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Scientists Isolate and Treat Parasite Causing Decline in Honey Bee Population

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the buzzing-with-excitement dept.

In a recent report, a team of scientists from Spain claims to have isolated and treated the parasite causing honey bee depopulation syndrome. Their hope is to prevent the continued decline of honey bee populations in Europe and the US. "The loss of honey bees could have an enormous horticultural and economic impact worldwide. Honeybees are important pollinators of crops, fruit and wild flowers and are indispensable for a sustainable and profitable agriculture as well as for the maintenance of the non-agricultural ecosystem. Honeybees are attacked by numerous pathogens including viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites."

8 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Hope by tarpitcod · · Score: 5, Informative

    You know bees are useful for fertilizing plants and not just the sticky yellow stuff right?

  2. Nosema is a fungus... by denzacar · · Score: 5, Informative

    A parasite. Not virus or bacteria.
    Breeding resistant bees is kinda like breeding humans that are resistant to tapeworm.

    You kill or surgically remove parasites - you don't develop antibodies to fight them.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    1. Re:Nosema is a fungus... by frieko · · Score: 4, Informative

      [citation needed]. My dad breeds sheep, and yes, you can select for parasite resistance. You'd be surprised at the things your body can fight off.

    2. Re:Nosema is a fungus... by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Informative

      It is believed that larger bees are more susceptible to mites, because the bees are easier for the mites to get into. Giving the bees an artificial wax starter foundation with larger cells than they normally make increases the ratio of honey to wax, but also means that the bees will produce larger brood to fill the cells, which results in larger adult bees...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. Opposing study by DinDaddy · · Score: 5, Informative

    This story is in direct disagreement with a recent article in SciAm, where they find colony collapse is MORE like caused by IAPV, and NOT the nosema parasite.

    http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=saving-the-honeybee

    And since the scientists in the SciAm article looked at a lot more than two apiaries, I am gonna have to give them a lot more credence.

    1. Re:Opposing study by alanrw · · Score: 5, Informative

      For anyone interested in CCD, I strongly recommend the book "Fruitless Fall" by Rowan Jacobsen. In it, he suggests, just like the SciAm article does, that CCD is likely a combination of multiple factors, including IAPV, nosema, pesticides, industrial farming, and other contributors. While this study is a good start, I won't hold my breath that CCD is over until we have much more evidence.

  4. Quite so... by denzacar · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nosema seems to be just a part of the equation - not the solution to it.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_bee_depopulation_syndrome#Nosema

    A study reported in September 2007 found that 100% of afflicted and 80% of non-afflicted colonies contained Nosema ceranae.

    Link to the September 2007 SciAm article about the study:
    http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=bees-ccd-virus&page=1

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  5. Read further down the story by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Interestingly, the story itself contains a quotation not so favorable to the story's summary, and even its own text is less optimistic:

    There have been other hypothesis for colony collapse in Europe and the USA, but never has this bug been identified as the primary cause in professional apiaries.

    "Now that we know one strain of parasite that could be responsible, we can look for signs of infection and treat any infected colonies before the infection spreads" said Dr Higes, principle researcher.

    A critical read of these statements (remember to parse it as English) and the rest of the article as well tells us that this particular parasite was identified as the sole cause in two professional apiaries. The principal researcher (they say "principle" in the article... reading "news" causes me physical pain these days) is saying one strain of parasite could be responsible. But what has actually happened is that they have identified a single parasite that was active in two apiaries with hives suffering from underpopulation. That does not mean a single parasite caused the dieoff (the bees suffering from some other parasite, infection, or other distress might be the ones that departed) and it does not mean that the "cure" for colony collapse disorder has been identified.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"