Disappearing Bees
There is a phenomenon going on among bees in North America that many speculated that they were somehow vanishing. Researchers have discovered that the worker bees are not actually vanishing but have come in contact with a virus called IAPV. When these bees have been infected many do not stay with the hive but leave their homes to go to other places to die, making it hard for researchers to keep track of their bodies. The researchers believe that the virus can only infect other bees and not humans or other animals. It should be noted that the virus is not the only cause that researcher suspect to be the reason for the decline in worker bees. Other factors like pesticides that are sometimes found in high levels in pollen and parasites are contributors to what is happening to the worker bees.
The increasing amount of bee death has caused colony collapses in some areas where bees are present. One of the first to notice this decline was Dave Hackenberg, a beekeeper. He began to take notice of the significant loss of bees in hives in Pennsylvania. He knew immediately that the losses were not the normal losses that bee experience during the winter but from something else. The declining numbers of worker bees led to many unsuccessful hives because there were not enough bees present to take care of things, especially the queen’s offspring. More research is presently being done to understand what is full happening to the worker bees.
Here is the link to the articles:
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/39117/titlw/Honeybee_CSI_Why_dead_bodies_can%E2%80%99t_be_found
Posted By Debbie Theodat (12)
Labels: bees
posted by PWH @ 10:42 PM
16 comments
16 Comments:
Very interesting. This is a major problem if this virus effects the whole population of bees, because they do so much pollinating of crops, and if they were to be paid, it would equal a lot of money. A lot of farmers have been worried over this. It's amazing how much actually go into the collapse though, since it's not just the virus, most likely. And since they go away and die, it's hard for the researchers to examine them to figure out anymore. Great article.
Katie Cole
I watched a NATURE special called Silence of the Bees: Honeybees, Colony Collapse Disorder on PBS last year. Where does the virus IAPV originate? How does the virus work to cause this disappearing behavior?
SUSAN DUONG
I think that it is interesting that the infected bees will often fly away form the hive to die, do you think that this is a way of trying to protect it from the virus? Nice article.
Erica Damon
So I would assume that this means the bees are still dying off, but in a different way. Does this discovery bring researchers closer to finding a solution?
Cecelia Hunt
That is very intriguing behavior for the bees to leave the hive to die elsewhere. Seems like its more about the colony than the individual bee. They are protecting the rest of the hive and this behavior is innate. Has anyone found out what the source of the virus is?
-Odmir Rodrigues
12/12/08
Interesting article. Have the researchers figured out enough to know what might be causing this sort of behavior though? I can imagine it being so much harder for the researchers since they can't really track down the bees.
Tazneena Ishaque
Bees are already disappearing. This is pretty scary considering how vital they are to the whole environment. This is an interesting article, it really opens your eyes to the problem.
-Julie Riley
wow, where did this virus come from? Is there no known defense for the bees? I would think that if this disease is going to be a main problem for them, they will evovle some sort of immunity to it.
Mia DiFabbio
What is IAPV and are other species that pollinate plants are also affected by this virus? Nice article.
- David Huynh
I've been hearing a lot about this recently but have not necessarily minded (I'm allergic to bees). However, it seems that many people are really concerned which makes me wonder what the detrimental effects of a bee decrease would be. Any idea also where this virus is coming from or how it physically affects the bees? Good work!
Ericka Adey
As much as I do not like bees, this is a bit sad. Do you think they could have acquired this disease from the pesticides? Is there any way to tag such small insects to see where they end up dying? Do you think they leave so they don't infect other members of the hive? Great find!
Alyson Paige
It's interesting how a disease in one species affects so many others. I never realized how important of a role bee pollination played in producing food. Is it possible for this disease to affect other insects? If other insects started dying and disappearing, it could have a substantial effect on the food chains that depend on them.
-Corinne Delisle
It is really interesting that the bees fly away to die. Do they do go back to the hive after they have contracted the virus or do they just die? If they don't go back to the hive how do they pass it to other bees?
-Tara Quist
Hey,
interesting article,
i have a quick question,
how does this virus replicate itself?
Ahmed Sandakli
interesting, what factors other than the disease has led to the decline of the bee population?, will the queen produce less eggs in the absense of worker bees?
Hessom Minaei
Wow! That is terrible. We depend on bees to do a lot of work. It is so sad that there is a virus killing them off. Do you know where it originated from?
Michele Copeland
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