Vanishing honeybees mystify scientists
Posted by sky | Tags: Animals, Science, bees, insect, nature, pollination
Read article at Vanishing honeybees mystify scientists.• Billions of bees have mysteriously vanished since late last year in the U.S. • Disappearing bees have also been reported in Europe and Brazil • One-third of the U.S. diet depends on pollination, mostly by honeybees • Some beekeepers are losing 50 percent of their bees to the disorder "What we're describing as colony collapse disorder is the rapid loss of adult worker bees from the colony over a very short period of time, at a time in the season when we wouldn't expect a rapid die-off of workers: late fall and early spring," Pettis said.Experts may have found what's bugging the bees.
A fungus that hit hives in Europe and Asia may be partly to blame for wiping out colonies across the U.S. Other researchers said Wednesday that they too had found the fungus, a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae, in affected hives from around the country — as well as in some hives where bees had survived. Those researchers have also found two other fungi and half a dozen viruses in the dead bees.Previous Post Next Post