Where have all the honey bees gone?

jimmycarlos

There's an infection affecting a lot of bees; a bit like myxamitosis in the sheer numbers dying. The remaining bees are weak; and not pollinating enough. So far we've found 6 dead bees in out back garden; so something is wrong. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070423113425.htm Jul 16 08, 6:21 PM

zbeckabee

Although the honey bee crisis of 2005 was attributed to the varoa mite, the 2006-2007 malady is of unknown origin. Researchers have been unable to isolate a common cause. While they have found numerous disease organisms present in dying bee populations, along with a few common management issues, the common link affecting all the populations continues to elude investigators. Dennis vanEngelsdorp, acting state apiarist with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture said, "Preliminary work has identified several likely factors that could be causing or contributing to CCD. Among them are mites and associated diseases, some unknown pathogenic disease and pesticide contamination or poisoning." http://vegetablegardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_honey_bee_crisis_of_2007 Jul 16 08, 6:30 PM

jk18

Pests like the tracheal mite and the varroa mite are wiping out the entire bee colonies according to researchers at Pennsylvania State University. Without honey bees food prices would rise and the decrease in the amount of fruits and vegetable havest. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/07/980706080307.htm Jul 16 08, 7:27 PM

author

Nosema is considered one of the most prevalent and economically damaging of honey bee diseases. Yet it often goes unnoticed because the causative agent, a microsporidium, is microscopic in size and therefore invisible to the naked eye,and because the disease rarely leads to the death of a diseased colony. At the beginning of the 20th Century, the great German bee scientist Zander first described Nosema apis as ‘the microsporidium responsible for Nosema disease’. Subsequently, all reports of microsporidia in honey bees, in both the western hive bee Apis mellifera and the eastern hive bee Apis cerana, were attributed to Nosema apis. http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/info/info/disease/nosema-ceranae-a-new-thre.shtml This site says that parasitic fungus might explain the latest vanishing of the honey bees, but the it seems to be a preliminary theory. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/PFHB.php Genetic testing at Columbia University has revealed the presence of multiple micro-organisms in bees from hives or colonies that are in decline, suggesting that something is weakening their immune system. The researchers have found some fungi in the affected bees that are found in humans whose immune systems have been suppressed by the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or cancer. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/science/24bees.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Jul 16 08, 7:29 PM