Title: Saving the Honeybee
Author: Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis vanEngelsdorp
A:
-Dave Hackenberg makes a living moving honeybees.
-He trucks his beehives from field to field to pollinate crops.
-After a month, the remaining colony had lost large # of workers.
-Young workers and queen remained healthy.
-Half of 3,000 bee hives devoid of bees.
-Hackenberg's colonies stopped dying the following spring, but 800 of original 3,000 colonies survived.
-Survey conducted said that 1/4 of U.S beekeepers suffered similar losses and more than 30% of all colonies died.
-Next winter die off expanded, hitting 36%.
-Collaboration ruled out causes for CCD and found many contributing factors.
-No single problem has been found.
-Bees with CCD are infested with pathogens including a newly discovered virus, but infections seem secondary
-Honeybee colonies in 2006 was about 2.4 million less than half what it was in 1949.
-CCD won't cause honeybees to go extinct. If skills of beekeepers low, then nearly 100 of our crops could be left without pollination.
-Spores counts in samples were not high enough to explain losses.
-Molecular analysis by Diana Cox-Foster revealed surprising levels of viral infections of various known types.
-No single pathogen found in the insects could explain scale of disappearance.
-Bees were all sick, but each colony seemed to suffer from different combination of diseases.
-Authors hypothesized that something had compromised bees' immune system, making them susceptible to any number of infections that normal colonies can fend off.
-Symptoms affected stationary beekeepers and migratory ones.
-Even organic beekeepers were affected.
-The crops have a gene for insecticidal toxin.
-But the toxin only becomes activated in guts of caterpillars, mosquitoes and some beetles.
-Digestive tracts of the bees don't allow Bt to work.
-the chemicals beekeepers use to control mites and pesticides. Either could be on pollinated crops.
-The class of insecticides mimics effect of nicotine- a natural defense that tobacco plants deploy against leaf-eating pests.
-It is more toxic to insects than to vertebrates.
-Other experts suspected that bees' natural defense might bee undermined by poor nutrition.
-Honeybees no longer have the same number or variety of flowers available because humans tried to "neaten" the environment.
-Diets of honeybees that pollinate large acreages of one crop may lack important nutrients, compared to pollinators that feed from multiples.
-Beekeepers attempted to manage the concerns by developing protein supplements to feed colonies, but have not prevented CCD.
-Bees, pollen and honeycomb wax were frozen to be preserved for molecular and chemical analyses.
-But although both levels and diversity of chemicals are of concern, none is the cause of CCD.
- Healthy colonies sometimes had higher levels of some chemicals than colonies with CCD.
-Genetic material is blended together and minced to pieces short enough that sequences could be deciphered.
-IAPV was found in almost all colonies with CCD symptoms.
-Consensus is that multiple factors can interact to weaken colonies and make them susceptible to a virus-mediated collapse.
B:
Dave Hackenberg makes a living moving honeybees.He trucks his beehives from field to field to pollinate crops.After a month, the remaining colony had lost large # of workers. Young workers and queen remained healthy.Half of 3,000 bee hives devoid of bees.Hackenberg's colonies stopped dying the following spring, but 800 of original 3,000 colonies survived. Survey conducted said that 1/4 of U.S beekeepers suffered similar losses and more than 30% of all colonies died.Next winter die off expanded, hitting 36%.Collaboration ruled out causes for CCD and found many contributing factors. No single problem has been found. Bees with CCD are infested with pathogens including a newly discovered virus, but infections seem secondaryHoneybee colonies in 2006 was about 2.4 million less than half what it was in 1949.CCD won't cause honeybees to go extinct. If skills of beekeepers low, then nearly 100 of our crops could be left without pollination. Spores counts in samples were not high enough to explain losses. But the toxin only becomes activated in guts of caterpillars, mosquitoes and some beetles. It is more toxic to insects than to vertebrates.Other experts suspected that bees' natural defense might bee undermined by poor nutrition. Honeybees no longer have the same number or variety of flowers available because humans tried to "neaten" the environment.Bees, pollen and honeycomb wax were frozen to be preserved for molecular and chemical analyses.But although both levels and diversity of chemicals are of concern, none is the cause of CCD.Healthy colonies sometimes had higher levels of some chemicals than colonies with CCD.Genetic material is blended together and minced to pieces short enough that sequences could be deciphered. IAPV was found in almost all colonies with CCD symptoms.Consensus is that multiple factors can interact to weaken colonies and make them susceptible to a virus-mediated collapse.
C:
As he has done for the past 42 years, in the fall of 2006 Hackenberg migrated with his family and his bees from their central Pennsylvania summer home to their winter locale in central Florida. The insects had just finished their pollination duties on blooming Pennsylvanian pumpkin fields and were now to catch the last of the Floridian Spanish needle nectar flow. When Hackenberg checked on his pollinators, the colonies were "boiling over" with bees, as he put it. But when he came back a month later, he was horrified. Many of the remaining colonies had lost large numbers of workers, and only the young workers and the queen remained and seemed healthy. More than half of the 3,000 hives were completely devoid of bees. But no dead bees were in sight. "It was like a ghost town," Hackenberg said when he called us seeking an explanation for the mysterious disappearance.Humankind must act quickly to ensure that pact between flowers and pollinators stay intact, to safeguard our food supply and to protect our environment. Efforts will ensure that bees continue to provide pollination and our diets remain rich in fruits and vegetables.
So What?
Molecular analysis by Diana Cox-Foster revealed surprising levels of viral infections of various known types. No single pathogen found in the insects could explain scale of disappearance.Bees were all sick, but each colony seemed to suffer from different combination of diseases. Authors hypothesized that something had compromised bees' immune system, making them susceptible to any number of infections that normal colonies can fend off.Symptoms affected stationary beekeepers and migratory ones. Even organic beekeepers were affected.The crops have a gene for insecticidal toxin.
Say Who?
Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis vanEngelsdorp
What If...?
Digestive tracts of the bees don't allow Bt to work.the chemicals beekeepers use to control mites and pesticides. Either could be on pollinated crops.The class of insecticides mimics effect of nicotine- a natural defense that tobacco plants deploy against leaf-eating pests.
This Remind Me Of?
Diets of honeybees that pollinate large acreages of one crop may lack important nutrients, compared to pollinators that feed from multiples. Beekeepers attempted to manage the concerns by developing protein supplements to feed colonies, but have not prevented CCD.
Author: Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis vanEngelsdorp
A:
-Dave Hackenberg makes a living moving honeybees.
-He trucks his beehives from field to field to pollinate crops.
-After a month, the remaining colony had lost large # of workers.
-Young workers and queen remained healthy.
-Half of 3,000 bee hives devoid of bees.
-Hackenberg's colonies stopped dying the following spring, but 800 of original 3,000 colonies survived.
-Survey conducted said that 1/4 of U.S beekeepers suffered similar losses and more than 30% of all colonies died.
-Next winter die off expanded, hitting 36%.
-Collaboration ruled out causes for CCD and found many contributing factors.
-No single problem has been found.
-Bees with CCD are infested with pathogens including a newly discovered virus, but infections seem secondary
-Honeybee colonies in 2006 was about 2.4 million less than half what it was in 1949.
-CCD won't cause honeybees to go extinct. If skills of beekeepers low, then nearly 100 of our crops could be left without pollination.
-Spores counts in samples were not high enough to explain losses.
-Molecular analysis by Diana Cox-Foster revealed surprising levels of viral infections of various known types.
-No single pathogen found in the insects could explain scale of disappearance.
-Bees were all sick, but each colony seemed to suffer from different combination of diseases.
-Authors hypothesized that something had compromised bees' immune system, making them susceptible to any number of infections that normal colonies can fend off.
-Symptoms affected stationary beekeepers and migratory ones.
-Even organic beekeepers were affected.
-The crops have a gene for insecticidal toxin.
-But the toxin only becomes activated in guts of caterpillars, mosquitoes and some beetles.
-Digestive tracts of the bees don't allow Bt to work.
-the chemicals beekeepers use to control mites and pesticides. Either could be on pollinated crops.
-The class of insecticides mimics effect of nicotine- a natural defense that tobacco plants deploy against leaf-eating pests.
-It is more toxic to insects than to vertebrates.
-Other experts suspected that bees' natural defense might bee undermined by poor nutrition.
-Honeybees no longer have the same number or variety of flowers available because humans tried to "neaten" the environment.
-Diets of honeybees that pollinate large acreages of one crop may lack important nutrients, compared to pollinators that feed from multiples.
-Beekeepers attempted to manage the concerns by developing protein supplements to feed colonies, but have not prevented CCD.
-Bees, pollen and honeycomb wax were frozen to be preserved for molecular and chemical analyses.
-But although both levels and diversity of chemicals are of concern, none is the cause of CCD.
- Healthy colonies sometimes had higher levels of some chemicals than colonies with CCD.
-Genetic material is blended together and minced to pieces short enough that sequences could be deciphered.
-IAPV was found in almost all colonies with CCD symptoms.
-Consensus is that multiple factors can interact to weaken colonies and make them susceptible to a virus-mediated collapse.
B:
Dave Hackenberg makes a living moving honeybees.He trucks his beehives from field to field to pollinate crops.After a month, the remaining colony had lost large # of workers. Young workers and queen remained healthy.Half of 3,000 bee hives devoid of bees.Hackenberg's colonies stopped dying the following spring, but 800 of original 3,000 colonies survived. Survey conducted said that 1/4 of U.S beekeepers suffered similar losses and more than 30% of all colonies died.Next winter die off expanded, hitting 36%.Collaboration ruled out causes for CCD and found many contributing factors. No single problem has been found. Bees with CCD are infested with pathogens including a newly discovered virus, but infections seem secondaryHoneybee colonies in 2006 was about 2.4 million less than half what it was in 1949.CCD won't cause honeybees to go extinct. If skills of beekeepers low, then nearly 100 of our crops could be left without pollination. Spores counts in samples were not high enough to explain losses. But the toxin only becomes activated in guts of caterpillars, mosquitoes and some beetles. It is more toxic to insects than to vertebrates.Other experts suspected that bees' natural defense might bee undermined by poor nutrition. Honeybees no longer have the same number or variety of flowers available because humans tried to "neaten" the environment.Bees, pollen and honeycomb wax were frozen to be preserved for molecular and chemical analyses.But although both levels and diversity of chemicals are of concern, none is the cause of CCD.Healthy colonies sometimes had higher levels of some chemicals than colonies with CCD.Genetic material is blended together and minced to pieces short enough that sequences could be deciphered. IAPV was found in almost all colonies with CCD symptoms.Consensus is that multiple factors can interact to weaken colonies and make them susceptible to a virus-mediated collapse.
C:
As he has done for the past 42 years, in the fall of 2006 Hackenberg migrated with his family and his bees from their central Pennsylvania summer home to their winter locale in central Florida. The insects had just finished their pollination duties on blooming Pennsylvanian pumpkin fields and were now to catch the last of the Floridian Spanish needle nectar flow. When Hackenberg checked on his pollinators, the colonies were "boiling over" with bees, as he put it. But when he came back a month later, he was horrified. Many of the remaining colonies had lost large numbers of workers, and only the young workers and the queen remained and seemed healthy. More than half of the 3,000 hives were completely devoid of bees. But no dead bees were in sight. "It was like a ghost town," Hackenberg said when he called us seeking an explanation for the mysterious disappearance.Humankind must act quickly to ensure that pact between flowers and pollinators stay intact, to safeguard our food supply and to protect our environment. Efforts will ensure that bees continue to provide pollination and our diets remain rich in fruits and vegetables.
So What?
Molecular analysis by Diana Cox-Foster revealed surprising levels of viral infections of various known types. No single pathogen found in the insects could explain scale of disappearance.Bees were all sick, but each colony seemed to suffer from different combination of diseases. Authors hypothesized that something had compromised bees' immune system, making them susceptible to any number of infections that normal colonies can fend off.Symptoms affected stationary beekeepers and migratory ones. Even organic beekeepers were affected.The crops have a gene for insecticidal toxin.
Say Who?
Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis vanEngelsdorp
What If...?
Digestive tracts of the bees don't allow Bt to work.the chemicals beekeepers use to control mites and pesticides. Either could be on pollinated crops.The class of insecticides mimics effect of nicotine- a natural defense that tobacco plants deploy against leaf-eating pests.
This Remind Me Of?
Diets of honeybees that pollinate large acreages of one crop may lack important nutrients, compared to pollinators that feed from multiples. Beekeepers attempted to manage the concerns by developing protein supplements to feed colonies, but have not prevented CCD.