US in hot pursuit of its bees

Scientists met recently with US government officials in New York to discuss early findings and future plans with regard to colony collapse disorder, the name given to the disappearing bee syndrome. Farmer’s Weekly reported on the various theories in its 11 May edition. The Americans think they have identified the three most likely suspects: a virus, a fungus or a pesticide. Comparing bees from affected colonies with samples of bees from healthy colonies dating from before 2005, DNA sequencing done at the agriculture department laboratory in Maryland Columbia showed that several unknown microorganisms were present in the collapsing colonies. This suggests that something, a virus or fungus, is weakening their immune system. Meanwhile, a national research team found that when the empty bee boxes of affected colonies were treated with gamma rays – the same rays used to kill bacteria on medical equipment – the boxes seem to show a return to health for colonies repopulated with Australian bees. This supports the idea of a pathogen as opposed to a chemical since the rays would not have been able to get rid of the latter. At the agriculture department lab in New York bee autopsies are being done in the hope of finding any known bee pathogens and the University of ­Illinois is using knowledge gained from the sequencing of the bee genome to see if the bees were exposed to a toxin or pathogen. Meanwhile, bee-­keepers and affected farmers alike are waiting anxiously for some results and, more importantly, a way to end the bees going AWOL. – Alita van der Walt