Honeybee virus: Varroa mite spreads lethal disease (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Victoria Gill
BBC Nature

A parasitic mite has helped a virus wipe out billions of honeybees throughout the globe, say scientists.

A team studying honeybees in Hawaii found that the Varroa mite helped spread a particularly nasty strain of a disease called deformed wing virus.

The mites act as tiny incubators of one deadly form of the disease, and inject it directly into the bees' blood.

This has led to "one of the most widely-distributed and contagious insect viruses on the planet".

The findings are reported in the journal Science.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18339797

[left on green only]

1. I wish that the members of our species would realize how critical

the world population of honey bees is to the survival of our own species.

Thank you for posting and helping to spread the word.

[Javaman]

2. While I find this great research...

I also find it interesting that this comes on the heels of demand to stop producing specific types of insecticides used by monsanto and produced by bayer.

I'm not saying this guy is on the take, I'm just saying it's an interesting coincidence.

Especially, since one particular insecticide was banned in both France and Germany because it had a direct link to colony collapse in both those nations.

And that same insecticide was recently cited here in the US for removal for the same reason.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. There may be more than one promoter of CCD, just like cancer.

The finding that a virus appears to be implicated in CCD doesn't exclude the possibility that other agents, including insecticides, could be as well. Given that it is a complex phenomenon that affects the whole hive, it seems quite plausible that there is no single "cause".

Corps will try to argue that the bad guy has been caught, so their name is clear. It doesn't work in this case.

[Javaman]

4. That maybe true, but his research should show a spread pattern if it was a virus.

where as CCD is happening in nations that use the pesticide.

That's certainly not cause and effect, but quite frankly, people have been studying various bee virus for years and for someone to "miss" this as a cause has me very suspect.

And while yes, there could be more than one cause, a virus would have been very easy to find early.

I raise bees and believe when I tell you that bee keepers are some of the most anal people in the world and many do amazing research on their own.

I have read this researchers resume and it's very impressive. However, I would love to find out who funded the research.

[Nihil]

5. Hmmm ...

Whilst agreeing that there can be more than one cause for CCD,
I'm glad I wasn't the only one to question the timing of this announcement.

"An interesting coincidence" indeed.