A
Anonymous
Guest
In a news report I saw today that this is a growing problem and could end up being quite devestating to US agriculture because of the number of bees its wiping out that are needed to pollinate crops....
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September 7, 2007
AUSTRALIA'S honey bee industry has warned that its $5 million live-export market could be under threat, with a new report linking Australian bees to a mysterious die-off of US colonies.
The recent decimation of US bees is known as colony collapse disorder, a condition that involves a rapid disappearance of adult bees from the hive, leaving honey and pollen behind.
While a queen and a few newly emerged adult bees remain, few — if any — dead bees are found inside or near the hive. Up to 90 per cent of commercial colonies in the US have been affected.
A team of American researchers searching for a cause today report that a virus is "strongly correlated" with the puzzling disorder — and their paper suggests Australia as the possible source.
Using genetic sequencing techniques, the researchers found the virus, called Israel acute paralysis virus, was "a significant marker" for the disorder, found to be present in 25 of 30 sick colonies tested.
They said the virus was present in a sample of "apparently healthy" imported Australian bees, and that all samples they obtained from US colonies affected by the disorder used imported bees from Australia, or were close to hives with Australian bees.
The research team, including entomologists and infectious disease experts, also notes that Australian imports began arriving in the US from 2004, about the time reports of unusual bee disappearances began. It was the same year Israeli researchers first described the virus and its symptoms.
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council said it was "drawing a very long bow" to suggest Australian bees were behind the colony collapses. But executive director Stephen Ware is worried the findings may lead to countries imposing restrictions on Australian bees. "Potentially, it could be enormously dangerous."
Bees have an important role in the world's food supply, because they are vital for pollinating crops worth more than $A17.7 billion ($US14.6 billion) in the US, and $A1.8 billion in Australia. About $A2 million of Australian bees are packaged and sent to the US every year — with growing numbers required to fill shortages caused by the colony declines. Australian queens are also sent to countries such as Canada and Japan.
Signs of colony collapse disorder have not been seen in Australia, which the US researchers say may be due to the absence of varroa mites, which suppress bees' immune systems and make them more susceptible to infection. These mites are found in North America.
The new research, published online by the journal Science, included a study of samples collected over three years from US bee colonies with and without the disorder, royal jelly secreted from bees in China, and Australian bees. But CSIRO bee pathologist Dr Denis Anderson, who travelled to the US this year to study the colony collapses, said he was "highly sceptical" of the paper's findings.
http://sciencexpress.org
http://eurekalert.org/bees
--------------------------------------------------------------
September 7, 2007
AUSTRALIA'S honey bee industry has warned that its $5 million live-export market could be under threat, with a new report linking Australian bees to a mysterious die-off of US colonies.
The recent decimation of US bees is known as colony collapse disorder, a condition that involves a rapid disappearance of adult bees from the hive, leaving honey and pollen behind.
While a queen and a few newly emerged adult bees remain, few — if any — dead bees are found inside or near the hive. Up to 90 per cent of commercial colonies in the US have been affected.
A team of American researchers searching for a cause today report that a virus is "strongly correlated" with the puzzling disorder — and their paper suggests Australia as the possible source.
Using genetic sequencing techniques, the researchers found the virus, called Israel acute paralysis virus, was "a significant marker" for the disorder, found to be present in 25 of 30 sick colonies tested.
They said the virus was present in a sample of "apparently healthy" imported Australian bees, and that all samples they obtained from US colonies affected by the disorder used imported bees from Australia, or were close to hives with Australian bees.
The research team, including entomologists and infectious disease experts, also notes that Australian imports began arriving in the US from 2004, about the time reports of unusual bee disappearances began. It was the same year Israeli researchers first described the virus and its symptoms.
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council said it was "drawing a very long bow" to suggest Australian bees were behind the colony collapses. But executive director Stephen Ware is worried the findings may lead to countries imposing restrictions on Australian bees. "Potentially, it could be enormously dangerous."
Bees have an important role in the world's food supply, because they are vital for pollinating crops worth more than $A17.7 billion ($US14.6 billion) in the US, and $A1.8 billion in Australia. About $A2 million of Australian bees are packaged and sent to the US every year — with growing numbers required to fill shortages caused by the colony declines. Australian queens are also sent to countries such as Canada and Japan.
Signs of colony collapse disorder have not been seen in Australia, which the US researchers say may be due to the absence of varroa mites, which suppress bees' immune systems and make them more susceptible to infection. These mites are found in North America.
The new research, published online by the journal Science, included a study of samples collected over three years from US bee colonies with and without the disorder, royal jelly secreted from bees in China, and Australian bees. But CSIRO bee pathologist Dr Denis Anderson, who travelled to the US this year to study the colony collapses, said he was "highly sceptical" of the paper's findings.
http://sciencexpress.org
http://eurekalert.org/bees
