Article

2007-04-28 Science & Technology

Fungus not CellPhones is killing the Bees - Duh!

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Posted by 3dc 2007-04-28 13:43|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 What?! And I worked so hard to get my factory geared up to make those teeny tiny tinfoil beanies for the bees.

Posted by WTF 2007-04-28 15:59|| 2007-04-28 15:59|| Front Page Top

#2 cool - now my patent for bee-sized cellphones is a go!

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-04-28 16:02|| 2007-04-28 16:02|| Front Page Top

#3 Fungus, shmungus. I still blame Bush. Can't we pin this on Halliburton somehow?

Al

Posted by Frozen Al 2007-04-28 17:46|| 2007-04-28 17:46|| Front Page Top

#4 Other researchers said Wednesday that they too had found the fungus, a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae, in affected hives from around the country as well as in some hives where bees had survived. Those researchers have also found two other fungi and half a dozen viruses in the dead bees.

N. ceranae is "one of many pathogens" in the bees, said entomologist Diana Cox-Foster of Pennsylvania State University. "By itself, it is probably not the culprit but it may be one of the key players."

The presence of so many different viruses seems to indicate that the fungus is not the principal cause of CCD. Especially as it has been found in surviving colonies. As I jokingly speculated in the cell phone article posted some days ago, the bees' immune system may be supressed. New evidence is coming in that may point to this.

A excerpt from an interesting article in Der Spiegel:

The scientists are also surprised that bees and other insects usually leave the abandoned hives untouched. Nearby bee populations or parasites would normally raid the honey and pollen stores of colonies that have died for other reasons, such as excessive winter cold. "This suggests that there is something toxic in the colony itself which is repelling them," says Cox-Foster.

Walter Haefeker, the German beekeeping official, speculates that "besides a number of other factors," the fact that genetically modified, insect-resistant plants are now used in 40 percent of cornfields in the United States could be playing a role. The figure is much lower in Germany -- only 0.06 percent -- and most of that occurs in the eastern states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. Haefeker recently sent a researcher at the CCD Working Group some data from a bee study that he has long felt shows a possible connection between genetic engineering and diseases in bees.

The study in question is a small research project conducted at the University of Jena from 2001 to 2004. The researchers examined the effects of pollen from a genetically modified maize variant called "Bt corn" on bees. A gene from a soil bacterium had been inserted into the corn that enabled the plant to produce an agent that is toxic to insect pests. The study concluded that there was no evidence of a "toxic effect of Bt corn on healthy honeybee populations." But when, by sheer chance, the bees used in the experiments were infested with a parasite, something eerie happened. According to the Jena study, a "significantly stronger decline in the number of bees" occurred among the insects that had been fed a highly concentrated Bt poison feed.

According to Hans-Hinrich Kaatz, a professor at the University of Halle in eastern Germany and the director of the study, the bacterial toxin in the genetically modified corn may have "altered the surface of the bee's intestines, sufficiently weakening the bees to allow the parasites to gain entry -- or perhaps it was the other way around. We don't know."

Of course, the concentration of the toxin was ten times higher in the experiments than in normal Bt corn pollen. In addition, the bee feed was administered over a relatively lengthy six-week period.

Kaatz would have preferred to continue studying the phenomenon but lacked the necessary funding. "Those who have the money are not interested in this sort of research," says the professor, "and those who are interested don't have the money."

While Europe's hysteria over GM crops is well-documented, it would still be worth double checking the results of this experiment. Although the N. ceranae fungus and parasitic Asian varroa mite are definite culprits, neither of them offer a full explanation for the phenomenon. A bacterial assault easily could play the pivotal role in this problem and merits intensive investigation. Far too much is at stake to omit exploring any and all avenues towards finding a solution to this dire threat.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-04-28 19:24|| 2007-04-28 19:24|| Front Page Top

23:56 Zenster
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