Bee sperm bank developed to fight colony collapse disorder

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/list/bee-sperm-bank-developed-to-fight-colony-collapse-disorder/

?w=470&h=309
Just making a quick stop at the bank.


I think we’re all familiar with colony collapse disorder (CCD) here – bees be dyin’, trouble be brewin’, etc., to use the scientific terms. (But seriously, bees pollinate a ton of our food, and their unexplained, massive die-offs are ominous and straight out of The X-Files.) So it’s cool that Washington State University researchers are trying to create The One in bee form, the super-bee that can survive CCD. It’s even cooler that they’re creating a bee sperm bank to do so, because sperm is one of our favorite topics:

n an effort to find and utilize the needed genes, the USDA granted WSU a permit in 2008 to import honey bee semen for breeding purposes, subject to strict screening for viruses.

Taking only from the best, the scientists collected semen from Italian bees who are known to reproduce quickly and in order to create a bee resilient to the cold.


Those Italian bees, always so quick with the reproduction.



***i wonder if french bees are insulted? italian bees get all the breaks.

[Buzz Clik]

2. Not gonna get much sperm from those worker bees.

[DreamGypsy]

3. Right. Sounds to me like another remotely piloted...

...drone program.



But maybe the other photo was intended to show how happy and healthy the resulting working ladies are when an 'import' is used in the process.

Did find one relevant note from Wikipedia:

In honey bees, the genetics of offspring can best be controlled by artificially inseminating a queen with drones collected from a single hive, where the drones' mother is known. In the natural mating process, a queen mates with multiple drones,[citation needed] which may not come from the same hive. Therefore, in the natural mating process, batches of female offspring will have fathers of different genetic origin.

[Buzz Clik]

4. Genetically engineered bees.

We're all gonna die.

[DreamGypsy]

5. Uh, no GMO. Just artificially selected.

Although artificial selection doesn't always contribute to diversity, I am still very pleased with the results of the breeding practices that have given me the companions I have known and with the varieties of cultivated blue berries that I grow.

There's always a risk of human hubris resulting in problems when choosing important characteristics.

[Buzz Clik]

6. Yes, I know. My post was a tease at those who confuse classical breeding with biotechnology.

Just as you said, breeding is simply human intervention in a natural process. Through classical breeding, it would be difficult to put mosquito genes in sunflowers or vice versa.