Looks like they are getting close to solving CCD

[slacker361]

Look here

[tecumseh]

cool stuff huh?

[Tommyt]

Yeah I read this one also Hope they narrow it down


http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101007/od_yblog_upshot/culprit-identified-in-massive-worldwide-honeybee-die-off
Culprits identified in worldwide honeybee die-off
By Brett Michael Dykes
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EmailPrint..By Brett Michael Dykes brett Michael Dykes – Thu Oct 7, 12:21 pm ET
Over the past few years, there's been some panic over a dramatic decrease in the world's honeybee population, an occurrence that has left many experts scratching their heads. Now it appears as though part of the bee die-off mystery has been solved.

As reported by Kirk Johnson of the New York Times, a somewhat odd pairing of entomologists and military scientists has pinpointed likely culprits: a fungus and a virus, both of which flourish in cool, wet environments. While scientists aren't certain, they believe the fungus and virus work together to hamper the insect's digestive system. Each is relatively harmless on its own, Johnson says, but their combination is deadly.

[Video: Bees swarm Wall Street]


The findings by Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana are outlined in a paper published by the Public Library of Science's PLoS One.

The honeybee die-off -- populations in the United States alone are believed to have dropped 20 percent to 40 percent -- was a source of growing concern because of the vital role bees play in the food chain. As a 2007 "60 Minutes" report on the die-off noted, the bees are "crucial to the production of one-third of the foods we eat" because of their role in pollination.

[You can help: How to design and plant a bee garden]

The phenomenon of entire beehives disappearing has come to be known as colony collapse disorder.

Informed speculation previously blamed a host of factors for the die-off, such as pesticides and the cell-phone-driven increase of radiation in the atmosphere.

Though the identification of a cause is encouraging, scientists still find reason for concern.

"I hope no one goes away with the idea that we've actually solved the problem," Jeff Pettis of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service told MSNBC. "We still have a great deal of research to do to resolve why bees are dying in the U.S. and elsewhere."

[Related: Massive deaths among monarch butterflies]

(Photo: Getty)

[BeeHopper]

I am no expert in Biology, but my gut feeling is this:

We can overcome CCD as a whole if we just stop introducing chemicals and antibiotics into the hive and the environment, plus stop screwing around with genetics, let the bees sort things out by natural selection, but of course, not everyone will cooperate ( the agribusiness cannot absorb such a large die-off, so we'll just keep medicating sick honeybees ) It is most likely another antibiotic will be developed to combat this.  :roll:

[Bee Happy]

I'm probably going to be pelted with rotten vegetables for this BUT... - There are usually surviving hives in a CCD outbreak -  They reproduce based on food supply. - The surviving bees can be split several times in a season - yep - commercial pollenation & honey production suffer, but I think the surviving bees are closer to CCD resistant. I do think that every time there's survivor stock  - we're one step closer to making CCD a minor nuisance.

[Cascadebee]

I am no expert in Biology, but my gut feeling is this:

We can overcome CCD as a whole if we just stop introducing chemicals and antibiotics into the hive and the environment, plus stop screwing around with genetics, let the bees sort things out by natural selection, but of course, not everyone will cooperate ( the agribusiness cannot absorb such a large die-off, so we'll just keep medicating sick honeybees ) It is most likely another antibiotic will be developed to combat this.  :roll:

Agreed. The blurb I saw on the news interviewed a guy with 20k hives.  When you have that many hives, it is much easier to rely on prophylactic treatment than to really manage hives based on their true condition.  This takes selection for disease resistance completely out of the equation.

[Michael Bush]

I've heard such things before... it was Israeli virus wasn't it...  I expect to hear they are on the verge several more times...

[Joelel]

When we lose a colony we know why,no CCD here.

[MrILoveTheAnts]

http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0013181.g003&representation=PNG_M

What is it about this chart that lead the authors to believe the virus and fungi need to be together to cause CCD? They seem to be doing fine on their own, there's only a 10% increase in fatality after 14 days when both are present.

[Culley]

I didn't read the whole article yet, but 40% seems like a lot of the control group to die in the image above.  :?

Just based on that one image, you could extrapolate that the groups infected with the virus and/or nosema are simply dying sooner than the control group. The statistical trends are all in the same direction.

[Robo]

Agreed. The blurb I saw on the news interviewed a guy with 20k hives.  When you have that many hives, it is much easier to rely on prophylactic treatment than to really manage hives based on their true condition.  This takes selection for disease resistance completely out of the equation.

These commercial guys rely on their bees to support and feed their family.  Trust me, they don't want to treat their hives, not only is is very costly,  but they can't afford not to.  As a hobbyist,  losing a hive or two is not catastrophic, unless your willing to quit your job and give up a substantial part of your ownings as well.

The only thing easy about this is for someone to make assumptions about others motives.