POLLens are askew.
LOL! Thank you for brightening up my day, SOA!
LOL—EXCELLENT!
Thanks - high praise coming from the KING of Freeper puns! :)
Glad to be of service. It’s one of the advantages of paying your in-comb tax on time.
For sale......
Extractor with hot knife
unassembled super frames
Wax foundation..... brood chamber and supersize
I have no doubt it likely is more than due to pesticide exposure and make that statement in no MILD terms. Of course, when and if they reach that conclusion, the pesticide companies will make outrageous claims, vilify the scientists and/or their purpose and/or gin up something to counter their conclusions.
Sweet !
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.