Breakthrough on mystery of vanishing bees

Over the past year, honey bees have been dying across North America in unprecedented numbers and, until this month, no one seemed to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt what the cause may have been.

What has been dubbed “colony collapse disorder” can work through a honey bee colony in a matter of weeks. Bees fly off to collect pollen, but never return — or simply weaken and die in the hives. Beyond the larger effects on the food chain, the economic implications of these deaths are immediate because honey bees are integral to the pollination of tens of millions of dollars of cash crops in North America.
Scientists from Penn State University say they have found a connection between Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and colony collapse disorder. In a conference call last week, researchers argued that the virus, in conjunction with other stress factors, is likely the cause of the disorder, which has resulted in a loss of 50-90 percent of North American bee colonies. It was originally discovered in Israel in 2004, the same year that Australian bees were imported in to the United States.

Colony collapse disorder has also been observed in Poland, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, and unverified reports have surfaced in Switzerland and Germany. Cases have also been reported in India and Brazil.

David Hackenburg, a beekeeper near Tampa Bay, Florida, lost nearly 2,000 of his 3,000 hives in a matter of weeks last winter. He has since been raising the issue with university researchers, bureaucrats at state agencies and elected politicians. He has told a number of media outlets that new synthetic nicotine-based pesticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics, are the major contributing factor. Researchers told IPS that further studies will include these pesticides as possible contributing factors. Some large environmental groups, like the Sierra Club, also believe that genetically modified food production could be a contributing factor. A comprehensive British study found that genetically modified crops in conjunction with powerful chemicals were harmful to bees, butterflies and birds.

Researchers from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and other U.S. states have been conducting geographic database tests to understand the magnitude of the problem and whether linkages exist with colony collapse disorder.

But other scientists argue that there is scant evidence that the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin produced by genetically modified crops is a factor in the mass deaths of bees.

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