Missing bees could affect pollinating season for crops (Maine)

[jpak]

http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/3862972.html

<snip>

Maine state bee inspector and apiarist Tony Jadczak said parasitic mites are a major cause of the dieoff.

<snip>

Rick Cooper, a beekeeper in Bowdoinham, dismissed some of the recent media attention to bees as "hype."

He also scoffed at a report that cell phone transmission towers might be disorienting bees.

What's bothering bees, he said, is being trucked around the country from Florida citrus groves to California almond plantations to Maine blueberry barrens, and back to Florida.

<lots more>

[Monkeyman]

1. Went out cut grass today in IL I found them three hives

[bdamomma]

2. well they found the cause now I hope they find a cure to help

these bees.

[GregD]

3. they found the cause?

what is it?

[Monkeyman]

4. Last I heard Cell Phones

[jpak]

6. The cellphone hypothesis is hooeee

Bees navigate using naturally polarized ultraviolet light - cell towers operate at wavelengths (much longer microwave emissions) well out of the UV/visible spectrum.

There is no way that cellphone towers can affect honeybees.

[lazer47]

7. Brother what ever you do Protect those hives

you are damn lucky to have then so close, people don't realize yet just how important they are

[drm604]

5. According to the article

the problem is parasitic mites, combined with overworking the bees. It sounds plausible to me, more plausible than the cell phone claims.

[Mojorabbit]

8. We have had the varroa mites

in this country for around 30 years. Something else must have changed. My hive has them as does every other beekeeper I know. You can keep them under control but not eliminate them. There has to be another factor involved.

[drm604]

9. Read my post again

and read the article. It mentions another factor, as did my post. Overuse of the bees. It sounds plausible to me, but as a beekeeper you may know better. What do you think it is?

[Mojorabbit]

11. See post

#10. I do think that shipping bees everywhere severely stresses them and may be a factor in lowering their immune system making them more susceptible to viruses and other infections. There is a lot of work being done to figure out exactly what it is but unless the mites are carrying new viruses other than the ones already known,I would put them lower on the list of causes.

[IDemo]

10. A fungus is the latest suspect

Fungus fingered in US honeybee wipeout

Scientists may have fingered a possible major contributory cause to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) - the hitherto unexplained disappearance of millions of honeybees in Europe, the US and seemingly Taiwan.

According to the Los Angeles Times, researchers have identified the single-celled fungus Nosema ceranae in dead bees from hives in Merced County, California. Other teams have similarly spotted the fungus in affected hives across the US, as well as two further fungi and 12 viral infections.

Powdered dead bee samples from the California hives were analysed by Dr. Charles Wick of the US Army's Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland using a "new system of genetic analysis". Wick pinned down several viruses, "including members of a recently identified genus called iflaviruses". These RNA-containing viruses infect the Varroa mite, which in turn lives on honeybees, and scientists speculate they may be fatal to bees.

The center's Evan W. Skowronski was able to offer a more clear-cut explanation for CCD, though. He said: "There was a lot of stuff from Nosema, about 25 per cent of the total. That meant there was more than there was bee RNA. That leads me to believe that the bee died from that particular pathogen."