Virus Found to be One Likely Factor in Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
Posted on September 8, 2007 Comments (4)
Scientists say a virus appears to be a factor in honeybee colony collapse by Andrew C. Revkin:
Very well stated. The virus while seeming to be a factor in the deaths appears to cause death in colonies that are stressed which seem to be highly correlated with colonies that are moved from place to place by commercial beekeepers to pollinate various crops. Bees that are kept by hobbiest, wild bees… don’t seem to be dying off. The impact of CCD is growing economically as prices for renting bees to pollinate crops increases and in some cases there are not enough bees available. Honey prices are increasing and prices for food pollinated by bees are too.
The Department of Agriculture states: The only pathogen found in almost all samples from honey bee colonies with CCD, but not in non-CCD colonies, was the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), a dicistrovirus that can be transmitted by the varroa mite. It was found in 96.1 percent of the CCD-bee samples. This does not identify IAPV as the cause of CCD,” said Pettis. “What we have found is strictly a strong correlation of the appearance of IAPV and CCD together. We have not proven a cause-and-effect connection.”
Related: Bee researchers close in on Colony Collapse Disorder, Penn State (Penn State broke the link so it was removed) – Bye Bye Bees – Bee Colony Collapse Disorder CCD – More on Disappearing Honeybees – Colony Collapse Disorder and Pollinator Decline
4 Responses to “Virus Found to be One Likely Factor in Bee Colony Collapse Disorder”
Leave a Reply
March 8th, 2008 @ 8:54 am
Watching as scientists try to work out what is going on with Colony Collapse Disorder is a great lesson in how scientists search for answers…
July 1st, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
“With the salmonella scare that has plagued tomatoes, Acheson has faced perhaps his biggest test—at least as far as outbreaks of illness go—since he assumed the newly created “food safety czar” post at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration…”
March 25th, 2009 @ 6:01 pm
As I have mentioned before the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) investigations have been a great view into the scientific inquiry process…
January 19th, 2012 @ 10:47 am
It is a great example of the scientific inquiry process. It is messy and confusing and full of studies that have trouble finding what the actually causes are or what solutions will work…