New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
August 25, 2009
AP

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WASHINGTON � Researchers have a new clue to the collapse of honey bee colonies across the U.S. � damage to the bees' internal "factories" that produce proteins.

Theories about the cause of bee colony collapse have included viruses, mites, pesticides and fungi.

The new study of sick bees disclosed fragments of ribosomal RNA in their gut, an indication of damage to the ribosomes, which make proteins necessary for life, according to a study in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

RNA, which is made from DNA, is central to protein production.

The sick bees suffered an unusually high number of infections with viruses that attack the ribosome, the researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.

"If your ribosome is compromised, then you can't respond to pesticides, you can't respond to fungal infections or bacteria or inadequate nutrition because the ribosome is central to the survival of any organism. You need proteins to survive," May R. Berenbaum, head of the department of entomology at Illinois, said in a statement.

The researchers said the varroa mite, which was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in 1986, is a carrier of picorna-like viruses that damage the ribosomes.

The mite may act as a tipping factor leading to ribosome breakdown, the researchers said.

The study was funded by the Department of Agriculture.

Re: New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

Re: New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

Here in southeastern Pangea, honeybees are very rare little critters this summer. The bumblebees are out in droves, possibly due to a lack of competition from the smaller honeybees. I lost the last of my 14 hives two springs ago and sightings of honeybees are pretty rare now.

Re: New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

I've seen a similar situation here. Lots of bumblebees the last 2 years, almost no honeybees.

Re: New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

Same here. Bumblebees galore, honey bees are rare this year. I honestly havent seen any wasps or white faced hornets.

Re: New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

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If your ribosome is compromised, then you can't respond to pesticides, you can't respond to fungal infections or bacteria or inadequate nutrition because the ribosome is central to the survival of any organism. So says a report in Science Daily. You need proteins to survive," says May Berenbaum, entomology professor and department head at the University of Illinois, along with being an affiliate of the Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois. This observation is the result of work conducted there, funded and assisted by the USDA, with Reed Johnson, a University of Illinois
doctoral student in entomology and first author on the study, and Gene Robinson, entomology and neuroscience professor at U of I and co-principal investigator, and Director of the neuroscience Program at Illinois. Johnson was the recipient of the Eastern Apicultural Society’s prestigious Student Award this year, presented at their annual meeting in August.

Their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to identify a single, objective molecular marker of the disorder, and to propose an explanation to the mysterious disappearance of American honey bees.

The study made use of the honey bee genome (only recently completed at U of I by Robinson and others) and a genome-based tool, the microarray, to look for differences in gene expression in the guts of healthy honey bees and in those from hives afflicted by CCD.

Berenbaum said that they saw that CCD bees suffered "more than their share" of infections with viruses that attack the ribosome, a finding reflected in the Penn State study released last week and reported on here.

These so-called picorna-like viruses "hijack the ribosome," she said, taking over the cellular machinery to manufacture only viral proteins, not those needed for the bee to survive or thrive. The list of picorna-like viruses that afflict honey bees is long and includes Israeli acute paralysis virus, which was once suspected of being the primary cause of CCD.

The varroa mite is a carrier of picorna-like viruses, and is thought by most researchers to be a key in explaining the virus loads carried by U. S. bees.

The researchers summed up - bees under stress would not be able to handle those stresses, or handle them as well when the ribsomone functions were compromised and the proteins needed to compete were not being produced.

Re: New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

This year zero bees and lots of wasps. Usually they are half and half.

Re: New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

used to have honeybee's

Right about the time everyone started spraying the ferts and pesticides for the pretty lawn thing the bee's went away

my neighbor hasn't had a lawn treatment for 3 years and this year my bee's came back

That's all I know

Re: New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

Bumble bees are pretty prolific pollinators, are hardier than honey bees and don't suffer from cooler weather like they do, either. But you don't get honey from the little buggers!

Re: New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

We had honey bees galore this year and every year.

Re: New Clue Found to Disappearing Honey Bees
 

in time we will fine out it was the big seed company that did this to the bees