Colony Collapse Disorder Mystery Solved?

by merrie | September 7, 2007 at 10:23 pm

443 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Researchers at the Pennsylvania State University, Diana Cox-Foster and
her colleagues points the finger at Israeli acute paralysis virus. The
lurgy in question was, the researchers suggest, was imported from
Australia. They collected bodies of adults that were found dead near
abandoned hives and conducted autopsies. The results revealed that the dead bees had been riddled with almost every bee disease know to man.

The researchers reckon that the reason why so many honey bees are dying is down to a combination of factors that are found only, so far, in America. The Israeli acute paralysis virus (and, perhaps, the mystery virus) may have had such a devastating effect there because of the presence of a parasite called the varroa mite. This parasite weakens the immune systems of bees, making the consequences of an infection more likely to be fatal. Tellingly, bees in Australia have not been infected by the parasite.

Moreover, it was in 2004 that America began importing bees from Australia—just when American beekeepers are thought to have seen the first suspected cases of colony collapse disorder.

[Read full article]